Poison Kiss by Kendra E. Ardnek: Review (Three Sleeping Beauties Blog Tour!)

Today I’m excited to join in on the Three Sleeping Beauties Blog Tour with a review of Poison Kiss by Kendra Ardnek!

This blog tour is to celebrate the release of THREE Sleeping Beauty retellings, all released on August 7, by three different authors:

• Poison Kiss by Kendra E. Ardnek {Goodreads • Kindle}
• Twisted Dreams by Morgan Elizabeth Huneke {Goodreads • Kindle}
• Rosetta Thornbriar by Rachel Roden {Goodreads • Kindle}

Wander on over to Kendra’s Blog, knittedbygodsplan.blogspot.com, for details. You can find the full tour schedule HERE!

Giveaway

Enter to win a paperback copy of Twisted Dreams or ebooks of all three books here:

****—>ENTER GIVEAWAY AT THIS LINK<—****

Free Books

And here are a few books by Kendra which are free for the tour, for you to pick up! 🙂

Sew, It’s a Quest (Permafree)
CinderEddy (Free August 7-11)
Woodcutter Quince (Free August 8th-12th)

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Here’s a bit about the book I’m reviewing today…

Poison Kiss

by Kendra E. Ardnek

{Goodreads • Kindle}

About the Book

Everyone knows that Sleeping Beauty’s curse is triggered when she pricks her finger on a spindle and that she is awakened by true love’s kiss … but what happens when the wicked fairy decides to switch things up?

Edmund didn’t mean to put Auralea to sleep, but now it’s up to him and the famous Puss in Boots to figure out how, exactly, a spinning wheel is supposed to awaken her.

About the Author

Kendra E. Ardnek is a homeschool graduate who picked up a pen at an early age and never put it down. The eldest of four, she makes her home in the Piney Woods of East Texas with her parents, younger siblings, giant herd of giraffes, and honor guard of nutcrackers.

You can connect with Kendra on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

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And now for . . .

*drumroll*

• Date read: July 25, 2017
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Fantasy / Fairytale Retelling (Sleeping Beauty + Puss in Boots)
• Age: Anyone!
• Year pub: 2017
• Pages: 44 (Kindle)
• Series: A Twist of Adventure, #2 (stands alone)
• Fave character: Edmund and Boots
• Source: The author
• Notes: I received a free e-ARC of this tale from the author as part of the blog tour (many thanks!). These opinions are entirely my own.

Thoughts

This was adorable!! I loved it! ^_^

Somewhere between a short story and novella-length (novelette is the proper term, I believe), this brief tale was entirely delightful.

Poison Kiss is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty and Puss in Boots, with other bits of fairytales woven in here and there, and it did a fabulous job of combining them. I absolutely loved the twists and tongue-in-cheek telling of this story, flipping so many things on their heads, while still feeling a lot like the original tales. 🙂

The writing is fabulous and at times hilarious, which I loved, and the dialog was splendid! My absolutely favorite stories are funny ones, and add that to a (double!) fairytale retelling and some lovable characters, and you have a recipe for a story I’ll love—as I definitely did this one! ^_^

I can’t decide if Edmund (the hero) or Boots (the cat, called Puss for most of the story) is my favorite. I liked them both immensely! 🙂 Edmund was a fabulous hero, who I quite liked, and the twist about him was very clever and interesting! Boots is a classic cat; that it is to say, he’s clever and snarky and very catlike. XD I loved his part in the story too! 😀 *grinning*

The other characters were also fun! And I particularly loved how immersed in fairytales this world was, with all the little snatches of them popping in or being mentioned; it made me think of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles in that way, so that made me happy. ^_^

It wrapped up a little quickly, but it WAS a short story, so I can’t really blame it, and I really have no complaints! 🙂

I can’t say much more about this brief tale without spoiling it, and I’d rather you discover all the delightful twists on your own. 😉 So I will finish up and merely say that if you like fairytale retellings with twists, humor, cats, Sleeping Beauty, or simply delightful little stories, you will love this one! 🙂 I certainly did. ^_^

Favorite Quotes

“Some days I wish that one of my godmothers had given me something practical like Health,” Auralea told her nurse between sneezes.

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“Edmund, milady, if it pleases you,” said he, setting his bag down on a table and rifling through it.

“Edmund is a charming name. It pleases me very much.”

***

“I’m rather certain that he’s in this wood,” said Edmund. “To my memory, he’s never ventured out of it. He’s scared of civilization.”

“Well, I can’t say that I blame him,” said Puss.

***

“In my experience, involvement in fairy tales is unavoidable no matter who you are, no matter how many fairy tales you’ve lived through already.”

***

“I stuck her in a tower and hoped for the best.”

“What is it with putting princesses in towers?” asked Puss.

“It’s … fashionable?” suggested the Enchanter.

Puss gave a haughty sniff. “It’s terribly ineffective.”

***

His eyes fell on Puss, who sat licking his whiskers indignantly. “I would have thought,” said the cat, “that part was obvious.”

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Doesn’t this sound delightful? ^_^ Have you read any Puss in Boots or Sleeping Beauty retellings you liked? 🙂

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer