C. Margery has long been touted as the Queen of Erotic Fairy Tales, puting her own spin on the old classics.
In her series, Fresher Fairy Tales, we've already read The Swan Prince, a modern telling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans, where the heroine must knit a nettle shirt in order to save her lover. In a soon to be rereleased story, Love Me Like a Reptile, we revisit The Frog Prince tale as told by Disney...as the more popular Brothers Grimm version doesn't involve kissing a frog. Fresher Fairy Tales are all erotic romances, so you know kissing is not optional ;-)
Today's release adds another tale to the series. Spinning Gold is C. Margery's interpretation of Rumpelstiltskin, another Brothers Grimm tale with a clever spin. In the classic tale, a miller tells the king his daughter can spin straw into gold, and she is summarily thrust into a tower in the castle and made to perform this miracle with the promise that if she can make gold from straw, he'll marry her.
In C. Margery's telling of this tale, Freawine finds himself in a similar circumstance as the miller's daughter. After his father's bragging to the prince, Freawine finds himself locked in the castle tower, praying his life will be spared...and better yet, that a handsome knight will come along and save him.
Yes, he. You see, his mother sought to protect Freawine's from the ravages of war and so had disguised him as a girl from very young. When she died, he carried on as he was raised, knowing no other life. But it came at a cost, as he was always considered odd, and he'd learned odd people should not stand out, so he kept to himself. It was his talent for weaving the finest cloth that got him into the current situation...his father bragging that he could spin straw into gold! It was by some miracle that he was visited upon by a strange little man who helped him fulfill his father's boasts. And by another miracle that the prince offered to marry Freawine if he could spin a chamber full of straw into gold. Freawine fell in love with the prince on first sight, and if the strange little man would visit once more, Freawine just might find a life with the prince...as long as he can keep his secret.
C. Margery spins her own golden tale with Spinning Gold. A familiar story with a twist, told for a mature audience. From page one, we're instantly brought into Freawine's life and a time in history when tender men were not only frowned upon, but often put to death. This is an added element in the story...will Freawine survive if 'she' is discovered as a 'he'? This is an excellently crafted tale and a wonderful edition to the Fresher Fairy Tales franchise. Freawine is a well developed character, and one we can't help love and cheer for his happy endings.
Please join us in the comments where C. Margery and I will be chatting this afternoon. Feel free to leave your own questions or comments. And as always, there's a free book on offer today. All you need to do is comment with your email address to put your name into the draw for an ebook copy of this book. If you can't wait, just click here to grab your copy.
• • •
It was bad enough that the prince had to see Freawine’s father making his wild drunken boasts. But he believed them! How long would it be before the dreamy but intimidating prince discovered Freawine couldn't really spin straw into gold—or that this "girl" was really a boy?Freawine sat looking at the mounds of straw all around him in the tiny room. Panic rose to his throat like a choking hand. What to do? Only two options came to mind—he could continue to curse his braggart father as he had done for the last quarter of an hour or so, or he could begin to think what his new life might be like without his head.
Rather short, he imagined.
Freawine found it a challenge to think clearly when his life was about to come to an abrupt end. The cold gray stones around him stood impassively silent, like the guards who lounged outside the door. No one was going to rescue him. Still, he found it pleasant to picture a handsome knight charging up the road to the castle, his valiant steed’s hooves clattering across the cobblestones of the courtyard, then rushing up the stairs to this little room at the top of the tower and sweeping Freawine away to safety. Followed by a very hot and sweaty session of delightful indulgence, of course.
He twisted one of his long locks and sighed again. If he were a real girl this would never have happened. His life had been nothing but secrets and lies—now the price had come due.
If only his father had not made that stupid boast in the tavern yard! If only the prince had not been passing by with his entourage of noble ladies and gentlemen, falcons on their wrists and laughter on their lips. If only the prince had not taken it into his head to make a grand offer--and an ominous threat.
If wishes were horses, his mother would have said, then we would all ride with the nobles to the fair.
At the moment, Freawine preferred to imagine that wishes might be doves that could carry him far from this tower room and his troubles.
• • •
C. Margery Kempe is a writer of erotic romance distinguished by its humour, intelligence, and fearless sensual pleasures. Her stories range from contemporary thrillers to medieval era fairy tales.
An English professor by day, she also writes on medieval literature, film, creative writing and New Media, as well as humor, drama, mainstream and genre fiction under her real name and non-explicit romance as Kit Marlowe.
She's a weekly blogger at Lady Smut on Fridays.
Find C. Margery online at --
C.M.Kempe - http://www.cmkempe.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/cmkempe
Twitter - https://twitter.com/cmkempe
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2856943.C_Margery_Kempe
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/C.-Margery-Kempe/e/B003IW5P9S
Lady Smut - http://ladysmut.com
Tirgearr Publishing - http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Kempe_CM
Buy your copy here: http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Kempe_CM/spinning-gold.htm
Don't forget to leave a comment with your email address for the draw!
 |
| Grab your copy here |
 |
| Grab your copy here |
