Tia Nevitt

Accidental Enchantments — (2010- ) Publisher: Have you ever wondered what happens to the other people in the fairy tale? Things look grim for Talia and her mother. By royal proclamation, the constables and those annoying "good" fairies have taken away their livelihood by confiscating their spinning wheel. Something to do with a curse on the princess, they said. Not every young lady has a fairy godmother rushing to her rescue. Without the promise of an income from spinning, Talia's prospects for marriage disappear, and she and her mother face destitution. Past caring about breaking an arbitrary and cruel law, rebellious Talia determines to build a newspinning wheel, the only one in the nation — which plays right into the evil fairy's diabolical plan. Talia discovers that finding a happy ending requires sacrifice.But is it a sacrifice she's willing to make?

The Sevenfold Spell

Most of you who follow the fantasy blogs will recognize Tia Nevitt’s name — she’s been running her own debut blog for years and is a regular contributor here at FanLit. She also happens to be a personal friend; she lives in my city and we like to trade books.

I suppose that’s why she didn’t send me a review copy of her own debut novella, The Sevenfold Spell. She probably figured I’d feel obligated to say something nice. Well I don’t (I’m not as nice as she thinks I am), but I also don’t like to critique my friends, so I quietly downloaded The Sevenfold Spell onto my Kindle and didn’t tell her I was reading it. (I still haven’t told her.)

In Tia’s take on the Sleeping Beauty story, Talia and her mother’s livelihood and prospects are devastated when spinning wheels are banned. Talia, who has not been blessed with a pretty face, is forced to use other charms and skills (that’s the polite way to say it) to make ends meet.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, I must have liked The Sevenfold Spell, or else I wouldn’t be writing this. This short novella (I read it in an evening), which was published by Harlequin’s new e-book imprint, Carina Press, is definitely a romance and contains more seduction and sex scenes than I thought were possible to fit into such a short space, so it’s not my usual fantasy fare, but I enjoyed this little diversion. It was well-written, humorous, the characterization was impressive (especially for such a short book), and the story was sweet.

I liked Tia’s focus on a minor character in her re-imagined fairy tale. I understand that she has more of these in mind for the future. I’ll be quietly downloading the next one, too. —Kat Hooper