Once upon a time, the woodsman rescued Red Riding Hood,
Hansel and Gretel cooked the gingerbread witch,
And Cinderella snagged her prince with a discarded glass slipper.
But Sleeping Beauty still sleeps in a thorn-locked castle, Snow White still lies preserved in her crystal coffin, and in a land not so far away, the Beast lives in the penthouse suite of Castle Apartments.
The Thorns Series invites you down the twisted paths of classic fairy tales, myths, and legends into dark forests, urban jungles, otherworlds, underworlds, and your very own rose-red hearts.
Series Advisory: Scenes of sexual and physical assault, violence, and torture. Because fairy tales are sometimes gruesome and grim.
See book-specific content warnings HERE.
Cover Art: Covers by Combs
Thorns, Book 1, self-published November 20, 2018
Fantasy/Fairy Tale, Adult
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When eccentric artist Olivia Rowe returns to the Castle to fulfill a childhood promise to its mysterious owner, Griffin, an assassination attempt against him catapults her into a world of hunters, witches, and enchantments—where fairy tales are real but happily-ever-afters are far from guaranteed.
With a rogue hunter hot on their heels, they must journey between the modern world and the last remaining magical enclaves to rescue Snow White, the Sleeping Kingdom, and Griffin himself from Bluebeard, a powerful sorcerer on a life-stealing spree to achieve immortality.
Rose Red, Book 2, self-published December 13, 2019
Fantasy/Fairy Tale, Adult
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Hair as black as night, skin as white as bone, lips as red as blood…
Just because the princess wakes up doesn’t mean she’s saved.
After Sylvaine and the Sleeping Kingdom awaken from their enchantments, the Hunter Brotherhood struggles to help the cursed population adjust to life in the modern world.
But when Sylvaine turns up in New York City with no explanation, then goes missing, the search leads Olivia, Griffin, and companions old and new deeper into even darker stories, more grim tales with endings that hadn’t gone as planned.
From giant rats to stolen hearts, it turns out saving princesses isn’t as simple as a kiss.
Bluebirds, Book 3, self-published March 2021
Fantasy/Fairy Tale, Adult
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Bring elements three to me, bluebirds,
My sweet blue witch and rose,
And I shall set them free,
As the story always goes.
With everything that’s happened to her over the last year, Olivia is taking a well-deserved break from all things fairy tale. If she goes a whole day without thinking about rats, princesses, and hearts being ripped out of chests, she counts that as a success.
Then someone kidnaps Caspar and Tobin and enlists Adelaide and Olivia to rescue them in exchange for collecting a few magical items with no help from the Hunter Brotherhood.
A rhyming ransom note is bad enough, but Olivia hadn’t exactly planned on any quests, and a scavenger hunt for a manticore tail, faerie fruit, and burned wood from a lost city promises to be as simple as it sounds.
Puppeteer, Book 4, self-published October 2023
Fantasy/Fairy Tale, Adult
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Be Yourself. Become Yourself.
Can you keep a secret?
In the aftermath of the exposed affair, Tobin isn’t doing so well, pulling away from Olivia, his work, his life. When he ends up in a club to hate himself in someone else’s company, he crosses paths with Ephraim, an enterprising alchemist with whom he experiences instant unexpected chemistry. Just as uncomfortable with his identity as Tobin, Ephraim offers him something no one else has: answers about who he is and the chance to change.
Meanwhile, Olivia’s dealing with her own fallout, but between a fire at the gallery, tense interpersonal relationships, and Tobin not acting like himself, she struggles to find a foundation that doesn’t crumble beneath her feet.
Someone doesn’t want her in their fairy tale world. They’re pulling the strings behind the scenes to systematically destroy her, and she has so much and so many people to lose.
Crooked House, Book 5, to be self-published May/June 2024
Fantasy/Fairy Tale, Adult
More details to come…
Amanda M. Blake 