The sixth Once Upon a Prince book is here, and it’s the fabulous Kristin J. Dawson and The Poisoned Prince: A Snow White Retelling!
Who’s up for a friends to forbidden lovers romance?
Blurb:
A royal huntsman. An illegitimate daughter. And one heart — delivered on a silver platter.
Max is training to become the royal huntsman, a respected position his lineage has held for generations. Between his mother’s noble family and his father’s prominent appointment, he has no end of invitations and offers of friendship. But, he much prefers bantering with the intriguing Snow White every morning in the kitchens.
Orphaned Snow is an unremarkable palace servant of questionable origins. With the ability to sense moods at a single glance, Snow won’t risk feeling Max’s emotions and ruining their unlikely friendship. Besides, as soon as she scrapes together enough coin, she must journey to find out what happened to her mother.
When the king winds up dead, the best friends are thrown apart. Between Snow’s bloodline and her fae-gifted ability, she tip-toes on a blade’s edge. The kingdom devolves into chaos under the queen’s rule—and Snow is a threat to be eliminated.
The longer Max juggles the plotting traitors, lies, and unstable queen, the more he realizes he must choose between his family and Snow, the woman he’s grown to love. And it’s painfully clear that he can’t save both.
The key to saving the kingdom may lie in Snow’s unraveling of her past, but her heart lies in the hands of the queen’s huntsman.
The Poisoned Prince is a best friends to forbidden romance retelling of Snow White and is book 6 of Once Upon A Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone story features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after.
How awesome does that sound? I was lucky enough to chat to the author, Kristin, in the run up to release day. Read on to see what we chatted about and find out more about her books…
Hi Kristin! I’m so excited for The Poisoned Prince, I’ve always loved Snow White but I don’t think I’ve read a retelling yet. For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure, can you tell us a little about yourself?
I live in the Pacific Northwest, which I feel is almost like its own little country. We are surrounded by high desert to the east, so we are a bit isolated from the rest of the US. It takes a long time to drive to major cities outside the I-5 corridor. The benefit is we are surrounded by beautiful mountains, and we’re near the rugged coast. People in the PNW enjoy nature.
That sounds sort of fantastic! Where I live in the UK we’re just a short drive to the Peak District, and there are so many national parks and beautiful slices of countryside a stone’s throw away – including Sherwood Forest! You sound like you’re surrounded by the best source of inspiration for writing. What got you started?
In the sixth grade, we were assigned to write a short story. I often wrote science fiction or portal fantasy as a child, and I included pictures (which is hilarious because I’m not an artist). I was getting a failing grade in English because I didn’t turn my short story in. Well, I did eventually, but it was a massive world story, and it was nearly novelette-length. And that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the writer I am at my *core*.
Sixth grade you sounds like a legend, I wish I could have met her! So you started out writing portal fantasy (one of my favourite genres) and sci-fi, but what do you prefer to read?
When I discovered The Giver, I was smitten. I had always been an Anne of Green Gables girl before that, but then I discovered YA dystopian. And I’ve been chasing that high ever since.
I feel like we all went through that phase of being obsessed with YA dystopian, whether it was The Giver, Divergent, The Hunger Games (a personal fave) or one of the other absolutely brilliant dystopian teen novels that came out in the 90s and 00s that us into the genre. What are you working on right now?
I’m currently working with a group of authors on a fairytale retelling series (Once Upon a Prince). Each book is independent of the others, and each is set in its own world. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction to the series. I think people are resonating with the familiar tropes and comforted knowing they’ll get a happily ever after.
I’m so glad Once Upon a Prince seems to have captured to hearts of our readers! The response has been incredible so far, and we’re only halfway through! Where do you usually get the inspiration from for your stories?
I get a lot of my inspiration from reading history or even watching documentaries. It’s true what they say (whoever “they” are): truth is stranger than fiction.
It’s so true, I get a lot of inspiration from podcasts, real life can be absolutely crazy. So many true stories are that bizarre that if they were fiction readers would think they were completely unbelievable! Do you consider yourself a plotter or a pantser, or somewhere in between?
I am a plotter. I tried branching out and doing a pantser story, and … it ground to a halt pretty quickly. I wanted to challenge myself to try to see where a story/character would take me. Now it’s on pause, and I’m trying to plot it, which is much more difficult to do retrospectively. NEVER AGAIN!
Gah, I know your pain, I’m definitely a plotter too, pantsing just winds up going in circles for me. So what are you planning to write next? What can readers look forward to?
Right now, I am focused on the fairytale. But I’m excited to get started on my elven/fae series again. I have a duology that I’m working on that I’m hoping to publish in 2024!
Ooh that sounds right up my street, I can’t wait to read it. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
For anyone who wants to become a writer, my best advice is to read. The reason is that you’ll figure out what you love. Make a list of the things that excite you about stories, and then use those in what you write. You’ll love the process more, and your readers will love it, too.
Brilliant advice! Okay, where can we keep in touch with you and find out about all your upcoming releases?
If you like funny or thoughtful bookish memes, follow me on Facebook at @KristinJLiterary
If you like book reviews and bookish news, follow me on IG at @KristinJDawson (I put lots of fun stuff in IG stories, too)
If you like epic worlds and unique magic, follow me on Amazon or subscribe to my newsletter to get alerts when I publish new books!
How lovely is Kristin? I can’t believe we’re halfway through the series now, it’s absolutely flown since the first book released. There’s six more Once Upon a Prince books to go, have you preordered them all?
Happy reading, friends.
Lyndsey
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Lyndsey Hall | Author 