Beauty and the Goblin King

Fairy Tale Heat #1

by Lidiya Foxglove

Maybe I was the girl Clara didn’t want me to be. Here I was, with the goblin king, and I didn’t want him to stop.

For the past ten years, the Goblin King has stayed locked away in his caverns. He only opens his doors for one purpose: he will give one gold coin for every night a girl is willing to spend with him. Despite his fearsome reputation, his fangs and claws, the girls come back safe and sound, and they never say a word about it. One must be very desperate to accept such an offer…or very curious. Well, everyone says curiosity has always been my downfall. Too clever for a girl so beautiful.

Now my family is on the brink of losing everything. My sister Clara knows the goblin king’s story has always intrigued me, and she’s willing to sacrifice me to get her hands on his money. But I finally have the chance to sate my curiosity.

What will I find when I get there? A man who is cruelly cursed, haunted by a past misdeed? Or the man who will unlock all of my secret desires?

It has been a long time since the Goblin King trusted anyone, but if he is willing to trust me, I might be able to save him and his people. But the witch who cursed him is close at hand, and she doesn’t play fair.

Beauty and the Goblin King is a fairy tale retelling for those who like an adorable happily ever after with a side of serious steaminess!

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Retellings, Beauty and The Beast, Paranormal Romance, Fairy Tales, Fae

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 27, 2017

About the author

Lidiya Foxglove grew up on a steady diet of fairy tales, folklore and fantasy and also reads way too much manga. Fantasy romance is her favorite thing in the world, but she likes it steamy. She also loves cats and tea--it's cliche for a reason!

Reviews

[Ginger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast but the role of Beast is a Goblin King in this book. And it's slightly steamy so know that before going into this book. The characters were okay but they seemed a bit dull at times.

The plot wasn't bad but it's not great. It's a super quick read so if you need to get some books added to that huge reading challenge you picked in January, give it a go!

This gets 2.5 beastly love stars from me. I'll also read the other books in the series since I love fairy tales and....err, erotica. 😜😂 hahaha

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ around 50%.

I think the premise is actually pretty interesting: Beauty and the Beast with a sex worker twist. The mysterious Goblin King has a deal with the surrounding towns, and any young woman will be paid a gold coin for every night she comes to stay with him. When our heroine Sabela's family loses their wealth in a fire, they ask her to go to the Goblin King to help save them from poverty. With a bit of nervous reluctance and a healthy dose of erotic anticipation, Sabela goes.

Then, what could have just been a simple story of two people in dire circumstances (her financial, him with his beastliness) slowly falling into love and intimacy with each other goes off the rails and gets really tropey, but in a bad and dumb way. It turns out the Goblin King is cursed to have some sort of constant erection??? (I wish I were kidding) And Sabela decides pretty quickly that she wants to be his goblin queen and believes she is the woman to break the curse, all for no reason. Apparently his goblin subjects have been turned into utensils. Because its Beauty and the Beast, get it? Do you get it? Cuz the book *really* wants you to get it! She only has until the last petal falls off the rose to break the curse! (It's unclear why the goblin king was growing roses in what appears to be a cavern?) Why does she want to help the Goblin King, you might wonder? What about the time sensitive plot with her family desperately needed fast cash?? Why would she develop insta-feelings for a man who is basically using her as a receptacle for his cursed semen??? I don't know!!!! I started to lose my will to keep going when a knife sacrificed itself to the evil witch (idk it like landed in the river?), and they had a full funeral for it, but I gave up when a pair of enchanted scissors gave her a makeover to make her look like a goblin.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Review to come

This was actually really great for being what is essentially fairy tale erotica

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

an enjoyable easy read .

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This wasn't a very good book. Perhaps I am biased because I'm no fan of erotica, but I found this book to be fantastically boring. For a Beauty and the Beast retelling there was a lot of potential for this book to be really interesting and rather hot but it wasn't at all. Some of the early sex scenes came across very much like assault and from there I just disconnected from everything. Sabela and Nyar were incredibly unlikable characters on their own. Sebela was incredibly annoying, there was nothing about her that was special or worth rooting for and the same can be said for Nyar. I didn't feel sorry for him and I wasn't rooting for Sebela to break the curse. Honestly, Nyar was a creep who liked to blur the lines of consent. I didn't like him. I didn't like this book and I'd recommend it to no one.

[❁ lilyreadsromance ❁ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that's not that bad.

I'm in another unexpected reading rut, so to say that this one read kinda smoothly is saying something about the writing... And of course, the smut. We were promised smut and it delivered. None of that sex scenes in the last 20% bullshit.

[Marta Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was different and that's a fact. Like many I'm a sucker for a fairy tale retold and yes Beauty and the Beast is definitely one of my favourites. So spotting this by a completely new to me author had me very curious and although I wasn't sure about the raunchy side of this initially it actually fit very well with the story this author is telling. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and understand these characters and thought the twists used worked extremely well. So whilst it's not the longest book I've read recently it certainly entertained me. I will stress that this is a very adult tale though so please be aware before purchasing. I'd happily read more fairy tales from this author and sincerely look forward to discovering more of her work.

[Natalie ~ The Biblioholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read and reviewed as part of The Fairy Tale Heat Boxed Set
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Addicting, exciting retelling of beauty and the beast

This was erotica, so I can overlook the lack of love or meaningful emotion. I feel like any "maiden" that passed the tests would've been good enough. The goblin (read beast) even recalled falling for the first women that came to him before he realized it was unlikely any of them would actually break the spell. He used to woo them and make sure they enjoyed giving themselves to him. By the time our heroine goes to him he's long since given up on pleasing anyone but himself. Oddly enough I understood his point of view. But I still felt like the heroine could've been any one of the women our goblin hero liked.

I actually liked the hero's development. He was a young man only interested in bedding maidens while in disguise. A witch comes along and curses him to always be horny. Secretly (not so secretly) I salivated at the thought of this punishment on a man who would've continued to seduce and abandon naive young women. But did his people also deserve to suffer? Hell no. And yet, when the curse is finally broken and the goblin king is the only one to have aged and lived out his earlier youth alone and constantly aroused, I was okay with the curse. Don't even hate the witch or anything.

Sue me! One little story about the guy suffering for every 20 stories we have about women being the victims, I think we'll live.

[Laura..devouring books like crumpets · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this, a very clever retelling of beauty and the beast and will definitely be continuing on with this series.

Sabela being fascinated by the goblin king falls on hard times with her family, taking up the offer that has stood for years every night spent with the goblin king receives a gold coin.

Although Sabela and N'yar fall reluctantly in love as they don't know if Sabela is the one to break the curse.

Lots of great steamy moments.



Edit: reread still loved it

[klaudia katarzyna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm never going to read fantasy erotica again, thanks.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

In terms of editing, this is okay. However, even with I read erotica, I want to feel something for the characters besides, "I wish they would get hit by a bus".

Also while the first few sex scenes aren't technically rape, they are pretty darn close and not really erotic - at least too my tastes. Your tastes might be different.

[Books & Vodka Sodas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unique fairy tale

This felt like a cross between labyrinth and legend, a well paced adventure, with clever world building that really drew you into this amazing world. I read this super quick and was rooting for the two main characters the whole time.

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mash-up of The Goblin King and Beauty and the Beast. The Goblin King portions of the story were the most successful parts for me and when it started going down the BATB story beats at around 60%, I became rather bored, aside from Sabela’s fascination with the large library. But this did have some great steamy scenes and I sure do love a Goblin King retelling!

Character notes: Sabela is 17. No age given for The Goblin King but he has been cursed for the last 10 years. They appear to both be white.

CW: dubious consent (but heroine is generally into whatever they do once it starts), slut-shaming, toxic family, attempted sexual assault by secondary character (heroine prevents anything from happening), villain drowned

[Coco.V]

💝FREE on Amazon today (9/12/18)!💝

Blurb:
Maybe I was the girl Clara didn’t want me to be. Here I was, with the goblin king, and I didn’t want him to stop.

For the past ten years, the Goblin King has stayed locked away in his caverns. He only opens his doors for one purpose: he will give one gold coin for every night a girl is willing to spend with him. Despite his fearsome reputation, his fangs and claws, the girls come back safe and sound, and they never say a word about it. One must be very desperate to accept such an offer…or very curious. Well, everyone says curiosity has always been my downfall. Too clever for a girl so beautiful.

Now my family is on the brink of losing everything. My sister Clara knows the goblin king’s story has always intrigued me, and she’s willing to sacrifice me to get her hands on his money. But I finally have the chance to sate my curiosity.

What will I find when I get there? A man who is cruelly cursed, haunted by a past misdeed? Or the man who will unlock all of my secret desires?

It has been a long time since the Goblin King trusted anyone, but if he is willing to trust me, I might be able to save him and his people. But the witch who cursed him is close at hand, and she doesn’t play fair.

Beauty and the Goblin King is a fairy tale retelling for those who like an adorable happily ever after with a side of serious steaminess!

[Himantra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

The writing lacks dynamic prose, the characters lacked agency and characterization, and this was a case of insta-lust between them. I felt like I was being told what was happening instead of being shown. Unfortunately, as a result, it quickly became boring. Which is a shame because the idea had a lot of potential.

[Aundrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was short, fun, and smutty :)
It was an interesting take on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. The editing could have been better, but nothing that was distracting enough to make me put it down.

I wouldn't say the characters are in my heart, but they made me smile. I'll read on in the series. It's just the kind of smutty fluff you need once in a while.

[T00zday · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5. Kind of a mix of Beauty & the Beast with Cinderella thrown in-ish.
Recommended as Filler only

[Autumn Miller ~ autumnbookreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
I liked this book. It was fast paced and constantly had my attention. I love fairy tale retellings and Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite. Going in, I had read some of the authors other books before this and I was extremely interested in seeing how she would put her spin on such a classic fairy tale. I must say she did a really great job. She stuck to the basics of the original story but put enough of her own writing style in to make this unique. I am very interested in reading the rest of the series and seeing how Lidiya Foxglove will write other fairy tales.

[Celestine]

DNF at 35%

[TheGeneralLibrary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was putting off writing a review for this because while reading this, I got the feeling that the author might be very young and I don't want to bully a 14 year old on the internet... And yet...

A friend of mine read this for free on her kindle and after she described a brief plot summary, I had to see for myself and coaxed her into rereading it as a buddy read.

The overall premise is that the Heroine, Sabela, goes to spend the night *wink wink nudge nudge* with a cursed Goblin King to earn gold coins for her horrible, ungrateful and soon-to-be-destitute family.
This works in Sabela's favor because she apparently has always had the hots for him... But only in a curious way, I guess.
We see this during a scene where she is looking at a picture of him (the Goblin King) in a book and her sister peers over her shoulder and instinctively knows (by mind reading? Clairvoyance?) that her sister isn't reading but is lusting after the goblin man. I am guessing that Sabela probably wasn't very discreet with her feelings prior to this.

So, off Sabela goes to earn her gold. Almost immediately upon arriving, for no real reason, she decides that she is going to be the one to break the Goblin King's curse. You may think he is cursed to be a Goblin, but no. He's just a regular Goblin (King) who is cursed with an ever-lasting/returning erection.

Sabela spends most of her time alone falling in love with the Goblin King until he visits her in the night to... Relieve his curse...

Sabela must have the same instincts (clairvoyance?) as her sister because that is the only way that I can explain the mental leaps this girl makes based on zero information.
My favorite part was when she discerned that the living cutlery couldn't help her break the curse because a knife moved... Slightly to the left. (It may not have been a knife, it may have been a spoon or a butter dish, I don't exactly remember because I was rolling my eyes)
This discovery aside, the forks and knives do indeed help her in any way they can (Goblin makeover included).

There's also a time-keeping rose, a river witch, a gaston-esque count, some questionable moments of consent and a "healing stone" shaped like the Goblin King's private part; which Sabela steals and promptly uses on her first night away from the King while in bed next to her sister (See? Like I said, Not very discreet.)

There is a lot. BUT if you like fairytales, goblin-core and can suspend your disbelief (see: logic) then this is the book for you. HEA with spice, the writing just didn't work for me.

At the very least, it makes a quick and funny buddy read.

[Lora Shouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty and the Goblin King is a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.” But it has a few twists that don’t necessarily show up in some of the other versions of the fairy tale.

One thing about this version is that it contains a lot of explicit sex scenes. Perhaps half the book is taken up with these. As the series it is part of is advertised as Fairy Tale Heat, this is doubtless on purpose. And if you are a fan of this kind of writing, you already know as much as you need to know about them. If, on the other hand, you are not a fan of explicit sex scenes, you might want to give this one a pass.

Aside from that, the basic story is pretty good. It combines elements of several different renditions of “Beauty and the Beast,” including the Disney version – the goblin king’s subjects have all been turned into furniture, dishes, and the like for example. There are also a few twists that seem to be unique to this retelling. The goblin king (Nyar) is not enchanted to be uglier than he normally is; in fact, during the day he sleeps in a sort of glass coffin in the form of a beautiful Elvin prince. But the Elvin prince is the illusion. And far from being delivered to the goblin with weeping and sadness, Beauty’s {Sabela’s) family eagerly sends her to him, anxious for the gold coins he offers.

[Gladys Gonzales Atwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty and the Goblin King was my first read by Lydiya Foxglove. (whispering I love Lydiya's last name - the flower is beautiful) but it will not and actually was not my last. Anyway back to my review...
.
In this fairy tale retelling, we find a down and out family. And an older sister, Clara, who persuades her younger sister, Beauty AKA Sabela, to spend the night with the Goblin King, N'yar. Rumor has it if you spend the night with him you will return home unharmed and a little bit financially sound. As the maiden who spends the night will get a gold coin for her "troubles."
.
Beauty finds a cursed Goblin King and a strong desire to be with him. She has dreamed of him and held a fascination for him before even meeting him. The "love" scenes are well done and the ending perfect. Does he change into a handsome King?? Well you will have to read it to find out.

4 stars and a tip of the Nerd Girl hat!

*This review was done in conjunction with Nerd Girl Official

[JoAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 I don’t know why I do this to myself Stars.....

I know I know...you’re like “their goes JoAnn again, reading some mediocre smutty romance with no plot”

Thankfully this one did have a plot and it wasn’t completely awful. I was Beauty and the Beast/Cinderella/reverse Snow White monstrosity of a plot, but a plot none the less.

I am unsure of this authors work but I’m going to take a wild guess and say maybe this is their first book??? Which would make some sense to me. Like I said the story wasn’t awful, but the writing did not do it for me, it had all the marks for a good story but fell short. If this is the authors 1st I will probably look into some of her other books to see how her writing progressed. If it’s not I want you to shoot me in the foot when I decide to read another one.... cause you know I will... 🙄

[Katherine Coble · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Erotic retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I read it for the articles. Heh. That is to say I read it because I collect BATB retellings and this one looked interesting in spite of (not because of) the erotica.

The adaptation of the fairy tale was top-notch, which is not customary with erotic adaptations.
I did skim the erotic portions because I didn't care to read them, so I have no opinion as to their quality. But Foxglove is very good at what she does, so I imagine that talent extends to the erotic scenes as well.

[Laura Shipley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite fairy tales in Beauty and the Beast. I loved this rendition with the twist on the beast being the goblin. The Goblin King has had flaws, but in the end he realized his past discretions were not the wisest choices and sees the error so his ways. I also like how the book focused on the couple mostly and did not bring the villain in until later in the book. It allowed the main character's budding relationship to form. I am looking forward to the other books in this series.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well written rewrite of Beauty and the Beast. I liked both the main characters immensely, and found the interactions with the other goblins to be hilarious. This was a short book (only 150ish pages long) so at times the story rushed along a little too quickly, but then again, fairy tales are short and sweet, and so was this book. I'll definitely read the rest of the series and keep my eye out for other books by anyone his author.

[Liv · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was........ that bad.

Review to come.

[Regina Hunter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very little logic in actions of characters, flat persons and over all very little to enjoy.