Something Wicked Anthology

Book Blurb:

Prepare yourselves for when Dama de Diablo spits her Hellfire from The Underneath. She will deliver Wrath & Ruin to all of you Unfortunate Souls.

One step out of line will earn you a Prick from the Forbidden Queen. Once she orders you to Bite Me, you’re going to Wish that The Deadly Hunt taking place Within These Shadows can end in Bittersweet Beauty.

Enjoy being The Toy while you can as your Nights on the Round Table with Wicked Lady T are numbered. Soon we will all fall victim to SOMETHING WICKED.

Stories included are:
Forbidden Queen by Missy Ann
Within These Shadows by B. Celeste
Bittersweet Beauty by Elizabeth Cash
Dama De Diablo by A.A. Davies
The Toy by Anna Edwards
Bite Me: The Cursed Evil Queen by Emery LeeAnn
The Deadly Hunt by K.S. Marshall
Wish by Claire Marta
The Underneath by C.L. Matthews
Wicked Lady T by T.L. Mayhew
Nights On The Round Table by Michelle Pace
Unfortunate Souls by Michelle Brown
Hellfire by Ally Vance
Prick by Murphy Wallace

My Review:

This collection of short stories from some amazing authors all centre around a different Disney Villain. But they are most definitely not the ones you will remember from your childhood (or adulthood if you are like me and think you can never be too old for Disney!). These tails will take  what you think you know about the Disney story and turn it completely on its head. Each of these stories will draw you in and keep you wanting more.

As I mentioned there are a lot of amazing authors in this anthology that are well known for producing dark, dangerous and delicious stories and none of them dissapoint in this collection. While all of the stories are short, it is clear with some of them that the authors intend to adapt upon these stories to produce full books. Now to me this is music to my ears because all of these stories left me craving more and annoyed as hell when they finished. One of the best compliments I can give to any story, particularly short ones is that is the desire to want more words, more story and that is the case with all of these books. I want more, so much more!

Although there are lots of stories in this collection, I genuinely mean it when I say that they are all incredible. But for me there were a few that stood out and these I will just briefly review.

Ally Vance – Hellfire
This story is based around one of the lesser known Disney movies, Hunchback of Notre Dame and for that reason a lot of people may not be familiar with the key characters and the main villain Frollo. But despite that there is no doubting who the villain is in this story. Ally manages to take a normal children’s story and twist it into something dark and deceptive but it still manages to hold some of the qualities that the original Disney characters have. This is one of the books that I can honestly say I am desperate for there to be more off. It was such a good read and was over before I even knew it. Ally has a way of creating characters that are dangerous and enticing all at the same time. I cannot recommend this story enough.

Claire Marta – Wish
Wish features around the well known Disney tale of Aladdin and the villain is Jafar. But I can tell you now that you need to forget everything you know about Aladdin because this blasts it to smitherines. In this retelling our villain is named Nadir and he is a successful gangster who runs a hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. But in the past he had everything stolen from him and he still holds resentment towards the boy who he feels wronged him and took everything from him.
In the past Nadir worked as the right hand man to crime Lord David Sudan and he was good at his job. But he was always tempted by David’s young daughter Jesse despite their 19 years age difference. He waited until she was old enough and went from seeing her as a child to all woman. Then his whole world was turned upside down when a cocky, arrogant kid called Aladdin came on the scene and framed Nadir, blackmailed David into becoming his second in command and asked for the hand in marriage of his princess Jesse.
Having lost everything Nadir builds his own empire and tries to forget about his desperate need for revenge. Until one night he sees a very drunk Jesse all alone in his casino. She is clearly flirting and looking for a good time, despite being engaged to Aladdin. A plan quickly forms and Nadir takes advantage of a drunken Jesse which results in them tied together for life. Stealing the daughter and fiance of his enemies seems like the perfect plan for revenge. But what happens when Nadirs plan to ruin Jesse starts to fall apart. Is he starting to fall in love with the girl or is that an emotion his dark heart will never be capable of?
This story is so good. It is dark, sexy and extremely addictive. I was hooked on this story and when it ended on a cliff hanger I was so frustrated because I wanted more. I do hope Claire plans on releasing more because this story has so much potential and I cannot wait to find out what happens next.

The Toy by Anna Edwards
This is a modern day retelling of the story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook. But there is almost nothing in this story that will remind you of the original. This modern day retelling is set within a University and features Bella (Tinker Bell) as our main character. She has been in a relationship with her boyfriend Peirs (Peter Pan) for a while but their relationship is not a happy one. Then one night Bella returns home to the house they share and finds Piers having sex with her best friend Gwen (Wendy). But if that wasn’t bad enough it turns out that Gwen’s brothers Evan and Mikey are also part of the foursome and Piers enjoys a little male attention as well as female.
Disgusted and distracted Bella flees and ends up in a car accident where she hurts her head. But she is saved by one of her professors Rook Jamieson (Captain Hook). He takes her to his house boat to help her recover from her head injury and it soon becomes clear that Rook is infatuated with Bella and plans to make her his. But does this have anything to do with the fact Piers is his mortal enemy and he is desperate for revenge or does he actually have feelings for Bella.
This story just throws that beautiful Disney story that everyone will remember from their childhood right out of the water, replacing it with sex orgy’s, kidnapping, manipulation, sex toys and a lot of sexual tension. But once you start this book Disney will be a distant memory and you will love this imaginative, sexy, manipulative retelling. This story most definitely leaves you on a cliif hanger and you will be desperate for more. I will be first in line to read the follow up book because this story was amazing.

Overall, there are so many good stories in this book and I have only been able to name but a few. But I can assure you that as you dive into each of these stories and devour them, not only will you be amazed and enthralled, you will be hoping for more. They will ruin every childhood memory you have of Disney characters and they will twist them into something unrecognisable yet sexy. But I can assure that will only make you crave more. I cannot recommend this anthology any more. It is such a clever concept and each author has rolled with that concept and produced something amazing that you will love.