Happily Ever After: 7 of My Favorite Fairytale Retellings for Adults
Welcome back, romance readers!
Get ready to dive into a world where happily ever after meets sugar, spice, and everything naughty (I mean nice!)! We’re delving deep into the realm of erotic fairytale retellings. Yep, you heard that right—imagine your beloved childhood stories infused with a serious dose of heat and passion. This is where fantasy gets a whole lot spicier, and happily-ever-after takes on a whole new meaning. Buckle up because things are about to get steamy!
But before getting started, this is a friendly reminder to be aware of your triggers and to check for any necessary trigger warnings associated with the titles below.
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Table of Contents

What is a Fairytale Retelling?
7 of My Favorite Fairytale Retellings!
More Book Lists
Author Guides
Series Guides
What is a Fairytale Retelling?

Imagine your favorite fairytales but with a spicy twist! Our favorite authors take those timeless stories we grew up with—think Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, or Little Red Riding Hood—and give them a fresh, steamy, and swoon-worthy makeover.
My Favorite Fairytale Retellings

A Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca F. Kenney

Wicked Darlings, Book One
Inspired by The Nutcracker.
A Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca F. Kenney is for readers who enjoy:
- Enemies-to-Lovers
- Fairytale Retellings for Adults
- Forced Proximity
- Holiday Romance
- Rebellious FMCs
Booklists that feature A Court of Sugar and Spice
Book Description
With their inheritance restricted until their marriage, sisters Clara and Louisa, both in their twenties, must live with their godfather, Drosselmeyer.
One night, an accident brings to life one of the strange wooden dolls in Drosselmeyer’s mansion. The Nutcracker doll is a cursed Fae prince, and he pleads for the sisters’ help.
During the ensuing journey into the Fae realm, Clara encounters the handsome Sugarplum Faerie, and he promises her the chance to enact all the forbidden. fantasies she has dreamed of.
Meanwhile, Louisa and the Nutcracker Prince battle and bicker over everything despite the growing attraction between them.
And to make matters worse, the entire Seelie kingdom is under threat of conquest by the Rat King, ruler of the Dread Court.
I make it a habit to always pay attention when a woman speaks to me. It’s the ones who are out of their minds who have the most fascinating and insightful things to say.
A Court of Sugar and Spice
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Book One
Inspired by Beauty and the Beast.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is for readers who enjoy:
- Enemies-to-Lovers
- Fae
- Fairytale Retellings for Adults
- Forced Proximity
- Slow-Burns
Related Series
Booklists that feature A Court of Thorns and Roses
The Ultimate Sarah J. Maas Guide
A Court of Thorns and Roses Playlists
Book Description
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Hooked by Emily McIntire

Never After, Book One
Inspired by Peter Pan.
Hooked by Emily McIntire is for readers who enjoy:
- Alpha Males
- Enemies-to-Lovers
- Mafia Romance
- Grumpy Sunshine
- Villains
Booklists that feature Hooked
A Guide to Emily McIntire’s Never After Series
Hooked Playlist
Book Description
He wants revenge, but he wants her more…
James has always had one agenda: destroy his enemy, Peter Michaels. When Peter’s twenty-year-old daughter Wendy shows up in James’s bar, he sees his way in. Seduce the girl and use her for his revenge. It’s the perfect plan, until things in James’s organization begin to crumble. Suddenly, he has to find the traitor in his midst, and his plan for revenge gets murkier as James starts to see Wendy as more than just a pawn in his game.
Wendy has been cloistered away most of her life by her wealthy cold father, but a spontaneous night out with friends turns into an intense and addictive love affair with the dark and brooding James. As much as she knows James is dangerous, Wendy can’t seem to shake her desire for him. But as their relationship grows more heated and she learns more about the world he moves in, she finds herself unsure if she’s falling for the man known as James or the monster known as Hook.
Darling, if I’m the dark, then you’re the stars.
Hooked
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The Beast by Katee Robert

Wicked Villains, Book Four
Inspired by Beauty and the Beast
The Beast by Katee Robert is for readers who enjoy:
- Enemies-to-Lovers
- Ménage
- Second Chances
- Sex Clubs
- Why Choose
Related Series
Booklists that feature The Beast
The Ultimate Wicked Villains Guide
Book Description
Once upon a time, I fell in love with two men. Their feelings for me were matched only by their hatred for each other.
Gaeton, with his brash charm and casual cruelty.
Beast, his lust equal to his penchant for violence.
Being with them was sinful and perfect in different ways. In the end, I couldn’t choose, and I lost them both.
Now, my sisters have tasked me with securing our power base, no matter the cost. I will do anything for my family—even if it means agreeing to the terms set by Gaeton and Beast.
The three of us. Together. But only for as long as it takes me to choose one of them once and for all.
When playing games of power, happily ever after isn’t a priority. Not even for me.
Especially not for me.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t want a Prince Charming.
The Beast
Gilded Mess by Colette Rhodes

Three Bears, Book One
Inspired by Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Gilded Mess by Colette Rhodes is for readers who enjoy:
- Age Gaps
- Fairytale Retellings for Adults
- Fantasy
- Forced Proximity
- Why Choose
Book Description
Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Goldilocks who innocently wandered into a home owned by a family of bears…
Okay, my name is Ria. And I may have broken in, but I was high, and it was cold outside. Oh, and the bears were actually shifters.
Potayto, potahto.
The point is, I’m kind of a wreck. Plus, I robbed my cheating, lying a-hole of an ex-boyfriend on my way out the door, and he’s not thrilled about it, so I’m stuck with these three distractingly attractive men for the time being — one of whom is weirdly hung up on the whole breaking and entering thing. What could go wrong?
”Can we keep her?” Eli asked eagerly.
Gilded Mess
“You want to keep the girl that smells like marijuana and tears?”
The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe

Vicious Lost Boys, Book One
Inspired by Peter Pan.
The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe is for readers who enjoy:
- Age Gaps
- Enemies-to-Lovers
- Fairytale Retellings for Adults
- Paranormal Romance
- Why Choose
Booklists that feature The Never King
A Guide to Emily McIntire’s Never After Series
The Complete Wicked Villains Guide
The Never King Playlist
Book Description
The stories were all wrong — Hook was never the villain.
For two centuries, all of the Darling women have disappeared on their 18th birthday. Sometimes they’re gone for only a day, some a week or a month. But they always return broken.
Now, on the afternoon of my 18th birthday, my mother is running around the house making sure all the windows are barred and the doors locked.
But it’s pointless.
Because when night falls, he comes for me. And this time, the Never King and the Lost Boys aren’t willing to let me go.
If you are not the most interesting person you know, then you’re doing it wrong.
The Never King
Stroke of Midnight by K. Webster

Cinderella, Book One
Inspired by Cinderella.
Stroke of Midnight by K. Webster is for readers who enjoy:
- Alpha Males
- Billionaires
- Erotic Romance
- Fairytale Retellings
- Office Romances
Book Description
Money can buy anything. And anyone.
As the head of the Constantine family, I’m used to people bowing to my will. Cruel, rigid, unyielding—I’m all those things.
When I discover the one woman who doesn’t wither under my gaze but instead smiles right back at me, I’m intrigued. Ash Elliott needs cash, and I make her trade in crudeness and degradation for it.
I crave her tears, her moans, her submission. I pay for each one. And every time, she comes back for more.
When she challenges me with an offer of her own, I have to decide if I’m willing to give her far more than cold, hard cash. But love can have deadly consequences when it comes from a Constantine. At the stroke of midnight, that choice may be lost for both of us.

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The Complete Wicked Villains Guide