Fairy Tales by Robin

Genre(s): Lesbian Romance, Magical Realism

Age Rating: PG-13 for some mild sexual suggestiveness

Content warnings: None I can think of

Available in Print and eBook

You might like this book if you enjoy:

• Lesbian romances

• Magical Realism

• Witchcraft and Fae magic

• Fun, low-stakes storytelling

• Adorable magical pests with a bad habit of tying your shoelaces together

Full Review:

I’ve read a whole lot of male x male gay romance in my few years reading furry fiction. My reading list is filled with gay books, and most of the queer books I’ve reviewed are also gay. Gay lit makes up not only the majority of books I read, but also the majority of the queer books in the furry fandom. It’s wonderful then to see Fairy Tales, a lesbian romance, be newly released by FurPlanet, expanding lesbian representation in furry fiction. This book isn’t the first lesbian romance on the scene – far from it – but it’s the first on my scene, and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction. Fairy Tales is clever, whimsical, and funny, with charming characters and a low-stakes plot that make for a delightful read.

Fairy Tales follows Tamara, a self-reliant coyote witch who doubles as a forest ranger for the Department of Natural Resources – a perfect cover for a forest witch. While maintaining the supernatural balance of her forest, she stumbles upon Maddie, a bubbly orange tabby cat who accidentally opens a small tear into the Fae realm. The accident releases a flock of adorable but troublemaking pixies into the local town, endangering the lives of the people who live there and threatening the balance of nature. Together, Tamara and Maddie must hunt down all the pixies before they can cause too much magical chaos. As they carry out that mission, and as Maddie learns more about the magical world, Tamara finds herself slowly falling for the peppy cat, and mysteries about why Maddie is so in tune with magical phenomena begin to unravel.

The setup makes for a relaxing low-stakes story with a lot of charisma. The word “delightful” comes up in my head a lot to describe it. The plot may be a bit straightforward, but the mystery of Maddie’s magical affinity, alongside a few other light mysteries that pop up later, make for just enough intrigue to keep the story itself engaging. This is otherwise a relatively low-stakes story. The fate of the world doesn’t hang in the balance here. Nobody’s lives are at serious risk (except for that one time). Some readers may be a bit bored by that, but I personally found the lack of tension and anxiety allowed the comedy and heart to shine through and made the whole read a wholesome delight from start to finish. So if you’re a reader who likes their stories a bit more low-stress, you’ll probably find this book very refreshing. I wholeheartedly recommend it to people who don’t need high-stakes action and drama to have a good time.

As Tamara and Maddie go about gathering up the pixies, they form an enchanting dynamic that’s supportive, comedic, and super fun to read. In my annotations, I highlighted so many funny, witty, or charming moments between the two, with plenty of memorable one-liners. Whenever they were apart, that dynamic made me look forward to them sharing a scene again, which was a sign of great character development. It’s sometimes rare to be so eager for a couple to reunite during their brief moments apart, but Fairy Tales makes you like the main duo so much that you can’t wait to see them together again. You can’t help but wish these characters the best and want to see them succeed and grow closer together.

That’s not to say the scenes where they aren’t together, or that star other characters, aren’t enjoyable as well. I loved the side characters – especially the mischievous fox twins who can’t help but stick their noses into every situation. A few witches from Tamara’s coven also make appearances. Being older and wiser than Tamara, they usually bring along a fair bit of info on how magic works in this book’s world while introducing the different types of witches that inhabit it. Also, Tamara has crow familiar named “Raven”, and that choice of name just makes me smile whenever it comes up.

The magic in Fairy Tales is mostly a utility, being used to do things like avoid notice or alter memories. I typically prefer magic to be a bit more nuanced in stories, but at the very least the magic in Fairy Tales is relegated to the subtle witchy variety. Nobody’s casting Fireball or summoning elementals here, which helps keep everything grounded in magical realism. It also creates a wonderful Fall aesthetic. Visualizing will-o-wisps and witch lights floating through Tamara’s home, runes decorating the walls, and potions filling the cabinets got me in the mood for chilly weather and pumpkin spice. All that stuff existing alongside modern appliances and comforts made Tamara’s home sound like a cozy autumn paradise. Reading this book in the Fall was a good choice. It made the whole thing more immersive.

If I enjoyed this story so much while not even being part of the intended readership, I bet this book is awesome for lesbian readers. I’m happy to have a great book to add to my arsenal of book recommendations for different demographics, and I’m even happier that more readers get to see themselves represented in such an awesome piece of furry fiction.