Finished The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt. Full disclosure: Tia is one of my online friends. She runs the Debuts & Reviews blog and was nice enough to send me a copy of her e-book. She’ll also be going a guest blog here at some point.

After a kingdom-wise ban on spinning wheels in order to protect the princess from a vicious curse, Talia and her mother don’t know how they’re going to survive since spinning is all they know. To add insult to injury, the boy that Talia was supposed to marry is sent off by his father to become a monk. Talia considers herself to be rather plain, but she finally decides to enjoy what she can of her dreary life by taking a series of lovers. As the years pass, though, Talia once again finds herself in possession of a spinning wheel — something that just might lead to her doom …

I’m a sucker for fairy tale retellings, and this is a take on the old Sleeping Beauty story. Nevitt definitely puts her own spin on things, so to speak. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Talia is a likable character, and I really enjoyed how she decided to do what she wanted to with whomever she wanted to, despite the vicious town gossip and everyone looking down their noses at her. Talia’s heart gets broken and her dreams get shattered, but she still soldiers on.

Talia definitely made the story for me. It was nice to see such a strong character, especially in a fairy tale. As much as I like fairy tales, let’s face it — most of the female characters in the traditional stories are only there to be kissed/rescued. And it was great to see how Talia got her happily ever after at the end. That was very satisfying.

My only little quibble is that I would have liked a little more world-building — specifically, I would have liked to have known more about the fairies and how their powers/curses worked. But this is a short e-book (not quite 100 pages), and I know there’s not room for everything.

However, there’s a lot of steam in this story, despite the short length. So if you like a little spice with your fairy tales, you should definitely check this one out.

My grade: B.

Would I read this author again: Yes. I think Nevitt has an interesting take on fairy tales.

Up next: Something from the TBR pile.

Books in my TBR pile: ABout 20.