A Not-So-Grimm Fairytale

by Ann Somerville

True love isn’t easy to find, even for handsome princes.
Warnings: silliness

Genres: Fantasy, M M Romance, Romance, Humor, Queer, LGBT, Short Stories

free online fiction

First published October 27, 2011

About the author

Ann Somerville grew up in one of Australia’s prettiest small cities. In 1989, she left Australia with a BA and a burning ambition to see more of the world and its people, and to discover this ‘culture’ thing people kept telling her about. In 2006, she returned home to Southeast Queensland with two more degrees (this time in science and IT), an English husband and a staggering case of homesickness, vowing never to leave Australia again.

Her long, plot-driven fiction featuring gay and bisexual characters has been published by Samhain Publishing and elsewhere.

Reviews

[Bubbles Hunty Honest & Direct Opinions]

I am going to give it three stars because it was free and funny at parts

Other than that it just wasn’t for me. the prince is married with kids and of course sleeps with anyone. I get its part of the times the book is set for nobility but I still didn’t like it. Then after being cursed the prince never grows he stays the same asshat he was. He fucks hundreds of people while the guy who loves him and can break the curse just watches or sets up the encounters. The Prince was an idiot. At the end the love guy that loves him is heartbroken but as soon as Prince notices him all is forgiven, the end

[Don Bradshaw]

The cover was the best part of this one.

[Kate Aaron]

great story, has all the tropes of a traditional fairy tale but a wonderfully ironic, modern voice. hilarious

[Meep]

Kindle-Sort-ReRead

Dreadful. Extremely unlikeable Prince (with bracketed scorn for genre from author) gets cursed, proves himself completely unredeemable then realised some masochist loves him anyway so is cured. But still ghastly.
He's married provided x3 heirs, then fucks half the kingdom, horribly punishing any who refuse him and threatening hanging. Yikes!

[Lady*M]

Incredibly funny short story about oblivious (read: not very bright) prince in search of real love, his half-sister determined to help him and his loyal valet who just might be what prince is looking for. A piece of fun packed in 13 pages. I loved it!

[Andrea]

A cute little fairy tale and I loved the writing.

[M]

It's crack! Well written cliche about love being right in front of you.

[Yusur A]

I don’t know how to rate the story because I laughed throughout the whole thing but I’m not sure that was the purpose. Still giving it a 3 because at least it brought me joy

[Nicole]

Not a fan. This was silly, but in a very obvious way. I did not find anything to allow me to give more than one star.

[Stephen Chase]

So cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jess]

I have mixed reactions to this book.

I think the author wanted the tone of the story to be very tongue in cheek or borderline sarcastic. It was kind of snide and silly and it kind of worked.

But what irritated me is two things:

1) at the beginning and the end of this free story the author says "if you like this story please check out my other stories at Smashswords" So I felt that this story was a form of advertising or promotion for her other books. I dont begrudge any author doing this - in fact I think its a brilliant idea, however I thought this story was no where near as good as Ann's other works. So in fact I would call it bad advertising.

2) The story had alot of potential. A little bit more emotional dialogue and a little less sarcasm would of made a huge difference. But this story being so short and snarky means that I loathed the prince for the entire book. He never really redeemed himself in my eyes.

[NAVET]

HILARIOUS

*NO Spoilers*
In a genre full of "homo-angst" (i.e., closet cases, family estrangement, DADT drama - all of which I love), it's nice to run across a story of high-silliness. Somerville knows what her short story is: a fairy tale. And before reading, the reader should know that too. The tale unfolds as a reboot of "Beauty and the Beast," containing hilarious, parenthetical asides and one-liners that caused me to have a grin on my face through the entire (very quick) read. At spots, I even burst out laughing. It's lite, silly fun. Okay. One spoiler: The gay version of the "beast" is a prince that is turned old. That alone, in a gay culture of youth and beauty, is hilarious.

[Nicky]

A short and rather silly fairytale -- essentially a variation on the Beauty and the Beast theme. The main character is rather unlikeable, but the ending sort of made me smile anyway. The humour is mostly in snide and silly remarks about the fairytale tropes, and stuff like inappropriate nicknames, rather than being actually funny.

It doesn't fill me with the urge to read more of this author's work, but nor does it turn me off. It was free from Smashwords, anyway, so I didn't lose out by it.

[France-Andrée]

I was surprised that I cared for this. It's not the story, it's standard fairy tale fare. What made me like this is the asides. I find it interesting when an author speaks directly to the reader saying: 'I know this is impossible, you know this impossible so why can't I talk to you'. That sort of winking is very humorous to me and that's why I think this story is a good read.

[JP]

This story was so funny, that I couldn't stop laughing. It was silly, really silly and I really wanted to hit Alfie over the head for not noticing Wat earlier. If you like a sweet and funny story you should read this.

[Ayanna]

Okay, it was stupid and silly and much was lampshaded it and that's the only reason it has such a relatively high rating.
Alferonzo was a complete jackass and while I get that that was kind of the point, that didn't stop me from disliking him any less.

Fourth walls are broken by proxy.

[Mandy Beyers]

A very cute twist on a typical fairytale, but told in a delightful tongue-in-cheek fashion

[Marcia Carrington]

An interesting, well-written short story which is a combination of both old-world, and some modern sensibilities, and a story with a good sense of humor, this adding to its readability.

[Evaine]

Cute. :)

[Kiki]

2.5

[Denise]

Very silly, very short fun. (And hey, it's free!)

[Traci (Mad Hatter Reads)]

It was a quick read and free. It warns in the description that it's silly and it does have it's silly moments.

[LD Durham]

Adorable, funny, and puts a lot of heart into such a short read. Loved it!

[Tailtiu]

2,5*

[blub]

A unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast. For a short read the character and world development was well done. It just wasn't for me though.

[Laura]

This is a good M/M short love erotic story.

[Mike]

Tongue-in-cheek short fairy tale satire about a prince who get cursed by a witch and needs true love to free him.

[Gavin Stephenson-Jackman]

A wonderful little diversion. Good on you Wat.

[MaelleMaud]

Alferonzo & Wat.
As someone in the reviews has said: I will give it 3 stars because it was free and funny at parts. A really quick read easy and fun.

[Sylvia]

Couldn't get past the first page, don't like all those asides, it's distracting.