Nutcracker

Winterspell is a YA fantasy standalone book inspired by the Nutcracker–but Legrand releases an epilogue this week! Sign up for her newsletter here to get the news on the release.New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted–by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets–and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed–if she leaves at all.

I had been waiting to read Winterspell during a cold snowy evening while wrapped in furry blankets and stacks of used hot chocolate mugs. Unfortunately, Colorado’s didn’t give me my snowfall soon enough. I DID, however, read this the same week I saw the Nutcracker ballet for the first time! (And, ahem…the Barbie Nutcracker version…)

And while I loved the beauty of the ballet, I prefer Winterspell’s storyline….(and the Barbie version…)