Twisted Pride

by J.M. Dabney, T.L. Travis, R.A. Frick

A MM, LGBTQ Fairy tale and fable retelling collection

There's more than one kind of happily ever after...

Once upon a time, the prince realized he didn't want the princess. He wanted his own Prince Charming. From princes falling in love to the Snow Queen's heart finally melting for her princess, in these six smoking hot tales, happily ever after comes in every color of the rainbow.

512 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2024

About the author

USA Today Bestselling author J.M. Dabney is a multi-genre published writer of Body and Fat Positive Romance & Fiction. They live with a constant diverse cast of diverse characters in their head. They live for one purpose alone, and that’s to make sure everyone gets the happily ever after they deserve. There is nothing more they want from telling their stories than to show that no matter the package the characters come in or the damage their pasts have done, that love is love. That normal is never normal and sometimes the so-called broken can still be beautiful.

The author is Non-Binary and uses the pronouns They/Them.

Reviews

[Christine]

*Tried and DNF one story so far, may update if I read more of them*
DNF for Witches and Woodcutters by RA Frick (twisted Hansel and Gretel) MM with trans masc MC1 and cis MC2. I got through 104/124 pages, or 83%. The decision to age up the characters (MC1 Rhett is 21) but have them fall for the same murderous tricks repeatedly that small children do in the original didn’t work for me at all. “Too Stupid to Live” trope implausibility.
I found that incredibly frustrating as I was excited to read a story with a trans MC. The writing style was not my favorite (excessive telling and little showing) so I don’t think I’d pursue the author in the future.

A couple quotes of excessive telling below.
Type 1 of excessive telling: super repetitive summarizing dialogue that just occurred, which is longer than the original dialogue in many cases. It slows down the story, and in scenes like the one quoted removes tension from what is supposed to be an intimate scene.
“‘Don’t stop.’
Smirking, I finally understood. Rhett wasn’t telling me to stop touching him. He wanted more as much as I did. He was giving me permission.”
——————
Type 2 of excessive telling was just entire personalities and relationships happening off-page. It would’ve been nice to see any on-page interactions beyond a couple brief intimate scenes, and discussion of Helga and her evil plans:
“While I wasn’t a big reader, Rhett had turned me on to audiobooks and they helped pass the time while doing menial tasks much more quickly. He had me trying out science fiction, first. Then I’d come home and we’d discuss the characters and plots, which he’d already read, on walks or sitting outside until the sun set.”

[Heather MMRomanceReviewed]

I was only able to get a sneak peek of two of the Twisted Pride stories, so my review will center around TL Travis' Genie's Boy and R.A. Frick's Witches and Woodcutters.

Genie's Boy is a M/M retelling of Aladdin, featuring a genie who watches over a young boy growing up without his parents after they are murdered by the evil Maharaja. It was a sweet, steamy and was definitely a pride twist on a classic tale.

Witches and Woodcutters gave us a trans twist on the Hansel and Gretel story, featuring Rhett, a young trans man struggling to help his ailing father and support his younger brother, Hansel while battling an evil stepmother who, has the hots for the new woodcutter... Rhett, too has butterflies when he looks at his new neighbor, who happens to be queer and very much into the young man who seems to be doing so much with so little... and then the plot twist - Rhett's father passes away and stepmama gets crazier... we all know that leads us into the woods... you have to read on to find out how witchy things get - although it's a romance so you know there will be a HEA...

I've downloaded Twisted Pride on KU and I hope to read the other three stories when I get a break from my ARC reading! Let me know if you pick up this one and which story is your favourite!

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories that celebrate the pride movement. I have only reviewed three of the stories as the other two were not to my taste. I enjoyed the books that I did read and recommend them to anyone who enjoys this genre.


Genie’s Boy - By TL Travis

If you love a magical romance, then the story of Raj and Genie certainly fits that description. Genie promises Raj’s parents, when the maharajah sentences them to no longer live, that he would look after Raj and no harm would befall him. Little did he know that through time he would fall in love with him and want to be his Daddy. But Genie was a prisoner of the lamb and his master would not make his last wish, and it was only through an accident that he would become free. Raj rubbed the lamp and wished for Genie to be free. This was a really cute story that put a whole new light on the fairytale of Genie and the lamp.


Chase me in the woods - By Ali Williams

This was a twisted kind of little red riding hood. Ciara has returned to Ireland and to being annoyed by Robert and his threatening behaviour. Ciara has The Morrígan who is a red wolf is on her doorstep to protect her against his threats. When Robert destroys the kennel on the doorstep, Ciara invites The Morrígan inside her home. By inviting The Morrígan, she is also opening herself up to the pack, the wolves come when The Morrígan calls them when the ex comes back, but this time he is packing and when The Morrígan gets between him and his wife he shoots her, and this is when he becomes no more, the wolves protect their pack. This allows Ciara to heal and to accept The Morrígan in her life and they go to have a happily ever after.



Enchanted Daddy - By P.D. Carter

This is a really cute story of the frog prince. Prince Amir and Elias the Sorcerer grew up as best friends until Elias told Prince Amir, that he loved him but Amir did not understand what he meant and laughed at him, their friendship started to sour, and eventually, Elias confronted Amir and cursed him, and turned him into a frog, and told him that only love could return him into his human form. And it’s while he’s a frog that he meets Leo, Leo is a botanist, and he spends all his time in the gardens tending to his plants and his parents nag at him to go out and meet someone, while he’s in his garden meets Amir while he’s in his frog form and he tells Leo his tale and they develop a friendship, and eventually I love that is long, lasting and deep enough to break the curse and leave them to a happily ever after.

I was given an advanced copy of this book to read and I am reviewing with my honest and fair opinion.

[Belinda Zamora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

The Old Hag

I really enjoyed J.M. Dabney's story.
Luna was not at all your traditional Hag. She bucked most conventions and brought those under her rule more into the modern world.
Ivory is an innocent lamb who's been led to the slaughter as a sacrifice for Luna to appease her and hopefully keep her from terrorizing humans in their sleep too much.
Something amazing and unexpected happens.
Luna finds herself intrigued by Ivory, and Ivory is equally taken.
Luna knows everything about Ivory and is able to give her what she craves, love and permanence.
Luna, in turn, begins to change and becomes softer with Ivory and those close to her.
I really enjoyed the friendship that grew between Gilie, Luna's pixie assistant, and Ivory.
There are some dangerous threats from Ivory's father and Luna's mother, but they were handled quickly.

[SARAH PHELPS · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a really good, interesting anthology. I liked all of the stories and lI especially loved two of them: 'Genie's Boy' by TL Travis, and 'Chase Me In the Woods' by Ali Williams. Genie's boy was such a sweet MM retelling of the Aladdin story, and Chase me was a wonderful FF version (very loosely connected to Little Red Riding Hood, but marvelous anyway.) All the stories were engaging and unpredictable. A couple were a bit too long, but that's okay. I received an ARC copy for review.

[Karon Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is specifically for Chase Me in the Woods by Ali Williams

This was a kinky spicy sapho tale of Little Red Riding Hood with a twist. Ciara has invited the red wolf to protect her from her evil ex. I loved the twist and the OTT protective Morrigan. I am not familiar with the other authors, but this is the best thing about an anthology. You get a short story to see what you may like and I'm looking forward to finding new authors to read.

[J K H · Rating 5 out of 5]

The very first story I dove into here was Witches and Woodcutters by RA Frick and I’m so glad I did! It is a retelling of Hansel and Gretel - in this story we have Rhett and Jakob, who get to know one another first as neighbors and then as so much more. Jakob gets more and more protective of Rhett as the story goes on and I absolutely loved it. The twists and turns, the suspense and sweetness all entwined with RA Frick’s trademark heat - it was great and now I’m off to read the rest!

[Sanji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisted Pride

The Old Hag a Twisted Retelling of the Snow Queen by J.M. Dabney - FF
Genie’S Boy a Twisted Retelling of Aladdin by T.L. Travis - 4/5, HEA
Chase Me In the Woods a Twisted Retelling of Little Red Riding Hood by Ali Williams - FF
Enchanted Daddy a Twisted Retelling of the Frog Prince by P.D. Carter - 3.5/5, HEA
Witches & Woodcutters a Twisted Retelling of Hansel and Gretel by R.A. Frick - 3/5, HEA

[Lisa Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for TL Travis' story, Genie's Boy. This was such a great story, reminiscent of Alladin, but with an MM twist to it. Raj is so sweet, and Genie's love for him is so apparent. It was an easy, fun read, and I'm looking forward to reading the other stories in this anthology.

I received an advanced copy of TL Travis' story, and this is my honest review.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love anthologies like this because it gives me a chance to read some new authors to me. I enjoyed all 5 of the stories with T.L. Travis and Ali Williams being my favorites. If you love "pride" stories and stories that are a bit shorter, you should pick this anthology up!!

[Lindarhc · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are all based on fairy tale tales with a difference.
Each story has you wondering what is going to happen next. I enjoyed each story for different reasons. You could feel the love they had for each other in each story though in some it took longer than others

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun collection

This was a fun collection of stories. I enjoyed each author's twist on their fairytale or fable retelling. They reminded me of the original tales that were a little darker than what we are used to.

[Haney Hayes Promotions · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a perfect fit for readers who crave diverse, inclusive, and romantic tales that celebrate the beauty of non-traditional love and the idea that happily ever after can be found in all its vibrant, rainbow-hued forms.

[Brei-ayn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Genie's Boy and struggled to put it down. The story is amazing and I enjoyed reading Raj and Genie's story.

[Natalie Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairy tale Pride

I loved all of these stories. Each made you see a different side of love and LGBTQ lives. Each made me smile, cry, laugh, or a mix!!!!

[Maggie]

Rokp