A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales Book 1)

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Shadow lined the rough grooves of bark on the large tree. Moonlight carved through the darkness beside it. I didn’t hear or see a damn thing. For a few solid moments, nothing in the whole wood seemed to move. Breathing heavily, I stopped in front of the birch and looked up. It took that as a cue to shake like a dancing girl, waving its branches and rattling it leaves. Then come the castle characters, who really are all sorts of hilarious in their own twisted and cursed way, but also make the reader feel for them for having to live with the palace version of the curse. Hadriel, Nyfain’s butler, is a character I really fell in love with (not that kind of love, folks; he’s gay) and one I can’t help but wish to see thriving under a broken curse (assuming that the curse will be broken at some point). Letting all the crazy out

But from the way he said it, I knew Hannon was giving up the fight. He didn’t have any more steam to talk me out of going. I kind of hoped he’d try harder. A different sort of fear ate through the first, and I was all action again, launching forward to intercept Dash running into the living room.

A wall of brush waited up ahead. Two trees crossed within it, creating a narrow opening between the thorns. I took a chance and dashed between them.

Time passed in a series of familiar movements. At some point, Dash brought out a bowl of stew and then hung around, listening as I described what I was doing. Working with plants—this one especially—calmed me in a way I couldn’t describe. I enjoyed the careful finesse it required. The way its properties changed with its environment. And I suppose you have a better theory. What did you think we came in here for, a dare? To stuff our pillows with extra fluff? Maybe a lovely little fragrance pot for the corner of our—”

I want to be known for what I do, not how I look. I want to be praised for my achievements. But in this village, I feel like all I am is pretty and full of flaws. I just… I just want something more, I guess.” I couldn’t say I blamed him. Everyone deserved a chance at happiness, even princes. I doubted he had known the cost. A cliche is just one of the things to look out for while writing. They can slip in unnoticed and ruin an otherwise great paragraph. Then there's the passive voice, accents, misspelling, typos, incorrect data. The list is long.

Dash was the youngest, a boy of eleven who moved more than he listened…except when he was listening to me mutter to myself, it seemed. I hadn’t realized he’d overheard me. Am I complaining? Absolutely not! Because if Queen Breene weren’t one of the craziest authors I know, we wouldn’t have A Ruin of Roses, and we wouldn’t have had Demon Days, Vampire Nights ( DDVN), either, or Bria, or Daisy, or or or. I narrowed my eyes at him. “We would be, since there is no way I will agree to marry that assclown.” He shouldn’t be asking that. He never asked how close my close calls were. That kept me from having to lie.I didn’t mention that “little” Dalia Foster was nearly my age and didn’t have any fruit left to offer…from any of her orifices. She’d experienced physical intimacy early, I’d heard, and experimented heavily. Apparently, the birth-nulling tea had failed her. But at least she had a good excuse to tell her overbearing father. Do I have something negative to say about A Ruin of Roses? An insignificant thing: the chapters are longer than what K.F. Breene has gotten us used to.

My father’s lined face was ashen within the candlelight. His eyelids trembled as though he were trapped in a nightmare. I don’t think it was coming after me,” I finally said, having moved to the couch and finished two cups of water. “I mean…at first it obviously was. It stalked me. So did that other creature—” That image still played on a loop in my nightmares all these long years later. Nine years of replays. If I had my leather sheath, I would slip my dagger into it. It wouldn’t help me against what I faced. Do I need to make my execution difficult? Yeah, kinda. It’s not something I am looking forward to.”That done, I sprinkled in the other herbs, which were much easier to come by—a sprig of rosemary, one leaf of dill, a splash of cinnamon. And, finally, the ingredient that was almost as important as the everlass—the full, healthy petal of one red rose. When he catches me trespassing in the forbidden wood, he doesn't punish me with death, as he's entitled. My hands started to shake, and I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. Lying to Hannon was one thing—he was a trusting soul and wanted to believe me—but I wasn’t foolish enough to believe my own lies. Just because I hadn’t seen the beast in any visits since the first, that did not mean he’d given up hunting trespassers. Our village was at the edge of the kingdom, and I was sneaky. I took great pains to ensure I wasn’t seen. I heard the roars, though. He was out there, waiting. Watching. The ultimate predator. I don’t have much choice, Hannon. Besides, I’ve been in and out of that field a bunch of times over the last few years with no problems. At night, even. The beast probably doesn’t patrol the Forbidden Wood anymore.”