A stolen bride's sister. Robin Hood's little brother. A mission to fight the fae.
The Wild Fae Primrose Eight months ago, Brigid's sister Meg was stolen by the fae. Now Meg has returned, claiming her captor is her husband and her life in the Fae Realm is wonderful. Brigid doesn't know what to think, but she knows better than to trust the fae. Any fae. Yet when she sees a stolen human boy at the Faerie Market, she finds unexpected allies.
After Robin Hood For seven years, Munch and his family fought the evil Duke Guy ""Bluebeard"" of Gysborn. But now Munch's sister Robin has married him, revealed the true villain, and ordered them to stop their outlaw ways. Munch doesn't know what to make of his new brother-in-law, until an awkward situation brings them together.
The First Kiss After two years of training, Brigid needs to prove to her queen that she's ready to fully take on the role of the Primrose. Jumping at a chance to cultivate new allies in the Human Realm, Brigid travels to Gysborn and meets Munch, the younger brother of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood. Brigid came for training, but will she leave with a summer romance or a broken heart?
Enjoy this novella-length collection of stories that bridges the time gaps between Stolen Midsummer Bride and Bluebeard and the Outlaw and provides backstory for Forest of Scarlet!
Note: This ebook is available for free from the author's newsletter.
Born and raised in Michigan, I enjoy traveling to new adventures that inspire my writing.
Growing up, I read just about every book I could get my hands on, especially fantasy. I currently write YA fantasy and romantic fantasy filled with lots of humor, spunky and tough leading ladies, and broken heroes.
When I am not writing, I enjoy spending time with my chocolate lab, Miss Kisses.
This was fun! Made me laugh out loud several times, and glad I read it before starting Forest of Scarlet, because turns out my recollection of Stolen Midsummer Bride and Bluebeard and the Outlaw was fuzzy, and this helped jog my memory. 😅 The mirroring of Brigid and Munch being on guard and confused by "wait, is my sibling actually in love and the 'enemy' in love back?" was so amusing. Definitely is a set up/bridge to Forest of Scarlet, not so much a full story, which is what it was meant to be and it does it well.
ETA, because I forgot (and also forgot the star rating?? my brain is working well 😆) and then was thinking about it since a couple aspects are repeated and slightly more prevalent in Forest of Scarlet: While this IS overall a light and funny read and the following subjects are not graphic: Trigger Warnings: Reference to human trafficking (via forced indenture and capture by fae). Threat of forced servitude. Allusion to fear of what type of work a pretty young woman would be subjected to. Child abuse (one fairly brief but uncomfortable scene where a fae uses magic to force a kidnapped human child to dance and and act like animal)
– this can be received by signing up for Tara’s newsletter
– this is meant to be read after Stolen Midsummer Bride & Bluebeard and the Outlaw
– this is a collection of 3 short stories that give backstory to Forest of Scarlet
– this is told from Brigid & Munch’s points of view
Review:
Though there isn’t much romance in these short stories, I like how they set up the romance coming in Forest of Scarlet! I love Munch’s personality and Brigid’s determination. I can’t wait to see how both of their stories/knowledge/personalities end up clashing & combining in the upcoming story! I also really liked seeing what happened at the end of Stolen Midsummer Bride & Blubeard and the Outlaw from our upcoming heroine/hero’s perspectives. It gives me a better insight as to what they believed happened & what has happened since those stories ended so we have a better idea of what’s to come.
Summary:
The Wild Fae Primrose:
Brigid wasn’t sure that she’d ever see her older sister again after Meg went looking to be stolen as a fae bride to save their siblings from a life of slavery. Meg luckily returns in the nick of time to save them, but something is off about her. Could she really have fallen for her fae captor or is she under some fae spell? With things in the fae realm appearing to be too good to be true, Brigid thinks that a spell must be at work. But when her new fae brother-in-law does something unexpected, Brigid wonders if she got it all wrong…
After Robin Hood:
Munch is the youngest of Robin’s brothers and is regularly pushed to the side and given the most boring of jobs on their missions. But when things go wrong on Robin’s latest mission, Munch is the first to bring the brothers together to save her. Could the dastardly Blubeard have managed to get the drop on Robin? Or could a greater danger be looming in the shadows?
The First Kiss:
Brigid needs to train for her mission to save humans from the fae who have nefarious ideas for them. So she fights with the Swordmaidens in an effort to do well when things go wrong. And after her sister returns from a visit to the human realm, Brigid goes back to talk with a promising group of people who might be able to help her return the humans to their rightful homes while she returns to the fae realm for more rescues. Though Brigid didn’t expect one of the people in the human realm to catch her eye…
Munch wants something exciting to happen instead of the mundane treks and watching for fae creatures that could cause havoc. But when a fairy circle activates while he’s on patrol, he is surprised to find a beautiful human come through claiming to be searching for his sister & brother-in-law. What business could she have with them and why can’t he seem to shake looking at her?
Violence: mild. There is an instance of fae cruelty toward a child.
Sexual: None.
I was surprised first of all at the length of this one. And second of all that it wasn't just from Bridget's perspective, but also Munch's. Apparently, this was supposed to be the beginning of Forest of Scarlet, until the author realized there was just too much there, so it became an extra as a sort of bridging between Bluebeard and the Outlaw and Stolen Midsummer Bride.
It was really fun to see the characters I fell in love with here, and that was my absolute favorite part of the whole thing. Seeing Basil especially gave me happy endorphins, and how he wins over Bridget the overly suspicious child. Seriously, she was on paranoia steroids.
While I enjoyed the romp back seeing Robin and Guy, which is always funny, I had a harder time with the introduction to our future protagonists, Bridget and Munch. I'm honestly a bit leery of reading Forest of Scarlet now because I just...well...I didn't like them. I'll still read Forest of Scarlet eventually, but I might have to work myself up to try it.
Bridget just came across as way too untrusting for what I knew of her background. Her whole problem stemmed from the stories she'd heard not from any actual experience, and then she held on to her paranoia despite gaining postitive experience contrary to what she'd been told. I could've been fine with that, change is ridiculously hard, but she held on, and on, and on, to the extent that I got annoyed because there was no forward momentum in the story or her character arc. For a far longer time than I liked.
Munch is the baby of the family of Woodsman, the littlest brother of Robin Hood. His defining characteristics here are his propensity to eat constantly, and his natural inclination to stay out of the way because there's no point with six older siblings doing it anyway. And a great exasperation for his real name. I found him awkward, passive, and uninteresting. But at least he didn't annoy me like Bridget.
I'm truly hoping that the actual book does something to endear them to me.
4 short spinoff stories from author’s Robin Hood & human-saving fae books
4 stories in 1 set, overall 4/5⭐️
4/5⭐️The Wild Fae Primrose
Howl’s Moving Castle meets Disney - surprisingly optimistic but a bit drawn out - a fairytale about humans and fae colluding to return stolen humans to the Human Realm for a change. Muahhahhaa! Loved that the fae lord was a Master Librarian at a magic library and that the fae king & queen were human-sympathisers.
Glimmers: a house that steals clothes, muahhhahhaa! Loved the Anywhere Doors and Court of Knowledge as well as bookworms being actual worms at the library; and sensible Brigid doubting whether wearing a frilly dress would betray her farmgirl upbringing. Lol.
5/5⭐️After Robin Hood
Robin’s married Guy “Bluebeard” Gisborn and Munch, her youngest brother is on the lookout. Word on the street is, Gisborn is fae. A shortish Bluebeard retelling without any deets but with a few surprises. Loved why and how Munch got his name.
5/5⭐️The First Kiss
The jump back to Brigid and her swordmaiden training was a bit jarring after Robin Hood, but it all came together in the end how these two storylines were related. Bringing fae into Robin Hood stories & Robin the Forester instructing Brigid how to work the faerie circles - nice! I quite like the crazy Lady Robin of this author - what’s the fun of looking without leaping, indeed.
3/5⭐️Too Many Chauvlyns Bridge working with Munch but not to save humans from fae but the other way around and blaming Bridge’s arch enemy when doing it.
Recommended for lovers of human-helping fae lore mashed up with Robin Hood stories.
This is a wonderful short story collection, with the first three stories filling in gaps between Stolen Midsummer Bride/Bluebeard and the Outlaw and Forest of Scarlet, with the fourth story being a novella sequel to Forest of Scarlet. I highly recommend reading all three books before this one (and in the order above) in order to avoid spoiling those stories, which are amazing in their own rights as well.
The Wildfae Primrose is a collection of stories (free for signing up for the author’s newsletter) which bridge the gap between Bluebeard and the Outlaw, A Stolen Midsummer’s Bride, and The Forest of Scarlet. It tells the stories of how the siblings from Midsummer's Bride come to Faerie and what happens with Robin’s siblings after Bluebeard. There’s also a story of Munch and Brigid meeting which sets up The Forest of Scarlet. I really enjoy this world that Grayce created and it was fun to see how the characters get together. It’s a great set up for the next book, but should really be read after the first two (although those two can be read in any order).
Audiobook: I enjoyed this group of short stories a lot. I thought the worldbuilding was creative. I liked Brigid, her loyalty to her sister, her determination, and her strength. I admired Brigid's fierceness when she decided on her vocation. I liked Munch and his family and how they interacted with one another. I was entertained by Brigid's and Munch's meeting. I enjoyed the flashes of humor which percolated throughout each story. I thought Liz Brand's narration was great, and her performance enhanced the story's entertainment. I was given a copy of the audiobook. I volunteered, without financial gain, to post this review which reflected my honest opinions regarding this audiobook.
I got this short story for free from the author’s newsletter and it reminded me how utterly charming this world is. Now I can’t wait for the first book in the new series to be released later this month! Even more exciting is that it’s going to be a series of standalones, which I always prefer as then no long waits for the conclusion of the romance and we can experience more of the world as each person will be involved in a different way. I’m hoping each book will follow a different sibling of either Meg or Robin.
This short story collection fills in some of the gaps between "Stolen Midsummer Bride," "Bluebeard and the Outlaw," and "Forest of Scarlet." There's also a delightful little sequel story to "Forest of Scarlet." I like how these characters (Munch and Brigid) are an adorable mix of highly competent and super awkward. I'm so excited to keep reading this series, and for the next release (based on the title and some hints in the other books, I think it'll be a retelling of my favorite Shakespeare comedy, Much Ado About Nothing).
I’ve been meaning to read this background novella on a much loved character for a while now — and it’s better than the author promised! I nodded sympathetically for Brigid’s early suspicions, cheered her on as she discovered her purpose, smirked at Munch, and held my breath for that last section. As always, Grayce does an excellent job of touching serious depths while keeping her stories light.
This was a great book with lots of short stories that explained a lot of things between Bluebeard and the Outlaw and Forest of Scarlet. I really enjoyed seeing that "first kiss" between Brigid and Munch that was brought up often in Forest of Scarlet and described as "awful". It was also nice to see Brigid's cynical reaction when Meg and Basil showed up to bring them to the Fae world.
I loved this novella so much! It was such a nice bonus to get a glimpse to the events that happened after Bluebeard and the Outlaw and before/after Forest of Scarlet. Tara is such a great writer and these stories were just so fun! I found myself laughing several times. I hope to continue to see these characters in future books in this realm!
I loved getting to see all the background events that lead up and follow up the starters books of this series! Love getting more Brigid and Munch! And their awkward first kiss! But the last story is touching and heroic and left me with some tears. I appreciate that Tara can handle hard things well while still creating a fun story.
a bunch of cute, short, connection stories that tie several stories and character together in preparation for Tara Grayce's next book/series. Best read after reading Stolen Midsummer Bride and Bluebeard and the Outlaw. Free for newsletter subscribers!
A fun introduction to the MCs of Forest of Scarlet. Here's hoping they'll have grown out of some of their awkwardness, cute as it is, by then. XD I really liked the setup for the Primrose and am looking forward to seeing how that pays off!
Some short stories that are either referenced directly in other books, or have some of the results referenced in other books. I didn't care much for the story about Munch's and Brigid's first kiss, but the others were a good addition to the series.
This is a collection of short stories/novellas that bridges gaps between the books in the Court series. Not just after Forest of Scarlet, but after Bluebeard and the Outlaw, and Stolen Midsummer Bride, too.
This was an enjoyable, sweet read. Short and mostly lighthearted. There were some mentions of heavy subjects, but not a whole lot. Besides one REALLY awkward kiss, not much romance.
I like when an author has a book of short stories that fills in gaps or gives us little side stories of the characters in the series. This was such an enjoyable read.