One Prince Finds True Love … And Risks It AllElle Cynder has fallen hard for Alec, the ‘prince’ of Le Charme Jewelers. Time for some happily in their ever after, right?Not so much.While the new couple shares joyful moments–and sizzling kisses–serious trouble is brewing. Elle’s evil stepmother, Marchesa, schemes with none other than Alec’s twisted father, Legend. Their plan? Destroy Elle and … father, Legend. Their plan? Destroy Elle and Alec, along with everything the young lovers hold dear, including Bry, Knox, and Wilhelm.
Another Royal Freezes His Heart … But For How Long?
As a prince of the dark fae, Jacoby focuses on one goal: avoid assassination. Marrying Elle would certainly aid in that cause, considering how she’s both a Cinderella life template and a powerful fae warden. Even better, Jacoby doesn’t truly love Elle. In court life, deep romantic attachments only mean certain death.
Then Jacoby notices Elle’s youngest stepsister, Agatha.
For the first time in his life, Jacoby’s cold heart warms with true affection. The elven prince struggles to ignore his feelings, but it might be a losing battle. And what would the prince’s newfound emotions mean for Elle and Alec? Could Jacoby really stand by and watch another’s true love be destroyed?
Buckle up for a wild ride as Cinderella’s time-honored story gets some all-new twists.
Fairy Tales of the Magicorum Series
A series of modern fairy tales with sass, action and romance
1. Wolves and Roses
2. Moonlight and Midtown
3. Shifters and Glyphs
4. Slippers and Thieves
5. Bandits and Ball Gowns
6. Fire and Cinder
7. Fairies and Frosting
8. Towers and Tithes
9. Evil Queens and Goblin Kings
more
Bandits and Ball Gowns led me to realize I will read anything and everything by Christina Bauer. This series is so fun with the retelling of different fairy tales, and BaBG is no exception.
Elle and Alec are back again, and this time the story expands to include the points-of-view of Elle’s sister, Agatha, and Jacoby, the elf who kept popping up in Elle’s life in the last book. I liked how they were added to the action.
Up until this point, Agatha was mostly in the background, so it was good to see her character develop. She wasn’t someone I thought would become more involved, so it was a good surprise. Jacoby sometimes annoyed me in the previous book, but he ended up growing on me. There’s more to these two characters than you might think.
My favorite Agatha quote:
“How empty you must feel…to need to fill yourself up on my pain.”
My favorite Jacoby quote:
“Mother always said that she’d rather drink poison than fall in love. Both cause your death, yet only poison allows you to set the time and place.”
BaBG has added illustrations of some of the characters and settings, and I loved their addition except for Alec. I think I just pictured him differently, but the other characters, including a couple of new ones, were done beautifully. And the scenes! They were stunning.
I did initially rate this book three out of five stars, but as I wrote this review, I realized how much I love this book and changed it to four stars. It isn’t quite a five-star read for me because I think some parts were a little rushed, especially towards the end.
I highly recommend reading book #4, Slippers and Thieves, before diving into BaBG. Books #4, #5, and #6 are kind of like their own trilogy and go together. This series makes me so happy, and I get into these books so quickly and deeply.
An excellent addition to this series. This book picks up shortly after slippers and thieves and gives us more information on Elle’s step family. Agatha isn’t so bad but the other two? Seriously bad news for everyone and paired with Alec’s parents it’s major trouble for everyone. Sadly, Elle’s best friend is on a separate adventure so isn’t there to help when it goes from bad to worse. Can’t wait to see what happens!!
Fairy tale retelling plus fae and shifters, oh my? Sign me up! I love this author’s imagination and every time I think I have her motives for her characters figured out, she surprises me.
I was prepared to hate Jacoby. Why do I like him so much? Agatha is a kick in the pants and Elle and Alec are just swoony. Forbidden love? YES PLEASE. (They’re no Lincoln and Myla, but who is??)
Romance? Check. Wonderfully awul villains? Check. Humor and twisty action and true love? CHECK!!
Cannot recommend this author highly enough!
Wow, I love this series! There is great romance, amazing characters, and stunning plot twists I never saw coming. The characters are well-written and I enjoy reading their stories. Their personalities are fun and their interactions are hilarious. I love them and the romance is sweet and clean. The plot is technically a classic fairy tale but written so differently and with so many plot twists and action I didn’t see coming. It all is so enjoyable and I would definitely recommend this and the entire series.
To say this was a new twist on Cinderella’s tale would be putting things mildly. This was everything I could have hoped for with being a fan of the series. Things were not predictable at every turn. There were a few but much of it came at you with a new spin to it. This had me loving it that much more. And then the second thing that made me love it was it was one that I could share with my teen daughter and her friends. The friends. The foes. The love. The likes. The backstabbing. The selfish.
There are many things going on here. No. It is not so many that you can not follow along and enjoy it all. It is just that there will not be a dull moment while each page turns and each chapter wizzes by.
Elle and Alec, of course love them, but it was Jacoby that stole my attention. I was wrapped up in finding out what he was going to do or not do. Would he really destroy to make things better for himself? Was he really selfish and destructive? Will the youngest step-sister, Agatha, be that salve needed to sooth a potential future beast?
The blurb said it all this was Cinderella’s story with all new twist. The ride on this journey was well worth it.
Just from my own personal view reading the entire series made things that much better when you get to book five of this series. You may be able to come in on this one but you will want to go back to the beginning and meet all the characters that have made this so wonderful.
This is turning into one of my all-time favorite series.
Bandits and Ballgown is the fifth book in the Fairy Tales of the Magicorum series, and the second book following Elle. Elle is living by the fairytale template of Cinderella. at the end of the previous book, it seems like Elle and her Prince finally got her happy ever after. His evil parents and her evil stepfamily were banished into the Fairyland and all seemed well. But it’s never that easy, especially for Elle.
Alec has his hands full with taking over the family company. Elle has her own set of problems, there is an annoying mob of people shouting stuff in front of her place, a strange genie is visiting and causing problems and their family are up to no good. Bri, Knox, and Colonel are on their own mission. And when Alec disappears, it’s up to her, to do her thing. 🙂
Jacoby doesn’t want love, he wants a powerful wife, who can help keep him alive and Elle looks lčike a valid candidate until he sets his eyes on Agatha. She was supposed to be just the ugly stepsister, but she is something quite different hiding under the disease of the stepsister template. She intrigues him from the start because there is a whole lot more to her than meets the eye. At first, she is a mystery he wants to solve, but soon it turns into something more.
The story is more character-driven than the previous one. It more about characters coming into their own, dealing with internal dilemmas, and finding their own path. I loved it!
The only thing I didn’t like was the pictures in between.
received from Xpresso Book Tours