I am very excited to be a part of the Once Upon a Summer Anthology Book tour! I actually found out about this tour via the newsletters I subscribe to by Josie Jaffrey. She mentioned they needed a few more spots on the tour and I was so excited to partake.
Be sure to check out the other spots on the tour!
I was going to spotlight the book but I did want to mention a few things I enjoyed as well. First, let’s take a look at the book.
Once Upon a Summer
Author: H. L. Macfarlane, Adie Hart, Jake Curran-Pipe, Caroline Logan, Ellana Bellows, Josie Jaffrey, Laila Amado, Kate Longstone, Bharat Krishnan, Ella T. Holmes,
Katherine Shaw, S. Markem, R.A. Gerritse, M.J. Weatherall, A.J. Van Belle, Jenna Smithwick
Publisher: Macfarlane Lantern Publishing
Published: June 2nd, 2023
Book Length: 341 Pages
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Anthology
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Buy the book: Amazon
A village abandons all they knew in search of water.
A man covets the last roses of summer and pays the price in blood.
Two young monsters seek a peaceful life by the seaside.
A scorching prophecy threatens to destroy all that a princess holds dear.
Once upon a time stories travelled from place to place on the tongues of merchants and thieves and kings alike. Around a crackling bonfire beneath a sky that never grew dark they were shared, and traded, and altered, until every corner of the globe had their own collection of tales.
In the spirit of these age-old stories comes Once Upon a Summer , a seasonal anthology of folk and fairy tales from 15 authors across the globe. It covers everything from summer romances to eco-terror to seaside ghost stories, and features both intriguing twists on classic tales and exciting original stories.
The second of four planned seasonal anthologies from Macfarlane Lantern Publishing, Once Upon a Summer is sure to have a story for just about everyone. Grab your copy in time for the solstice today!
Inside this
The I Scream Van by Caroline Logan
What Big Geese You Have by Adie Hart
The Forest at the End of the World by Josie Jaffrey
It Is Written by S. Markem
These Burning Bones by Laila Amado
Vespertine by Elanna Bellows
The Last Roses of Summer by Kate Longstone
Love, Pride, Virtue and Fate by Bharat Krishnan
Juniper and the Upside Down Well by Ella Holmes
Love in the Time of Volcanoes by Jake Curran-Pipe
Bluebeard’s Beach House by Jenna Smithwick
The Knucker of Lyminster by Katherine Shaw
Summer Dreams by R. A. Gerritse
The Witches of Dogtown by A. J. Van Belle
Contract with a Mermaid by M. J. Weatherall
I have not read many anthologies and reading this one makes me wonder why. There are so many great short stories in this one! I will be honest, the only reason I chose to participate in this blog tour and read this anthology is because Josie Jaffrey had a short story in it. So, let’s talk about that first.
The Forest at the End of the World by: Josie Jaffrey
This was such an emotional read! As usual, Josie paints a picture of vivid characters and she is able to elicit emotional connections between them and the reading in a short period of time. I ached for the characters in this to keep pushing through the storm. Somehow, the story ends almost at the beginning if that makes any sense at all. IT is truly a wonderful short story I really enjoyed.
There is one other story I want to mention, though I really enjoy a lot of these. The next one I want to talk about is a completely new take on a story but it actually worked!
It Is Written by: S. Markem
This is something new to me but incredible. We go through the characters knowing they have been summoned to be in a story and how they are going to get it to end etc. The dialogue between them was fantastically written, almost as if the reader is the fly on the wall in the room, listening to their conversations.
Vespertine was a story that went deeper than I anticipated but I was engulfed from the first page. Love, Pride, Virtue and Fate had me so engulfed in the story that I felt I was living it. These were all fantastic, quick reads.
I find it difficult to write too much about any of these stories because I do not want to give too much information away. You really should get yourself a copy and dive in. I think every author did a wonderful job and showing rather than telling. Images danced through my head as I read each page and I discovered some new authors I will be following.
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