Slippers and Thorns

The Roumaterra Chronicles #1

by Erin Halbmaier

A duty-focused prince. A lonely princess. A marriage of true love…or not?

Michael and Ella thought life would be perfect after they married. True love, right? However, mixing a dutiful crown prince and a servant girl isn’t a recipe for bliss. Add a too-friendly guard, a dash of jealousy, and a mysterious, abandoned castle, and you have a recipe for disaster.

When Michael accidentally wakes his childhood sweetheart from her enchanted slumber, he’s confronted with her declaration that it’s true love. The obvious solution? Divorce his wife so they can be together. Now, he faces the choice of his life: does he stick with an imperfect marriage or cut his losses for the sake of “true love”?

When happily ever after isn’t a fairytale, is it worth fighting for?

Slippers and Thorns is a clean, no-spice romance that reimagines Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. It is the first book in The Roumaterra Chronicles, a series of interconnected, standalone fairy tale retellings perfect for readers of Brittany Fichter and Celeste Baxendell.

*This story contains a struggling marriage and redemption from emotional cheating arc

Genres: Retellings, Cinderella, Fairy Tale Retellings, Romance

356 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2023

About the author

Programmer. Composer. Author of clean, no-spice romantasy with swoony moments and a dash of adventure.
Erin Halbmaier’s love of a good tale covers multiple genres, but the relationships are always what draw her in. Her flawed characters stay in the 1.5-2 level for romance and have to struggle for their happily ever after, but she doesn't do sad endings.
When not buried in a book or writing one, she can be found fiddling with computer code, writing music, or hanging out with her husband and kids.

Keep up with updates, promos, and fun stuff: find all the links at https://erinhalbmaier.com/links/

Reviews

[Fifi’s Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little fairytale! Solid story, but there’s still some work to be done which I’ll mention later in the review. The concept of true love not being something that’s fated but a choice that develops over time from action is an interesting concept, especially for a fairytale when typically there is a “destined to be together” trope between a prince and a princess. It adds a slice of reality to a fairytale that I don’t personally prefer (I like the concept of fated soulmates especially in a fairytale, even if the definition of true love in this story is more of a realistic one) but it worked in this story.

My main critique is that some parts of the dialogue felt out of place. Not often though, but it’s there at the beginning. Also, a prince named Mike in a storybook fairytale feels out of place. “Prince Mike” just doesn’t fit in a fairytale, unless it’s one of those modern hallmark royalty movies. Even if it is just a nickname, it just doesn’t work with this genre. And maybe I’m being nitpicky but even the names Katy and Justin feel too modern and out of place. Also, dialogue such as “oh, hey, Michael” ruin the fairytale feel that the book is trying to convey because the language is too casual and modern and it ruins the illusion and sucks you out of the story. But luckily these issues don’t come up often.

My other critique is lack of worldbuilding. It was definitely a fairytale world, with kingdoms, princes, and princesses, which is enough to make me happy, but there also isn’t much expansion outside of that. You don’t find out much about the setting outside of their immediate surroundings. But this definitely had the storybook fairytale feel I was searching for, so overall a solid fairytale!

3.5 rounded up to 4, because I am biased towards fairytales. I’ve read better ones, but this was fairytale enough for me to want to give it an above average rating.

[Hunter]

45% that’s as far as I made it until I could not take the utter lack of communication between the two knucklehead main characters anymore! It was constantly he’s not talking to her but she wants him to, then as soon as he starts talking to her, she doesn’t want to talk to him. On repeat, repeatedly, repeated!

Pete and Repeat were in a boat, Pete jumped out. Who was left???????!!

It was that level of repeatedly not communicating.

Michael does some truly mean spirited things when he’s on his not talking to Ella tangents. He’s very immature in his actions, which if a real book, would be scary since he’s gonna be king.

Ella taking so long to find something useful to do, besides wanting to clean, made her seem a bit empty-headed. Right away when she said she wished she had more to do, I thought why not do something charitable…it took her over two years to do that.

Their utter lack of communication is 40% of the 45% I read.

I was very thankful that there is no love triangle with the guard…just a misunderstanding. But why would Ella have him as her best friend and confidant…why not talk to…idk your HUSBAND! Even if he’s busy all day, there is a thing called pillow talk! I couldn’t understand why they were always in separate bedrooms. (Though also thankful the author didn’t go in detail with anything that should stay between a married couple).

I think this book has a great message, fight for your marriage. And I love that, and can appreciate it. Maybe if there were some breaks between the many back and forth fights where we could be shown some of Ella and Michael’s good sides of their characters (more so Michael). Shown why they loved each in the first place. I think I would have stuck with it, because I truly was enjoying the fight for your marriage message. But we see a whole lot of bad from Michael, including pining after other women, and so little good, that it was hard to even want to keep reading about him, or why Ella loved him in the first place.

It’s a testimony of how good of a writer this author is though that I made it this far into this book. Even now a part of me wants to keep reading. You feel each hurt on both sides, and all the anger, you feel that! I suspect the other book in this series is going to be more to my liking since it’s a completely different kind of plot. My only complaint with the writing was some of the names didn’t fit the setting, and a few times some of the phrases seemed too modern.

Content: no spice or swearing, no violence.

[Norma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how there are hints throughout her book that ties the rest of the books in her series. She has a creative way of combining classic fairytales together in a whole new way. It reminds me of the tv show “Once Upon A Time” but without the Evil Queen cursing them to the real world. Possible spoiler alert: the series started out with no magic in this world the author created but as the story continues you and the characters learn that there is magic but there world doesn’t end at happily ever after, since the real world isn’t like that and the author teaches important lessons especially when it comes to marriage in this book. I suggest you read “Night of Dance” first to get a little background on Cinderella first even though this book does an okay job explaining it so you it’s not a requirement.

[Valerie Mc · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - I got 35% into it and just couldn't take it anymore. I don't typically like leaving bad reviews, but when a book keeps me up at night because I'm so annoyed with the characters I break that standard. I just feel other's should know what they're getting into before starting.

I know in the Disney version most people don't like Prince Charming (or Michael/Mike in this case) because he's nothing more than a pretty face... But I didn't know a book could make me DETEST him and dislike Cinderella (Ella)!! Ugh!

I'm not a fan of the miscommunication trope anyway, but this was beyond that. There were so, so many times they could have talked and worked things out - there were even times it said they "say sat talked" but then went right go to their bad behavior. Basically they just acted immature and either refused to listen to the other or refused to talk at all. And all Mike's flirting with other women while married is completely unacceptable!! Who cares if it started because he was hurt by Ella?!? This is why I detested him and only "disliked" Ella.

I think that the author is trying to show that marriage is work and that 'true love' is really about choosing the other person but, gracious, there are better ways to do that! Have them go through some actual hard times and choose each other despite that. All this story did was make me believe that these characters are horrible humans - I wouldn't want to be married to either of them.

Maybe if this wasn't billed as a "fairytale retelling" but rather same idea as an original novel, set in modern times, I could have accepted it a bit more. (still hate this trope when the whole story revolves around it, but maybe) But this isn't a fairytale "retelling" at all... It's a very long, very annoying epilogue to the actual tale. (even the Grimms Brothers didn't go into what happened after the wedding)

I wish I could end on some positive note... But there just wasn't one for me. I was hoping to get to the part that brought in Sleeping Beauty but I just couldn't.

[Chantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the idea in this book that showed that happily every after is a constant choice we make. The story did drag a bit for me and felt not quite as cohesive as some but for a debut I thought it was a great start to a new series.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sobbed the entire book

If you’re looking for a wholesome fairytale romance, skip this book. If you’re looking for a very real and emotional story about choosing love and forgiveness each day, then this is the perfect book for you.

I’ve been waiting a long time to finally get a chance to read this book. I’m not quite sure how I feel because it’s an excellent book that succeeded at holding my attention and making me cry throughout, but it’s a very hard story to read. I usually avoid literary fiction because I don’t want to read about struggling marriages, infidelity, and divorce. I was in for a surprise, because that’s the entire plot of this book even though it’s more of a fantasy fairytale retelling. Therefore, I would recommend it to readers who want an emotional, real story. This book is marketed to fans of Fichter and Baxendell, and I would agree. I would also say that this book is far heavier than any book I’ve read by those authors because of how far the characters’ marriage deteriorates and the amount of emotional turmoil they put each other through. They still have romance. This doesn’t feel like a romance, or at least, not one that’s even remotely healthy.

The book’s writing style and pacing were fantastic. Erin succeeded where many authors have not. I couldn’t put this book down or speed through it despite how much the book made me cry or how much I wanted to yell at the characters. If I could rate just on the writing and the book’s ability to elicit an emotional reaction from me, this would be 5 stars.

The reason it’s not a perfect rating from me is because the characters are a mess. Not in how they’re written but in the decisions they make. Prince Michael chronically cheats on his wife, going so far as to kiss another woman and feel only guilt rather than remorse. He never recognizes when he’s in the wrong and needs to apologize unless someone calls him out on it. Scratch that. Unless someone who isn’t Ella calls him out on it. He is petty - choosing to publicly ignore Ella in favor of whatever woman is willing to chase a married man at the time - just because he thinks she’s in love with someone else. The irony… Ella doesn’t help in that every time she does win back his affections she decides that’s the time to throw up a stone wall and refuse to let him in. A few open conversations between them would go a long way.

Honestly, while I like the message that love is a choice and forgiveness goes a long way, I think Ella should have divorced him. I believe in doing everything possible to keep a marriage together but only if there’s no abuse nor infidelity. Because he has proven to ignore her, disrespect her, and chase other women so indiscreetly that everyone in the castle knows, she would be well within her rights to call it quits, and Michael is extremely fortunate that she is more willing to fight for him and her marriage than he was. I liked the rest of Michael’s family, Lucinda, Prince Axel, and Princess Katy.

[Sara Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slippers and Thorns tells the story of Cinderella two years after she married her Prince Charming. Ella is bored out of her mind but not allowed to cook or clean since it doesn't befit her current status. And Crown Prince Michael no longer has time for her between being busy with work and flirting with the castle ladies. Ella is determined to fix her marriage, so when a friend and fellow commoner-turned-princess suggests that she and Michael take on the project of restoring an old castle, she hesitantly agrees. But there is magic at play there - magic that, strangely, only affects the men. Will Ella be able to save her husband? Does she even want to?

This was a different kind of love story than most fairy tale retellings I've read. It asks deep questions like what is true love? And what does it mean to love someone when the feelings have gone away? And what does forgiveness after betrayal look like? I feel like I just went through marriage counseling, not in the preachy sense, but in the sense that I watched how it played out in the book. I was irritated with Michael for much of the book - his responses to his wife were completely unacceptable. Ella, on the other hand, made some poor decisions, but I felt they were more understandable than Michael's.

The story included a lot of fantastic side characters. I loved all of the guards and their unique personalities. I also really enjoyed the prince's teenage brother. He was such a good ally and so funny. And Edna really was something - I need more stories about her! The strength of this book was in its characters, and while some played larger roles than others, none felt at all flat. The setting was also very fun, especially the old castle, its mysteries, and the missing memories.

This was an incredibly strong debut novel, and I look forward to continuing this series. I received a free ARC from the authors, but these views are my own and the review written willingly.

[Annelise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t NOT read this after reading the premise— Cinderella and Prince Charming two years after getting married so quickly. Throw in Sleeping Beauty as the princess’s long-lost “true love,” and I was already hooked—I HAD to see how this went down!!

Cinderella and the Prince having issues after the ball is nothing new—just look at Into the Woods for a fairly well known example. But in nearly every version I’ve seen, Cinderella and the prince end up splitting up in the end. I really liked that this one had them work through the problems and come together, although I do wish there was more time spent on them trying to understand each other and not just trying to do little things to fix it, (instead of just all of the drama splitting them apart. I guess maybe the drama is more fun to read?)

Also—I get that Erin is probably trying to avoid spoilers in her marketing, and it is mostly true, but—I would call it a bit more than just a “redemption from ~emotional~ cheating arc.” It’s not much more than that, but it is a bit 🤷🏼‍♀️

I was honestly expecting Helena to come into the story sooner. I guess it makes sense where she fit into the story; it just wasn’t what I was expecting, especially after reading Songs and Spun Gold, where both of the retellings are interwoven together at the same time.

Honestly, it had really compelling characters and totally believable misunderstandings. The first thing I ever read from Erin was an excerpt of Arrows and Gems, so I had already seen Helena in a different life. It was interesting for me to see her as super immature—but very relatable if you think about how long she was asleep.

Overall a nice read, and I just really want to know more about all of these kingdoms. I’m excited to get to the second half of Katy and Axel’s story! I’m also very motivated now to read the short story about Justin—I think he’s my favorite :)

[Amber Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked parts of it

I enjoyed the world, the plot, the writing style, and most of the characters. It was an interesting combination of Sleeping Beauty and post Cinderella. I also really enjoyed the signs of interconnected stories for later in the series.

However I couldn't get into the romance. I usually try to avoid spoilers when writing a review, but I can't explain why I didn't like the romance without elaborating a bit. Stop reading my review now if you don't want any spoilers.











First, I think the romance side of it might have worked better if the typical Cinderella beats were included. But other than the Sleeping Beauty setup that happens in the past, the story starts after Cinderella married her prince. At the start of the story, they've been married a couple years and are drifting apart.

Although I think an earlier story start with the initial romance would help, I'm not sure if it would be enough to make up for everything that is wrong with their romance.

Most of the time, Michael seemed to be absolutely horrible, but Ella kept trying to work on their marriage anyway. On the rare occasions where he wasn't being a royal butthead, Ella was choosing that time to be unforgiving and offended.

On multiple occasions, Michael chose to flaunt another woman, consider the idea of another woman instead, and get jealous over assumptions when Ella wasn't ever unfaithful.

Throughout the book, I found myself crying for Ella and what she was going through. But I was also frustrated with her during the time that I still hoped she'd repair her marriage.

By the time she finally got to the point where Michael actually realized what he had done wrong, I wasn't even hoping that they'd be together in the end anymore. His efforts at that point felt too little too late.

[Karen Daliath · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always wondered how exactly did Cinderalla and Prince Charming have a 'happily ever after' because they barely knew each other. Surely they have had marriage life troubles that they didn't easily overcome, right? Yes, of course. This retelling of Cinderalla and Sleeping Beauty from Erin Halbmaier is all about that. Although, I must add that our protagonist Ella isn't the sleeping beauty here, but she's definitely the Cinderella.

Ella is such a sweet character. I liked her. And Michael too, when he wasn't oh-so-frustrating. If this book wasn't in dual pov and we wouldn't have known Michael's side of the story, not just me but every reader might've hated him and have a hard time forgiving him. But I'm so glad that Erin saved us all from feeling so—but man, the frustration was REAL! I could feel like I was Ella and I felt everything she felt.

This book shows us that there's hope in a loveless marriage (or a marriage that started on love but fell apart due to many reasons) if both person are willing play their part well in their life, fulfill their roles, open up rather than concealing, and confronting rather than hiding away.

Although, I personally believe the moral of the story is that: Marry for love. And never ever mistake infatuation for love. 😅😉 Marry someone you know that you know their "heart" and make sure they're your bestest friend.

I received an ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are solely mine.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very realistic if we take into account the personalities of the characters. No matter how much I yelled at them to talk ik their thought processes, yes people can rate this book low for the misunderstanding trope but remember Ella lived a life where she didn’t tell anyone her issues. She had an abusive family that didn’t give squat about how she felt, so her feeling like she couldn’t talk to anyone one goes along with that.

Though let’s be real I’m pissed at Michael like him making assumptions at the very beginning, but not realizing he was ignoring her for months, but making time for other court ladies. All for the plot 😭. It also doesn’t help with the royal sleeping arrangements.

😏 me when the king was trying to help mend the relationship, 😒 me when Michael ignores the signals everyone is showing at him.
I do hope they are in other books with a happy relationship 🙏🙏, because only having 2 chapters with them being back together is too little for me (that includes the epilogue).

Over all I really liked the book, I felt the long way they had to get back together fit them well, and them in the abandoned castle before miss “he’s my true love” should up was cute. And by the fact I finished this book in 3 days should also say something when I read basically only 2 books a month I’ve even nowadays.
I’m excited for the other books 🙌🙌

[Jacquelyn 💐 {This Rapunzel Reads} [Jesus Christ, my Living Hope] · Rating 3 out of 5]

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

This is a retelling of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty! I’ve never read this author before, but these books looked so good so I’m excited to read them! The cover is so pretty! I love the blue! This is so interesting because they’re already married! I don’t really think the name Mike really fits him. Well, I have mixed thoughts about this book. I wanted to yell at both of them almost the entire book. They were so rude to each other, acting like children. They both were cheating on each other which I didn’t like at all. Helena was insufferable! I wanted to tell her to get lost! I know the author was trying to create a story showing that you should fight for your marriage which I’m all for. I just don’t think it was done as well as it could have been. They didn’t even make it right until there was only a couple chapters left! I did like Axel and Katy and I’m excited to read their story in the next two books! But overall, I’m disappointed.

Quote that I liked:

💙 “Love is more than just feelings, dearie," Edna told her. “Love is an action. Right now, you must choose to love your husband through your actions. The feelings will follow."

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

[Jenny Stadnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Slippers and Thorns and how it portrayed life after Happily Ever After. Cinderella and her prince have been married for two years when we meet them in this story - enough time to get busy with life as a prince training to take over, and enough time for Cinderella to wonder if this is what “happily ever after” is supposed to be like, always being pushed to the back burner of her husband’s schedule, and never being allowed to do anything.

Meanwhile the prince is pining after his childhood flame, who turns out to be none other than Sleeping Beauty.

Halbmaier does an excellent job of moving the story along, and weaving the two stories together. The writing is excellent and all questions are answered by story’s end.

If you ever wondered what life after happily ever after is like, read this book! And I look forward to the next one!

[Zerin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does 'true love' really look like?
In fairy tales it's often 'love at first sight,' or 'soul mates,' or something equally unrealistic. This fairy tale retelling tackles what true love actually means by following the Cinderella character and her prince two years after their wedding. The pressures of life, royal responsibilities and expectations, societal incompatibility, miscommunication, and a growing disconnect between 'what life was supposed to be after marriage' and 'what life actually is now' all lead to a once happily-married couple that is now deeply miserable and wondering how to escape their situation. Enter the cursed castle of Sleeping Beauty, the prince's first love, and you have a beautifully tangled situation. Along the way, Ella and Prince Michael have to learn to forgive and trust each other, as well as that true love takes effort and vows cannot be abandoned because the person who made them no longer 'feels it.' This is a story about dedication, sacrifice, selfless caring, and true love in its purest form. I would highly recommend this to readers of K.M. Shea, Celeste Baxendell, Brittany Fichter, and A.G. Marshall.

[Divya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable fairy tale retelling that follows Ella and crown Prince Michael after their wedding. Things aren't as good between the two. I really felt for Ella and what she was going through. Michael was being annoying most of the time! The king then sends them to a renovated castle for some alone time. The story is well written and the two popular fairy tales are seamlessly blended together to form a beautiful story. I received a free copy of the book and this is my voluntary and honest review.

[bookbreaks_n_hottakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happened after the ball, the royal wedding, and the happily ever after?

In a #cinderella retelling, Michael and Arabella had a whirlwind romance but they are learning that keeping the spark alive is not as easy. As they struggle with pride, temptation, and their own romantic expectations , they must decide if it was all just a lie.

As a woman who has been married for many years, this book struck a cord. I identified with the main characters as they chose to love through the difficulties of life, even though their pride won some time.

Marriage is hard, but we get to chose happily ever after every day.

I have looking forward to reading the rest of THE ROUMATERRA CHRONICLES by ERIN HALBMAIER. Thank you for a chance to arc read this series and share my real thoughts.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clean and realistic relationship

This is an amazing book. I've finished it and loved the characters and the wholesomeness :) Having dual sides of the story helps with both sides of view, so it's easier to know what's going on and not make assumptions. It shows how real both the main characters are and to relate with them. I personally loved how this is a fairytale with realistic and reasonable expectations in a relationship :) its a clean romance and happily ever after :)

[Alesa Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. But oh my goodness. Both Michael and Arabella needed to grow up. I’m glad this was a no spice fairy tale retelling, but I didn’t need open door arguments. The whole book was their petty fight and how they could get back at each other rather than talking about their problems.

I’m still curious to read the sequels because it deals with Phantom of the Opera, but I’m not sure how soon that will be.

[Aunt LoLo · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF for me.

Well written, super believable characters! Five stars there.

I found the story a bit triggering- newly weds drifting apart, not communicating, making each other jealous on purpose, and never giving each other the benefit of the doubt. The book does end with a HEA, and I think offers a look at a healthy way to come back from drifting apart, but I found it triggering and chose to DNF rather than make myself upset. 😅 A little *too* believable!

[Ami Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

thought provoking

Although this story mixed modern with medieval as far as words and food went, I still loved it for the content! Clean and free from violence, it instead focused on the relationship between the main characters as a married couple and the power of true love and forgiveness. I loved it!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled some with the main characters' immaturity and emotional infidelity. Despite that, I liked the book enough to finish it, and I plan to read more books in this series.

Content: clean - innuendo

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming story. I still liked Michael throughout and was glad Ella fought for him.

[Linda Mercer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can you have realistic fantasy?

When reading this book it brought to life actual struggles and misunderstandings in a marriage! I truly enjoyed it all!

[Deanna Nielson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the whole book despite being so mad at the characters' choices, so I am going to try other books by this author. However, the emotional cheating in this book infuriates me. I was picturing it being a brief part of the book, followed by putting in the work to fix things, so I was willing to give it a chance. If I had realized it would be the entire book other than the brief ending, I wouldn't have read it. It just made me sad and frustrated to see them consistently push each other away and avoid communicating their feelings.