In a world where fairytales keep coming to life, there’s a bureau dedicated to helping the victims caught up in the Grimm Effect. But sometimes even those investigators fall prey to a happily ever after… The big, bad wolf is about to go down. Through sheer determination—and a whole lot of stubbornness—I, Blanche Hood, managed to evade the Red-Cap curse. Unlike my mom, I didn’t fall for the huntsman or get eaten by the wolf, but I did gain a purpose. I became an agent for the Fairytale Bureau. My job? Countering the ugly side of the Grimm Effect. My latest case involves a string of murders by a wolf, but I keep getting distracted by my neighbor. I will resist his growly voice. I will not notice the way his muscles bulge. I don’t have time for romance because I need to focus on my job, especially since the perpetrator is taunting me. The killer is asking for a showdown, and he’s going to get it. He won’t be able to resist when I don my red hood to act as bait. Things don’t quite go as planned. Turns out the wolf was under my nose this entire time. By the time I discover the truth, it’s too late. Too late to lament the fact I was played. Too late to regret what could have been, and when I foolishly walk into a trap, it will take a miracle to save me. But everyone knows the Brothers Grimm stories don’t always have happily-ever-afters. If only love truly could break the curse.
This Cinderella doesn’t need a prince charming, but she would like a happily-ever-after. Silly me, I thought I’d beaten the Grimm Effect when I ditched the old man who wouldn’t stop chasing me at the ball. However, here I am, decades later, with my fairy godmother popping back in for round two. No thanks. I intend to marry for love and not because of a curse. Avoiding the marriage trap might be easier if I wasn’t roped into acting as a liaison for a certain European prince. A good thing he’s at least charming compared to his assigned protective Grimm Knight. The upcoming ball for the prince’s birthday is turning into a chaotic mess, with hundreds of Cinderellas showing up determined to lose their shoe. While I’m busy trying to screen them before they come near His Royal Highness, I’m being plagued by oddities, some of which are threatening my life. As the curse does its best to force me into playing my role, I am equally determined to fight it. The question is, will my refusal to conform ruin my chance at happiness?
My life has taken a hairy twist. I’ve studied the Grimm Effect and am prepared to be the one who finally breaks it. The others who came before me failed, but I have an advantage they didn’t. I escaped my unhappily-ever-after. The one thing I don’t have? Jet-setting money. Good thing a prince I saved while working at the Fairytale Bureau has deep pockets. He’s offered to help me end the jinxing once and for all. What I didn’t count on was the curse fighting back. In an annoying twist, I am now the beast. From dusk ‘til dawn, I’m a hairy monster, and do you know what tames me when I’m tempted to eat annoying people? A certain sarcastic prince. However, I don’t have time for romance because I’m on a quest to save myself, and the world. A quest being thwarted at every turn by the evil magic that keeps spreading. Will I find the answer before everyone in the world is merely a character in a story? Admit defeat and take up residence in a dreary castle where I can roar at trespassers? Or should I take a page from a book and give true love a try?