Name: 𝚕𝚒𝚕𝚢's review of The Wolf Gate by Hanna Sandvig
Item: The Wolf Gate
Rating: 5
Author: 𝚕𝚒𝚕𝚢

Hanna Sandvig

My...what big teeth you have...Have you ever wondered if something was up with your boyfriend? Distant. Moody. Never texts you back. Turns into a wolf at nightfall?No, just me?When a wolf chased me through a faerie portal in the forest, the last person I expected to see on the other side was my ex-boyfriend Gavin. Turns out, he's a fae, and everything I thought I knew about him was a lie. Now we're on the run from his Alpha, the minion of the Unseelie Queen, through the mountains and forests of Faerie.But our deadly pursuers may be the least of my worries.Because the longer I stay in Faerie with Gavin, the harder it is to remember why I'm so mad. I can feel my defenses crumbling, but how can I give him another chance when he's proven he can break my heart? Am I strong enough to discover if this is true love? And will I survive long enough to find out?**This action packed sweet romance is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and is a stand-alone novella in the Faerie Tale Romances series. If you love fae, shifters, fairy-tale magic, and believe in second chances at love, dive into The Wolf Gate now!**

A Retelling of Little Red Riding Hood

The Wolf Gate

Donna Roucoulet 

One princess, twenty princes, and one...frog? The path to true love isn't always what you might expect. All my life I've been waiting for my prince charming, but you can't just leave these things up to chance. There are plenty of princes in the Seelie kingdom, but I'm the princess of the Lily Court and someday I will rule. Just because a prince is handsome, or an excellent swordsman, it doesn't mean he's going to be a good co-ruler. Obviously my fairy godmother agrees, because she gave me the christening gift of true love. If I organize a set of challenges for the potential future husbands to tackle, she's promised that I'll find my perfect match. So that's just what I have planned, and when a talking frog offers to help me find out what the princes are really like, who am I to argue? Honestly, he's pretty good company, even if he keeps stealing pastries from the castle kitchen. Is there truly a prince out there that will meet all the criteria on my very comprehensive list? Or will I find that true love has been waiting for me all along? **This adorable sweet romance is a retelling of The Frog Prince and is a stand-alone novella (only eight chapters) in the Faerie Tale Romances series. If you love Fae, pastries, and sassy animal sidekicks, dive into The Lily Gate today!**

A Retelling of The Frog Prince

The Lily Gate

𝚕𝚒𝚕𝚢

4.5 ★ - (loved it, favorite)

The sweetest, fluffiest novella!! 
A little predictable but SO CUTE! Waterlilies, willows, Parisian feels, baking, and the cutest princess and the frog romance. 

Full RTC


CWs, or things that caught my attention: mentions/descriptions of lying, magic, fairy godmother, asking if a witch put a spell on someone, a couple mentions of spells (used for good), miscarriage, kissing (only a handful, includes one unwanted kiss, but never very passionate, do last a little longer towards engagement), near drowning

Virág 

This is a fairy tale retelling of the well know story of the Princess and the Frog. But it wasn't the same story. I always loved the disney retelling (you know the animated movie), so I was really interested what this book can bring.

And I loved every minute that I could spend with this book. Both our princess and the frog are a really lovable characters, and I adored their cute romantic moments.

The book isn't long, I would have happily spent much more time with this book. But if you want some cute and happy story to read I think you should definitely read this book.

Also, it made me want to make beignets, so I might just have to cook beignets tomorrow.

*This arc was sent to me by the author to give me an honest review in return*

I was really excited to read this book, becuase I love fairy tale retellings and I've read an other book by the author not so long ago, so I knew a little bit about her style. And I wasn't disappointed after this book, Hanna Sandvig is definitely knows what she is doing with original fairy tales.

Our story starts with our main character Audrey is a lovely girl, she has blonde hair with pink dyed ends, and she is a kind of nerd, she is programming and loves videogames. There are some fun references about videogames through the book, it was funny for me, because I understood them, since I play a lot. Audrey's best friend is Neve, she is a talented baker, I would love to taste her amazing cheesecake, because I heard it is mind blowing.

The worldbuilding was breathtaking, I loved the way the author described the mountains, and the forests, it was really vivid and magical. Also the way we get to know the peculiar magical characters, I just needed to read more and more, because I couldn't get enough. 

Also, our cute wolf guy is literally the sweetest, if you like bad boys, definitely look into this book. I definitely recommend it, a beautifully written magical delight for your days.

All Isobel wants is a quiet place to read, but apparently that's too much to ask. She only needs to make it through one last summer with her broken family before she can leave for university and get on with her life. At least she has her books and the solitude of the woods. But there are wolves in these woods. Caught out in the forest after dark, Isobel is pursued by a disturbingly intelligent pack of wolves. When the grizzly bear who rescues her turns out to be a cursed fae prince, she realizes her life isn't the only thing in danger. She could lose her heart. Trapped by the wolves at the prince's home in Faerie, Isobel tries to unravel the mystery behind the surly prince's scars. Because time is running out for the castle's inhabitants, and if Isobel can't find a way to break the spell and save the prince from the Unseelie Queen, she may lose everything she's come to love. *The paperback back edition of The Rose Gate includes six gorgeous interior illustrations!**

A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast

The Rose Gate

Chiara Vitale Zelaia

I was sent an e-ARC of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

A lot has been written when it comes to Beauty and the Beast retellings, but The Rose Gate definitely adds a new, original twist to a tale that by now everyone knows by heart. 
The beginning of the story reads very much like a contemporary: our Beauty, Isobel, is an 18 year old girl working at a preschool. She has recently moved to a new small town in Canada and she has many family dramas: an indebted father, an absentee mother, a rebellious younger sister. Her two means of escape are books and hiking in the woods close to her home. 
Not being a lover of contemporary books, this part was the hardest for me to get into, but luckily the beautiful writing and Isobel’s charming personality were enough to keep me reading.
I enjoyed the story much more once magic entered the pages. Some elements echo the original tale: Isobel is saved by wolves from the Beast, and she is taken to his castle where she befriends the cursed household and falls in love. Tradition, however, mingles with innovation. For starters, Isobel is not kept at the castle against her will, which better suits the tone and the building of the relationships in the story. The Beast’s castle is in a faerie kingdom, with many elements of faerie folklore mentioned, such as Seelie and Unseelie courts and a carefully constructed world-building that is at once simple but rich. The curse itself pitches into the mundane: the household shifts into talking animals that recall the Canadian setting of the story (otters, raccoons, wolves, foxes) and the Prince shifts into a bear rather than a terrifying horned beast when he is not in the confines of his kingdom.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters had very fun personalities and in the end I also enjoyed the modern world aspects that were woven into the story. It is definitely a read I would recommend to lovers of fairytale retellings, pointing out, however, that the tone of the story is very suited for younger readers so, depending on personal tastes, lovers of more mature YA or adult books may not fully enjoy it.

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia

This was the cutest short story I've ever read. 

The Lily Gate is a short and sweet retelling of The Frog Prince. While I don't think I've ever read the original fairytale, I think the majority of us are aware with the general gist of it. The version I know of this story is Disney's The Princess and the Frog, and there were a couple of little nods to it that I really enjoyed. My heart is full of fuzzy warm feelings, and I adored the Easter eggs connected to 
  The Rose Gate: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast
 and 
  The Wolf Gate: A Retelling of Little Red Riding Hood
! 

Again, this is a standalone, so you don't need the previous books in the series to understand this. If you're looking for a nice short story to add to your reading goal while you're waiting for your next big book to come out, this is a good option. That being said, I do encourage you to read the other books in the series because they're the sweetest, most adorable fairytale retellings I've ever read. If you have children who love fairy tales, they're a good read to share with them. If you're simply someone who loves romantic stories with a fairy tale twist like me, then this is also a good series to pick up.

I have come to the conclusion that I have a thing for fictional men with wolfish qualities.

The Wolf Gate was a wonderful novella with just enough amount of sass, magic, adventure and romance. Audrey is amazing and fun and often very relatable, especially when it came to her love for sweets. Gavin is…perfect. The moment he was introduced to the page, every item in my mental Book Boyfriend Qualities list (a list I didn’t know existed until this moment) ticked off simultaneously: sweet, respectful, a tad broody but not too much, loyal. It was an explosion of love. 

This story, like all others in Hanna Sandvig’s Fairytale Romance series, reads as a standalone. There are a few Easter eggs peppered here and there that readers who’ve read 
  The Rose Gate: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast
 will enjoy. (I highly recommend you do so because it’s one of my favorite Beauty and the Beast retellings.) But you can enter this book and understand it without having read the first book in the series. Again, it’s a series of standalones set in the same universe.

I really love the author’s style. It has a sassy, fun fairytale vibe that make her stories really enjoyable. When I read her books, I get the same kind of heartwarming feelings that I have when I watch a really sweet movie. They’re the perfect stories to jump to when you’re in between heavy reads and you need to debug that lovers of fantasy and contemporary alike will enjoy.

I was sent an eARC of this book in exchange of an honest review

What can I say, I simply love retellings!

The Rose Gate is a Beauty and the Beast retelling written by Hanna Sandvig, the first in a trilogy of retellings in which each book will stand on its own. When I started reading it, I immediately felt as if I were watching a very cute movie—you know, the ones that come on TV, usually during the summer, set in a small town, with the relatable female lead and the romance you wish you could live. Those who have been following me for a while know that I especially love books when I can also picture them like this. 

The book is not long, which helped keep a good pacing to the story and it also gave it a fairytale vibe that I really enjoyed. After we get to follow our “Beauty”, Isobel, for a little while in her everyday life, we see what happens when she finds herself in the forest after dark, chased by a vicious pack of wolves. A bear saves her, and it turns out this bear is actually a broody fae prince, who brings her through the Rose Gate, a portal that connects our world to the fae realm of Tir Na Nog. Time moves differently here, and as she waits for the safety of morning in our world, Isobel spends two weeks in the fae realm—two weeks in which she befriends the inhabitants of the castle and uncovers the truth about a terrible curse set upon them and their Prince, Leith, by the Unseelie Queen. Unlike the original Beauty and the Beast tale, Isobel is not initially kept in the castle against her own will, better suiting the building friendship and romance between her and Leith. 

My favorite element of the story was, of course, the romance. What a surprise, really! *insert laughing emoji* I am a big Beauty and the Beast fan and I love the way the author recreated that dynamic between Isobel and Leith. (A special applause is reserved to Ms. Chloe, who was absolutely hilarious and very relatable in her love for Chris Hemsworth.) The story was a modern fairytale, fun to read and fast paced. I cannot wait to read the next book, especially since there were some carefully placed hints about it that tease which tale will be retold next!

I recommend this book to lovers of fairytales and Beauty and the Beast retellings!

Manon van Heumen

I love retellings, and this one was no different! A quick and breezy book, which I adored from the first to the last page. I can highly recommend it!

Donna Roucoulet &
The Wolf Gate by Hanna Sandvig

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