Cloaked (Once Upon a Western)

Title: Cloaked

Series: Once Upon a Western (Book #1)

Year: 2017

Author: Rachel Kovaciny

Summary: Little Red Riding Hood... re-imagined.

Mary Rose feels uneasy around Mr. Linden from the moment she meets him on the stagecoach ride to her grandmother's ranch in Wyoming Territory. But he works for her grandmother, so that means he's trustworthy, doesn't it? Everyone else seems to view him as honest and respectable, and Mary Rose wonders if she's overreacting.

She tries to ignore her suspicions until one night, she discovers his real reason for being at the ranch. Now, if she's going to save her grandmother—and herself—she's going to need to run faster than she's ever run before.

Review: This review was originally written for publication on Fairy Tale Central. Click here to read the full review.

After reading and really enjoying Rachel's 12 Dancing Princesses retelling, Dancing and Doughnuts, I knew I wanted to read the rest of her fairytale retellings. Cloaked is the only other in her Once Upon a Western series, other than a couple of short stories. I love that she's focusing on fairytales that aren't your everyday retellings. I mean, one of her short stories is a retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. When was the last time you read a retelling of that? And Rachel's doing it all completely without magic -- another thing that majorly excites me.

I've found that Little Red Riding Hood isn't the most popular fairytale to retell nowadays, but interest in it is definitely growing. However, many of the authors retelling it have gone the magic route, creating werewolves and curses and otherworldly creepiness. Rachel's Cloaked is a breath of fresh air in the midst of all those retellings.

Mary Rose (and yes, it's Mary Rose, not just Mary) is off to visit her grandmother. She's excited about the opportunity to get out of the big city and meet a real, live Indian (and maybe a real Western criminal), but she's also nervous since there are many years of tension between her grandmother and her parents. She's determined, however, to enjoy her visit and learn to ride -- no matter how uncomfortable a certain employee of her grandmother's makes her feel.

Advisory: Some mild peril and action. A few characters receive injuries (such as one getting bashed in the face with a lamp), but everything is clean and not too graphic. The climax does involve the woodcutter's axe from the original fairytale, but everything again is not terribly graphic.

Light romance. One character makes some romantic advances on Mary Rose while she's at the ranch, but nothing goes very far (other than one forced kiss). She's disgusted with the attempts, but often wonders if she's reading too much into some of the things he says and does. I realize that this type of romantic advances can suggest something dirty, but I thought the author handled it very well and was able to keep things pretty clean.

Again, click here to read the full review on Fairy Tale Central. And be sure to check out the rest of this month's fun posts on the fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Related Review: Read my review of Dancing and Doughnuts (Once Upon a Western #2) here!

Dancing and Doughnuts (Once Upon a Western)

Title: Dancing and Doughnuts

Series: Once Upon a Western (Book #2)

Year: 2018

Author: Rachel Kovaciny

Summary: Twelve Dancing Princesses… reimagined.

Fifty dollars just for asking a few questions? Jedediah Jones figures it must be his lucky day. What dancing and doughnuts have to do with anything, he neither knows nor cares. He’s only interested in earning that money so he can finally eat something other than the apples he's been living off for days. Once his stomach and his pockets are filled again, he plans to move on.

But answering the advertisement plunges him into a forest of painted trees, twelve pretty sisters, trouble, and more trouble. And, yes, doughnuts.

So many doughnuts. 

Can Jedediah Jones solve the mystery and earn that fifty dollars when the whole town has failed? Or will the twelve sisters lose their family's business no matter what he does?

Main Characters:
~ Jedediah Jones
~ Alice 
~ Cooper
~ Clara

Review: Have you ever wanted that basically perfect fairytale retelling that just crackled with originality and spunk? Well, this is it. This book absolutely blew me away. I loved it sooooo much. 

Jedediah Jones is new in town -- and he intends to make it a quick stay. He's running from awful memories of the Civil War, and he doesn't want to stay in one spot long enough to allow the memories to catch up. The problem is, he's short of money so he needs to pick up an odd job or two to keep his pockets full until the next town. 

And what an odd job he finds. A family of twelve girls offering a $50 reward to anyone who can solve the mystery of the spiked apple cider. A mystery that's threatening to close down the family dance hall and doughnut business. 

Rachel doesn't give you anytime to get bored in this book. It's fast-paced and intriguing. I read the whole thing in one sitting. I will admit I figured out the spiking culprit pretty early on, but I was completely hooked on trying to figure out how my conclusion would play out. The book began with a very strong flavor of the original twelve dancing princesses tale. Now, in my experience, when a retelling begins that way, the elements of the original tale kinda fade away and get lost in the author trying to be original, but Rachel kept the fairytale vibe strong until the end.

And all the two thumbs up for including the original fairy tale elements. I was wondering how Rachel was going to get the silver and gold forest in here -- but she did and amazed me at doing so in the process. There's lots of dancing, some worn out shoes (even though Jones's love interest has the impeccable and lovable tendency to go barefoot), a proper mystery, an inquisitive ex-soldier, and plenty of fun. I loved getting a glimpse at more than one sister; twelve dancing princesses retellings tend to only focus on the eldest sister, but with this one we got a close-up of at least three. I'd love to see some spin-offs on some of the other girls' adventures. 

My biggest problem with this book was the amount of food discussed. Particularly the homemade doughnuts. I was so hungry when I finished, and there were no doughnuts at hand to snack on. Very disappointing. 

It's not every day you get an epic fairytale retelling like this, and if you're any kind of fairytale retelling enthusiast (or a fan of a fun, western read), this book HAS to be on your list PRONTO. You will not regret it. I want to read everything this author has written. 

Advisory: Really nothing. This is probably one of the cleanest reads I've had ever. A few characters suggest that the spiked cider may present problems with the girls being "improper" but that's all that's ever mentioned. And obviously, some consumption of and discussion of alcohol, but I would have no worries handing this book to my nine-year-old sister. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

*Please note: I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*