Candy Houses by S. Walker

I love fairy tales, especially when they’ve been twisted around; so when I saw that Shiloh Walker was writing one involving various Grimm fairy tales, I was excited. The first story in the new Grimm Circle series is Candy Houses and it involves two characters you really don’t hear much of in revisited fairy tales – Rip Van Winkle and Gretel.

Greta didn’t get her happy ending her first time around. And now that she’s a Grimm—special kind of guardian angel and official ass-kicker in the paranormal world—romance is hard to find. Besides, there’s only ever been one man who made her heart race, and the fact that he did scared her right out of his arms. Now Rip is back. And just in time too, because Greta needs his help.

On a mission he knows is going to test all of his strengths and skills, the last person Rip expected to see is the one woman who broke his heart. Working together seems to be their only hope. But, when faced with a danger neither of them anticipated, the question is, how will they face the danger to their hearts—assuming they survive, of course.

I was totally entranced.  Candy Houses was amazing and it only made me want the second novel, No Prince Charming, even more.  We’re given two great characters in Greta and Rip, along with their own very human version of what really happened with Hansel & Gretel and Rip Van Winkle.  The fact that Walker threw these centuries old fairy tale characters in the middle of an urban setting to battle demons while saving the lost just adds another great dimension to an already classic telling.

The plot, the conflict, is unique in the fact that vampires exist, except they are just another form of demon and there are different “tastes” of them.  The type of vampires Greta and Rip face are called Orin and they are non-corporeal demons who suck the souls out of their victims.  Once the victims have lost enough of their soul, the Orin can then possess them and create all kinds of havoc.  This adds a whole new level of crazy to the scene considering not everyone can see non-corporeal beings.  Trying to tell the latest victim of the Orin drives Greta to frustration, add on top of that the reappearance of Rip in her life, and she’s in for an interesting ride.

Through all the mayhem, Greta and Rip getting back together is done exceptionally well.  I’m assuming that isn’t spoilerish since this is a romance and we all know there is a HEA in the future for our characters.  Their chemistry is not only believable, but the complications of their lives adds a whole new area of consideration that both take seriously.  Greta and Rip’s romance is fantastic and to say anything less wouldn’t do it justice.

Overall, Candy Houses is an amazing story, and while it is an ebook, it is totally worth the effort of getting and reading it.  There are not very many books that make me instantly want to get a sequel enough to preorder it, but as soon as I heard No Prince Charming was going to be released, that’s exactly what I did.  In fact, I can tell you exactly how many novels I’ve preordered in the past two years, because I’ve only done it twice. Seriously, Candy Houses is a fabulous and everyone should be reading it at some point.

Read Order:
Candy Houses
No Prince Charming
I Thought It Was You (novella)
Crazed Hearts
Tarnished Knight

Also reviewed by:
Errant Dreams Reviews
Darkly Reading
One Good Book Deserves Another
Warfaring Writer