The Better to See You

by Kate SeRine

[kimbacaffeinate]

The Transplanted Tale series by Kate SeRine is such a fun series with zany characters straight from our beloved fairy-tales. The story goes that a spell gone awry in Make Believe ripped some of the characters from their pages into our world. Now they are forced to live among the ordinaries in the Here and Now. They have rules for blending in and they are strictly enforced by the Fairytale Management Authority. In the first book we met Red aka “Little Red Riding Hood”. In The Better to See You we get Seth aka the “Big Bad Wolf” and Lavender Seelie's aka “Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother" tale. I consumed this smexy, hilarious, action packed tale in a single evening.

The tale begins in Chicago near the Chicago branch of the Fairytale Management Authority. Red and Nate (the Grim Reaper) are called to the Charmings’ residence after a fire destroys their home. Lavender their fairy godmother is having problems controlling her magic and accidentally burnt it down. Red sends Lavender to "The Refuge"; a sanctuary for tales. Lavender discovers that Red has sent her to stay with Seth aka “The Big Bad Wolf” and when dead bodies start showing up in Refuge with ancient Tale symbols the tale that unfolds is suspenseful, action packed and utterly romantic.

We met Seth in the first tale, and I love his back story. He is the brooding loner type and oozes smexy. I adored, poor misunderstood Lavender. She has made some major mistakes as a fairy godmother and sadly the whole tale world knows about them. She means well but somehow things always go wrong. At her core she is a good fairy and I laughed at her antics, cheered her when she was kick-ass and totally wanted her to get her HEA. The banter and dance Seth and Lavender shared was delightful and I loved watching this romance unfold. SeRine did an awesome job of showing the wolf side of Seth and I love when authors are able to do that. The cast of characters living in the Refuge were all fascinating and developed. I loved figuring out what tale they came from and seeing what they were doing in the Here and Now. The villains were downright creepy and I enjoyed watching the case unfold. We of course saw Red and Nate and you do not want to miss updates about them.

SeRine has created such an interesting plot with endless possibilities. The Tales in the Here and Now are each unique and she does an excellent job with fleshing them out. While each of the tales can be read as a standalone and feature a different couple and a suspenseful mystery I would recommend reading them from the beginning. Seth and Lavender’s romance felt genuine and I quickly came to care for them. We got some ooh, la, la moments as well as some bittersweet ones. They each have their own baggage and quirks which made them unique. The murder mystery was suspenseful, and a little gruesome. I loved the supernatural elements involved with this one. Twists, turns and a few surprised kept me enthralled. The ending was well done, and I was sad to see it end.

If you love fairy-tales and want a grown-up retelling then The Better to See You and the Transplanted Tales are a must read. Along Came a Spider due out in August of 2013 will feature Beatrice aka “Little Miss Muffet”.

I want to thank the author for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer