Title: Once Upon a Rainbow
Author: Sydney Blackburn, K.S. Trenten, Riza Curtis, A. Fae, Dianne Hartsock, J.P. Jackson, Donna Jay, A.D. Song, Mickie B. Ashling
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: November 20, 2017
Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male, Female/Female
Length: 147100
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, gay, bi, fantasy, gods, magic, royalty, bonded, witches, coming of age, coming out, shifters, incubus, friends to lovers, mystery, intersex, trans, ace, prison, paranormal, dark, family drama, erotica, no HEA or HFN, vampires, lesbian, mpreg
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Synopsis
Your favorite stories from childhood have a new twist. Nine fairy tales of old with characters across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
Morning Star by Sydney Blackburn – Five wishes; one desire.
Fairest by K.S. Trenten – What will you change into?
Gingerbread by Riza Curtis – A night out to die for.
Sleeping Beauty by A. Fae – United by true love’s kiss.
Little Match Girl by Dianne Hartsock – Falling in love with the Little Match Girl was easy, but now Christian is determined to help Dani find his family, even if doing so means he might lose him forever.
Hood’s Ride is Red by J.P. Jackson – A red car, a werewolf, and a trip to grandpa’s house – this ain’t your usual Little Red Riding Hood.
The Gingerbread Woman by Donna Jay – When Candace sets out for a weekend of solitude she gets far more than she bargained on.
White Roses by A.D. Song – A kiss to break the curse…or continue it.
Once Upon a Mattress by Mickie B. Ashling – Will Errol spend a miserable night and prove his worthiness or will Sebastian have to keep on looking?
Blurbs
Morning Star by Sydney Blackburn
Tariq is a devoted apprentice to his master, even stealing a perfume jar for Malik, the man he secretly adores, with only a twinge of guilt. But when Malik seeks to use the Jinni bound to the stolen jar, Tariq learns what love is—and isn’t. Ridha has given Tariq five wishes, two of which remain, and the one Tariq wants most, he cannot have. Or can he?
Fairest by K.S. Trenten
All of my life, I’ve been haunted by her dark eyes. At birth, she cursed me to prick my finger on the spindle and sleep for a century. She appears in my dreams, my reflections, shaping my desires. Who is she? My guardian has only revealed a few enigmatic words as to her identity, the fairest of them all. Follow me into the lonely Forest of Tears where the dwarves dwell, walking where she once walked. Gaze into the depths of the magic mirror, which reveals her secrets. For I refuse to fear her, even if I should.
Gingerbread by Riza Curtis
When a dozen gay men go missing, the Supernatural Investigations team is brought in.
With the trail running cold, werewolf Detective Erik Stuart is sent undercover with fellow officer Noah Coleman to investigate exclusive gay club Gingerbread. As their friendship blossoms into romance, danger puts their very lives at risk. Are they powerful enough to survive and bring justice for the missing men?
Sleeping Beauty by A. Fae
Two royal births: one born into the body of a prince and the other a princess, bodies betraying their true identity. They grow to be inseparable, both deciding to become their true selves as soon as they are able. But an ugly curse by a wicked godmother brings them to the brink of disaster. And only through true love’s kiss can they be united.
Little Match Girl by Dianne Hartsock
Christian can’t help himself. He’s fallen in love with the sweet, sometimes effeminate guy who’s been coming into the sandwich shop for the past several months. But Dani is also the Little Match Girl, the ragged queer selling candles on the street corner Christian’s been avoiding all year, going so far as to cross the street to avoid walking by him. Ashamed, he wonders if Dani can ever forgive him.
Losing his mother to cancer, Dani has spent the last year in a haze of grief and loneliness, selling Mother’s candles like they always had, giving himself to any man who can pay, saving him from having to go home to his father’s brutality. Desperate for a place to belong, he sets out with Christian to find his mother’s family. Christian helps, wanting Dani to be happy, though the cost might be losing his sweet lover forever.
Hood’s Ride is Red by J.P. Jackson
Harkin Ross, otherwise known as Hood, hasn’t exactly had a happy childhood. His mother died in childbirth and his older brother perished in an unusual accident on the family farm. Hood’s father hasn’t coped well over the years and he’s spiraled into a black hole of anger, alcoholism, and abuse.
But when Kenneth Lowell is hired as the family farm hand, Hood’s life vastly improves. Kenneth earns Hood’s trust, and friendship while teaching Hood some basic mechanics skills, helping Hood get his red Dodge Dart up and running.
Kenneth, however, is hiding a violent and primal secret of his own. When Hood’s father discovers the Hired Hand is doing more than just yard work, the weekly trip to Grandpa’s house goes all to hell.
The Gingerbread Woman by Donna Jay
Looking forward to a weekend of solitude, Candace heads to her country cottage hoping the peaceful surroundings will help to get her creative juices flowing. Never in her wildest of dreams could she have envisioned the events that unfolded.
White Roses by A.D. Song
One night in the dark woods, a faerie attacks Lady Iliana and curses her to slumber forever. Lady Iliana finds herself kissed awake by Lord Alexios. When Iliana meets Adara, Alexios’ sister, Iliana finds herself torn between the man who saved her and the woman who hides secrets about Iliana’s awakening. When Alexios turns on Adara, they discover Lady Iliana is stronger than anyone thought. She does whatever she has to do to save Adara…even if it means killing her again.
Once Upon a Mattress by Mickie B. Ashling
Crown Prince Sebastian of Sendorra has shied away from his obligations to marry and produce the requisite heir. He wants a love match—complicating an already difficult situation—and insists on finding the right man; someone willing and able to carry his child with medical intervention. The Royals throw a ball and invite eligible bachelors from all over the world.
Errol Maitland, a famous sculptor who lives in the small Principality, is tired of random hookups and relationships that fizzle out before they get started. He’s intrigued by the Prince’s invitation and decides to attend the ball.
Sebastian’s mother belongs to a clan of powerful witches. She’s convinced that a touch of magic will ease the selection process. Placing a spell on an ordinary pebble, she tucks it underneath Sebastian’s mattress. The right choice will voice a complaint. Will Errol spend a miserable night and prove his worthiness or will Sebastian have to keep on looking?
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White Roses Excerpt
The ring was a garish red blotch of a ruby that resembled a bloody wound more than an engagement ring. Whenever Iliana was forced to untangle the damn thing from a loose thread or a strand of her hair, it glinted at her malevolently, like the watchful eye of a dragon. She thought, in her more blearily fatigued states, that Alexios was somehow spying on her through it, his light unblinking eyes somehow gleaming out of the stone, roving possessively, stickily over her sleeping form.
It had been passed down from Alexios’s grandmother to his mother—or so he said. Alexios said Iliana looked like she was born to wear it. The crimson was striking, overpoweringly so, against the delicacy of her thin white hand, her small tapering fingers. Iliana could still remember the day he had proposed. It felt like a vague dream, the ones she could barely recall because her slumber was too dark, too deep, her weak, flicking consciousness swallowed up by the yawning cavernous abyss of sleep.
“Iliana, my darling, my sweet. From the moment I saw you trapped in your cursed slumber, I knew you were the fairest maiden of all the lands. I knew we were destined to be together. How could you not be mine when you are so beautiful?” Lord Alexios drew her into his arms. His muscles flexed. He dropped to his knees, turning his solemn, eager face toward hers. “Iliana, as the man who has broken your curse, I am your true love. Marry me. Be my bride.”
All of the handmaidens nearby fluttered their hands to their hearts, gazing at Iliana enviously. His eyes were a light, bright gold against the smooth brown of his skin. His teeth gleamed white. Everything was too bright, too harsh, and her skin was burning. And she was so hungry.
Iliana blinked and tried to smile. “Yes.”
Now, in his castle, she sat alone in the bedroom he had prepared for her, where she would stay until their wedding. She seldom had visitors because she was still recovering from the curse—and because they so rarely had them. His castle was perched on a cliff, overlooking the brewing sea in one direction and the shadowy woods in another.
Iliana reclined on cushions, silver tassels trailing across her rumpled silk sheets. Her ivory satin dress, edged with gauzy lace and silvery ribbons, pooled around her, shimmering like puddles of water. Alexios thought white suited her. It did highlight her full red lips and her long black hair that hung in limp curls down her bony back. Even two months after she was freed from her curse, she was still too emaciated, her movements too languorous. She had always been slight, but now, she moved wispily as if she was sleep-walking. Whenever Iliana glanced in the mirror, a stranger peered out, a ghost of a girl with half-lidded eyes, large and liquid black, too dark against a sickly pale complexion.
“My little beauty,” Alexios called, knocking once and stepping into the room. A bouquet of white roses nestled in his arms like wounded doves, filling the room with their sickly sweet odor. He brought her white roses every day. Vases of white roses filled the room, ragged white petals drifting to the floor like discarded love letters.
“Alexios,” she murmured, rising unsteadily to her feet. He embraced her, his arms heavy and tight across her shoulders. With her face buried against his chest and buttons of his coat poking her eyelids, she could not draw enough air to fill her lungs, the scent of wool and musky sweat making her queasy. His fingers dug into the flimsy white cloth at her shoulders. She stepped back, receiving the roses he heaped upon her, smiling inanely.
Alexios was broad-shouldered and long-legged in a way that made the girls’ hearts flutter whenever he strode by. He was also soon to inherit all of the Sagehill lands, since his father, Lord Detros, was on his deathbed. It was wise to marry him. Furthermore, she owed him. He broke her curse, which meant they were destined to be together. Forever.
“What are you thinking about, my flower?” he inquired. Before Iliana could reply, he kissed her. His lips were rubbery and moist as he captured her mouth, trying to poke his tongue inside. He tasted like sour wine. She quickly leaned back, pushing her hands against his chest. When he left to change, she collapsed onto the cushions, scrubbing her mouth with the hem of her dress. She was grateful to Alexios—really she was. If it weren’t for him, she’d still be deep in her dreams, wasting away into a frightful corpse. She would have died. Yet, she wondered, secretly, guiltily, how such a kiss—his kiss—could have woken her.
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