It’s Read Around the Rainbow time!!! On the last Friday of every month, we’re a group of authors who get together and blog on the same topic. This month we’re talking retellings.
This is not my area of expertise… at all. I actually wrote a retelling of The Three Snake Leaves by the Brothers Grimm nine years ago. It’s saved somewhere on my computer LOL.
An author friend of mine saw a submission call. You were to say you were interested, and they’d give you a Grimm fairy tale to turn into a romance with a HEA. I thought it was a cool idea, so I emailed them saying I was interested.
They gave me The Three Snake Leaves.
At first, I wasn’t thrilled. It’s not a fairy tale I feel anything specific for, but I wrote it. Then my friend and I beta-read each other’s stories, and she submitted hers only to have them say they were canceling the series. I never contacted them, and while I had some plans about finishing the story, I was pregnant with my fourth child and was utterly exhausted. And then came the sleep deprivation and the brain fog etc etc. I think I still have the story saved somewhere. *shrugs*
So I don’t write retellings, and I rarely read retellings, but I recently read Malum Discordiae by Ashlyn Drewek, and enjoyed it a lot.
It’s an MM Romeo and Juliette retelling with necromancers and evil witches, because why not? LOL I love necromancers, so I had a blast reading 😊
For good recs, I think you should check out what the others have to say!
Malum Discordiae
After Cassius Corbin’s mother was murdered by fellow witches, he learned an invaluable lesson: death comes for us all—even Necromancers. Six years later, enrolling at Tennebrose University with vengeance on his mind, the last thing he expects is to come face to face with Graeme Hewitt, the son of his mother’s killer. As much as Cassius tries to avoid the naive weather witch, fate has other plans.
In spite of their families’ ongoing feud, they’re forced to work together if they have any hope of passing their required class. But as late nights and stolen moments turn to something more, a rash of demonic murders plagues the university. If they don’t get to the bottom of it, they could both be next.
MALUM DISCORDIAE is a dark academia, paranormal MM romance about witches, Necromancers, and a blood feud that has lasted centuries. It features plenty of steam, a lot of snark, and the pile of bodies you’d expect in a magical Romeo + Juliet retelling—except this one has a happy ending. It is intended for a mature audience and reader discretion is advised. A full list of triggers can be found in the front matter of the book and at my website under Tropes & Triggers.
Ofelia Grand 
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