Sub Rosa

by Mia Darien

Everyone knows the stories, but what if they went a little differently?

Beau Merchant is your average twenty-something college kid, living at home with two obnoxious brothers and a quietly grieving mother. That is until a simple favor for Mom turns into a broken leg and an extended stay at a castle out of time and place, first patient and then prisoner of a strange female creature...

Genres: Fantasy

ebook

First published August 28, 2012

About the author

Born a Connecticut Yankee in nobody’s court, Mia Darien grew up to brave snow and talk fast. She started reading when she was three and never looked back, soon frequently falling asleep with a book under her cheek. (Something she still does, though these days it’s her Nook as often as a paperback.)

At eleven, she discovered “Night Mare” by Piers Anthony and entered the world of grown-up fantasy fiction and it was all over from there. She started writing at fourteen, then met vampires as a teenager and the concept for what would become Adelheid was soon born. Epic fantasy remains her first love, but she enjoys writing whatever stories come to mind in any genre.

Now she loves both writing and helping her indie community with her freelancing. A geek till the end, she enjoys role-play by email games and World of Warcraft when she has the time. Married to her very own Named Man of the North, she lives with him, their mini-tank (also known as their son) and pets, who usually act more childish than the child.

Reviews

[A.L. Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet:) This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - with a twist. I fell it could have done with being a wee bit longer but it was fun for a short read and quite cleverly executed. The main characters were interesting, and pretty different - one modern and one trapped in the past. The twist really worked, and made the outcome more poignant. Only a couple of things niggled - it felt a little rushed and was a bit choppy and some of the other characters could have been fleshed out more. That said it WAS a short story.

Overall well done, and I'll be looking out for more from this author.

[Steph Bennion · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it: this was a quick, light-hearted read. The modern touches to the traditional Beauty and the Beast storyline were nice (I liked the audio book), as was the small twist around the expected gender roles. However, I couldn't thinking that I expected something more. I blame the British pantomime tradition for that, which is madly inventive when it comes to retellings of classic fairy tales.