R.I.P. Dame Diana Rigg ~ July 20, 1938 – September 10, 2020

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R.I.P. Dame Diana Rigg

I hope there’s a tinge of disgrace about me. Hopefully there’s one good scandal in me yet.

~ Diana Rigg ~

John has posted a marvelous tribute to this fascinating woman and iconic actress at:

RIP Diana Rigg…This Icon Was The Most Empowered “Bond Girl” And Much More – A Look At Her Career…

Meidas Touch ~ “Does DJT Have NPD?”

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Meidas Touch, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Political Ads, Trump

 

The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2), By Gena Showalter ~ 4.0 Stars

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Fairytale Retellings, Humor, Romance, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 29th, 2020

552 Pages

Synopsis: Dare to enter the Forest of Good and Evil, where strength is weakness and weakness is strength. Don’t miss book two of New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter’s magical, romantic and fascinating fairy-tale series, in which the fairy tales we know and love are prophecies of the future…

Pitied.

Sickly.

Unfit to rule.

Princess Ashleigh Charmaine is known as the Glass Princess, fragile enough to shatter with the whisper of the wind. Born with a weak heart, she dreams of being treated like anyone else. Unlike her headstrong sisters, she received no magical ability at birth and lives every day expecting to die. Until an oracle announces that Ashleigh is fated to play the part of Cinderella, wed a handsome royal and save the Kingdom of Sevon from the evil king and queen who once ruled the land.

As war rages, Ashleigh begins to doubt her role in the fairy tale prophecy. Animals despise her, she can’t carry a merry tune, and she has zero social graces. Worse, the king she’s supposed to enchant is the newly crowned sovereign of the winged warriors known as the Avian…and he despises her too.

When Ashleigh develops a terrifying magical ability to commune with dragons and create fire from air—a power she cannot control—she must work with King Saxon to save their kingdoms and their lives. By the stroke of midnight she must warm his icy heart…or forever break her own. Will Ashleigh ever become the queen she’s prophesied to be…or will she lose everything she’s come to love?

After finishing The Evil Queen, the first book in prolific author Gena Showalter’s new series The Forest of Good and Evil, I was quite excited to be approved for The Glass Queen. While the previous book was a retelling of Snow White, this sequel explores the fairytale of Cinderella. Both books have wonderful world building and absolutely fascinating and diverse characters. There’s no insta-love here and I enjoyed seeing the way Ashleigh’s and Saxon’s relationship slowly developed, although the dialogue between them was a little cheesy at times. As much as I love long stories, I do think these books would benefit from being shortened a little. This sequel at over 500 pages has a few slow moments. Overall though, The Glass Queen is another ingeniously written fractured fairytale by Showalter that’s filled with complex characters, mystery, suspense, sharp-edged humor, passionate romance and most importantly, baby dragons! I would recommend this series to adults and YAs sixteen and older though, due to some slightly steamy sexual scenes. They’re not anywhere near as graphic as the ones she writes in her adult series like Lords of the Underworld, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending them to a young teen. I’m really looking forward to seeing what fairytale gets skewered next!