Two New Books and a List

Although there is no date yet for the release of this book, The Beast by Lindsay Mead should be out by the end of the year.

Summary: "Demon possession has swept through Glace's neighboring kingdom, turning humans into hellhounds. These great, fanged wolves are wild, desperate, and hungry. Only the sworn Hunters have kept them back for five long, bloody years.

At the young age of fifteen, Belle LeClair became a Hunter. She no longer remembers how many hounds she's killed, or how many friends she's buried. Still, Belle leads the hunt till a tragedy forces her deep into the dark kingdom. Her heart will be turned, her loyalty tested— and fate will intervene.

Amid a backdrop of Steampunk inventions and a harsh winter landscape,The Beast is a re-imagining of the infamous love between a beauty and a beast."

Kind of sounds more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer than a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but  it's clearly a nod to the fairy tale at least.  And one of the few (only?) versions of BATB to make Belle into an action heroine to my knowledge...

The Stepsister's Tale by Tracy Barrett will be released June 24 but can be preordered now. Telling a tale through a different perspective, especially the villain's, will probably prove to be even more popular than it was before, due to Maleficent.

"What really happened after the clock struck midnight? 

Jane Montjoy is tired of being a lady. She's tired of pretending to live up to the standards of her mother's noble family—especially now that the family's wealth is gone and their stately mansion has fallen to ruin. It's hard enough that she must tend to the animals and find a way to feed her mother and her little sister each day. Jane's burden only gets worse after her mother returns from a trip to town with a new stepfather and stepsister in tow. Despite the family's struggle to prepare for the long winter ahead, Jane's stepfather remains determined to give his beautiful but spoiled child her every desire. 

When her stepfather suddenly dies, leaving nothing but debts and a bereaved daughter behind, it seems to Jane that her family is destined for eternal unhappiness. But a mysterious boy from the woods and an invitation to a royal ball are certain to change her fate…. 

From the handsome prince to the evil stepsister, nothing is quite as it seems in Tracy Barrett's stunning retelling of the classic Cinderella tale."

By the way, if you, like me, love a good fairy tale retelling but feel overwhelmed by how many are out there these days and don't know where to start, Goodreads has a list of Fairy Tales Retold. It's a handy way to have a large list all in one place, plus you get the added bonus of being able to see what people have rated each one (although for many of them, only one person voted).