Spinning Tales

...There was lots to enjoy in the book... Similar to the Fury series, Willow has inserted the idea of myth or fairy/folk tales being real and inter-related with the "real world". It reminded me a bit of the Fable comic series -but only in the idea that fairy tales/fable characters are real. The premise was interesting and, due to my own fascination with myths/folk/fairytales, I was sucked in quickly.

Willows has a great knack of blending worlds and I do love her stuff...

Reviewed by Megan Cooper

Spinning Tales is a very unusual take on the fairy tale, and a book that was overall enjoyable to read. It starts off in true fantasy fashion, where the apparently mundane human gets caught up in a web of intrigue and mystery. As the story develops, the reader gets taken to a new interpretation - and an interesting and well-thought interpretation - of a fantasy staple - how our Mundane World and the magical, mysterious Otherworld are intertwined and co-dependent.
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Reviewed by Sam Alexander

This is such a unique take on a classic fairy tale fantasy. It did my favourite thing a book can do: it made me genuinely care about the characters, the dialogue felt real (but certainly more entertaining than my own). I really dug the lesbian romance, and the "Wanted Ads" were kidney-clutching hilarious.

Reviewed by mer hays

Well that was some out of the box story telling right there… Wow!

Maggie McShay is bored with life, her job and her lack of dating. She sees an ad in the newspaper for a cottage keeper but what she doesn’t know is the cottage is a portal into a Fairytale world… literally. When Maggie meets her protector, Kody Wilks she’s not sure if she’s more shocked how unbelievably butch and sexy Kody is or by the string of women in her bed. As they tackle the fairytale realm and Maggie's new-found gifts, they begin to fall for each other but how can it work when Maggie is from another world and Kody is brooding over the past… Maybe fairy-tales can come true?

I absolutely loved this book. I was engrossed from the prologue and it just kept getting better. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I would connect with this book at all but I had nothing to worry about as the magic whisked me away into this magical land and I couldn’t get enough.

All the characters, main and secondary were fantastic and well fleshed out. But for me there was only Kody Wilks. She was everything… Butch but in a James Dean way, sweet and sensitive in some ways but above all she was ferociously brave and genuingly caring of her friends, especially Maggie.

I don’t know how Maggie kept her hands to herself for so long because she was Maggie's perfect match in every way. The chemistry and connection between them both was undeniable and honestly it seeped from the page. The sex scenes were off the chart and it was a relief when these two finally let the fireworks take over because it was amazing, loving but ultimately incredibly sexy!

Also, the “Wanted Ads” that Maggie enjoys reading in the newspaper were nothing short of hilarious and they added a levity to the books in moments where I didn’t think there was any.

This is not my normal go to for Lesbian fiction but I am so glad I picked it up. I hope Spinning Tales becomes a series or has a follow-up because I want more magic and adventure with Maggie and Kody

Unequivocally 5 Stars.

Reviewed by Rachael Forrester

I'm really not a fantasy person, but as a lesbian who loves fairy tales, I thought I'd give this a try. I'm so glad I did - it's one of the most engrossing books I've read in a while.

The tension between two conflicting realities, and protagonist Maggie's resultant confusion from having to exist between them, is done well, as is the issue of how the fairy tale characters disguise themselves in the human world: a cat sith as a stray cat, a leprechaun as a little person, a trickster fox as a TV producer. There is some sense of magic and wonder, but still grounded in Maggie's real, genuine feelings and beliefs. The Night Circus by way of Ally McBeal, in a way, though the closest comparison might be the Will Ferrell movie Stranger Than Fiction. (I was also frequently reminded, setting-wise, of the video game Tales of Berseria.)

Willows' handling of grief is also commendable, both realistic and kind, as are her treatments of found families and of romantic jealousy. She actually interrogates internalized misogyny, if only implicitly, as Maggie comes to befriend a potential romantic rival, even as she continues to feel jealous of her. And that romantic rival, a succubus, is not only one of the most fun characters in the book, but allows for my personal favorite exchange, between Maggie and her love interest, Kody: "A sex demon? You had sex with a sex demon?" "Wouldn't you, given the chance?"
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I eagerly recommend it to my fellow queer fairy tale fans.

Reviewed by Sophie Forrester