βΎ disclaimer
This book is an erotic novella, and features content that is not suitable for readers under the age of 18.
If you are not 18 or older, please do not continue to read this review and do not purchase the book.
βΎ about the book
Title: Once Upon A Dream
Author: Sierra Simone
Published: 2021
Format: ebook, novella
Pages: 182
Rating: β
β
β
Smut Rating: πΆοΈπΆοΈ
Trigger Warning: ADULT CONTENT β namely hate fucking, exhibitionism (without audience), spanking, BDSM-club setting, age difference, gang bang/group sex, polyamory
βΎ the synopsis | the characters
Music Box Girl
A Twelve Dancing Princesses Story
Every night they dance. Every night he follows.
Ex-soldier private investigator Cal Dugan has been hired to follow Tamsin and her ballerinas to find out where they go at night. He didnβt count on Tamsinβs courage or her passion. He didnβt count on the way she twists him up inside.
He solves the riddle of their disappearing act, but heβll never reveal Tamsinβs secrets, no matter the cost.
American Witch
A Princess and the Pea Story
Morgan wants to start fresh, but a mystery man at the masked ball lights her up from the inside. His hands, his touch, his scent–they’re all too familiar, all too real. Heβs always been her weakness, but can she deny him when every part of her is on fire for him and only him?
Red & White
A Snow-White and Rose-Red Story
All that art student Scarlett wants to do is wait out a howling snowstorm and kiss her best friend senseless, but all her careful plans fall apart the minute a near-frozen bear stumbles through the door.
Except he’s not a bearβhe’s very much a manβand there’s only one way to warm him up from the cold…
βΎ the world building
All the novellas are set in America. One in DC (American Witch), one has an underlying setting of a ballet-school and a BDSM club (Music Box Girl) and the third is set at a cabin somewhere in America that gets snow (Red & White).
The settings are very vague, because the focus is on the characters, and the sex, of course.
βΎ what i liked about this book
The idea is pretty cool, especially because the fairytales chosen are not commonly known.
And also, I enjoyed the fact that after having read the Thornchapel Quartet, I could go back to a familiar author and enjoy some of her quirks, since Red & White is another polyamory novella.
Also, unlike the other erotica book that I read that night, Sierra Simone’s writing is very lush, and you don’t need the stories to give you a lot to really be immersed in them.
Also, there is audible consent and discussions about what had happened and what would happen – consent is sexy.
βΎ what i disliked about this book
I love fairytales, so yeah, the idea of this anthology was pretty great to hear about, but unfortunately the execution left me a bit disappointed.
American Witch had very very little to do with The Princess and the Pea, so much so that the story had me the most confused out of the three of them, and even though Music Box Girl and Red & White were more accurate, I would have loved the stories more if the word “modern” hadn’t been attached to them, and Sierra Simone had played with the medieval settings instead.
βΎ should you read this book?
Again, you’re not missing out on anything if you don’t.
I think that if it comes to Sierra Simone’s writing, I would recommend the Thornchapel Quartet over this Antology.
However, I have already read that and I was looking for more of her writing to read, the opportunity to get my hands on this book was one I wouldn’t miss.
Perhaps someone who is reading this for the sex and not so much for the fairytale connotation is going to enjoy this book more than I did.
