Reimagined fairy tales, especially those with a twist or modernized to bring them up to date, and stories that challenge accepted gender identities and traditional roles are two of my favorite genres. Imagine my delight when I discovered the ‘Fairy Tales of the Open Road’ series and found out that it contains both elements in abundance. I know I’m late to the table with this first book having been out for a while, but now that I am into the concept of this somewhat crazy world, I am very motivated to catch up quickly. As I understand it, “Americana Fairy Tale” is the first of three books around the “screw-up princess” Taylor Hatfield (a guy with a few issues) and the “skillful huntsman” Corentin Devereaux (also a guy, and one with even more issues).

So far, so interesting. But here’s the thing. As much as the setup sounds like a fairy tale I sort of know, if you’re expecting any hint of tradition, this is not your book. Lex Chase has, instead, taken existing fairy tale characters and put them in a magical world of Enchants who live among nonenchanted humans in today’s world. Each Enchant has some sort of curse (except those who don’t – and that’s an issue in and of itself). Enchants also have an abundance of rules to obey and are tasked with keeping up tradition, which has led to princesses and princes being reincarnated over and over again, trying to follow the mysterious Storyteller’s plan.

Taylor is a princess, gay – much to his homophobic father’s disgust, and the older brother of “perfect” Atticus. Taylor has a few problems. He doesn’t want to adhere to tradition and get married to the prince of his parents’ choice (who happens to be a girl). Taylor doesn’t even know which princess he is supposed to be the reincarnation of – different from Atticus who is Snow White and, in this world, the highest-ranked princess of them all. When Taylor runs rather than marry a prince he doesn’t love, taking his equally unconventional fairy godfather with him, he sets in motion a series of events that will lead to the discovery of a nefarious plan, unprecedented cooperation between a princess and a huntsman, more ambition and spells than you can shake a wand at, and an adventure of epic proportions.

Corentin may be a feared (and somewhat despised) huntsman, but his spell has rendered him almost powerless. It is so bad that he is prepared to do almost anything, even work with the bad guys, to get back to a normal life. Meeting Taylor changes a few things for him, but their partnership is uneasy and volatile at first. Their road trip and efforts to solve the evil witchking’s riddles so they can save Atticus pushes them closer together, but a Happily Ever After seems more unlikely by the page.

If you’re looking for a highly imaginative story in the form of a novel that is so funny it might just make you laugh out loud, if you don’t mind this book just being the first part of a trilogy - which means more than one question remains without an answer by the end of it, and if you’re ready to have your preconceived notions about what a fairy tale “should be” challenged, you will probably like this novel as much as I do. I can’t wait to read the next installment!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )