Tower Of Thorns: Grimm Academy Series, #1

By Laura Greenwood

Now Rapunzel is at Grimm Academy, she's determined to escape her tower.

 

Rapunzel learned her prophecy by heart years ago, and now, she plays with fate over the details.

When she meets a handsome Lord at Grimm Academy, she goes one step further and starts a chain of events which will lead to a bigger betrayal than she ever saw coming.

Welcome to Grimm Academy, where fairy tale characters go to avoid their fate.

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Tower Of Thorns is part of the Grimm Academy fantasy fairy tale romance series and is a standalone retelling of Rapunzel. It includes a fairy tale heroine determined to save herself and a sweet m/f romance. 

 

If you enjoy fairy tale retellings, fantasy academy settings, friendship, prophecies, strong heroines, and sweet romance, start the Grimm Academy series!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Drowlgon Press
• Release date: Apr 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393782698

Laura Greenwood

Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy romance. When she's not writing, she drinks a lot of tea, tries to resist French macarons, and works towards a diploma in Egyptology. She lives in the UK, where most of her books are set. Laura specialises in quick reads, with healthy relationships and consent positive moments regardless of if she's writing light-hearted romance, mythology-heavy urban fantasy, or anything in between. You can find a full book list and more information on her website, or in The Paranormal Council Facebook Group. Happy Reading!

Book preview

Prologue

Two Months Ago...

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I try not to let my gaze slip to the huge trunk waiting by the bottom of the steps, or think about what it means for it to be there. I'm not opposed to leaving home and coming to study here, but I've never known anything but the large cottage Mother and I share, and it's all happening so quickly. It almost doesn't make any sense.

Can I help you? the woman behind the desk asks.

I open my mouth to tell her I'm a new student, but Mother gets there first. Not for the first time, I'm glad Grimm Academy has a rolling set of admissions rather than a fixed enrollment date. This way, there's no one to see this embarrassing situation.

I'm here with my daughter, Rapunzel, Mother says.

With nothing else to do, I clasp my hands together in front of me. An itch has started on my shoulder, but I resist the urge to scratch it. I'm not used to this type of dress. It's more elaborate than the ones I'm used to. Once Mother has gone and I've settled in my room, I'll make some changes to it. She always likes things more old-fashioned than me, and that seems to extend to dresses based on the things I've seen some of the other girls here wearing. I much prefer their style.

Ah, yes, here you go. The woman hands Mother a wad of papers. She's got a room on the second floor...

That's not what I agreed with the headmistress.

Mother, I protest.

She holds a hand up to silence me. I should know better. The quieter I am, the sooner she'll leave and I can be myself again. I may be nervous about moving away from home, but I'm also excited. It's been a long time since I've had the opportunity of being the person I want to be. It's a confusing state of being to be in and I'm not sure how to deal with it.

I'm sorry, I don't have any notes from the headmistress. What was it you agreed with her?

We talked about my daughter's need for a tower room, Mother says.

I frown. That makes no sense. I've known the prophecy about me since the moment I was old enough to understand it. Potentially even before that. Mother will have told me it as a baby, I'm certain of it. But the whole thing revolves around me being locked in a tower. Surely Mother should be doing everything possible to avoid me being in one rather than encouraging it. Then again, what do I know? Perhaps she made up that part in order to make the story more exciting.

Despite my misgivings, I stay silent. I don't want to run from my prophecy. If it's going to happen, then I want to face it head-on. There's no way it's going to get the better of me.

Oh, I'm sorry about that. Let me check. The woman searches through a stack of papers as Mother slides something across the counter towards her.

It's gone in a soft clink as the clerk takes it. Has Mother bribed her? That makes no sense.

Here it is. The tower room. It's a little bigger than the others. She turns to me. You're a lucky girl. Your friends will all want to spend their time in your room.

I grimace. I don't have any friends. In fact, I've never known anyone my age for longer than five minutes. I hope I'll make some here, but I'm sure Mother will forbid it and I'll have to get to know them in secret.

Thank you, that will be all. Mother reaches forward and takes the key from the woman. Come, Rapunzel.

She starts to walk away. I glance at the heavy case waiting at the bottom of the stairs and sigh quietly. I don't think she'll hear me, I have a lot of practice in expressing my exasperation without it being audible.

I don't bother waiting for Mother to tell me to pick it up, and walk forward and heave the case from the floor. I'm glad no one is around to see me as I drag it up the steps. With each step it drags past, it thunks. A list of the things inside speeds through my mind. I don't think there's anything breakable in there. I certainly hope there isn't.

My whole body is on fire by the time I reach the top of the stairs, and there's no doubt we're in a tower. I don't understand why she's doing this, but I don't think it's a good idea to ask.

It took you long enough to get here, Mother observes. This is your room. She nods to a large wooden door in front of her. It's got a metal lock which matches the key in Mother's hand.

At least I'll be able to lock myself away from the rest of the world. She won't be able to take the key away. I hope. The academy won't let her. She's not very big on giving me privacy under normal circumstances.

I don't say anything. Instead, I stand and wait for her to open the door. I learned this game a long time ago. I have to wait for her to decide I can do something.

Mother sighs as she slips the key into the door and twists. There's a loud clunk and the door swings open, revealing the room inside,

My heart skips a beat at the sight. It's more than twice the size of my chambers in the cottage I share with Mother, and there's bright sunlight streaming in from a large window. But thankfully not one big enough for a person to get through. There'll be no fulfilling my prophecy in that way. Then again, it's all linked to the hair thing, I don't think that's real anyway.

This will do, Mother says.

It's beautiful, I whisper. The bed is larger than the one I'm used to, and there's plenty of storage space too. The wardrobe is going to be so empty when I can only fill it with the things I have in my case. I don't have that many dresses. Then again, I can change that. So long as I can get some fabric, I can make myself more dresses.

Mother leafs through the papers the woman downstairs gave her, making disapproving noises as

Reviews for Tower Of Thorns

[Chelsea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this story and getting to know Rapunzel and Gavin. This book also has several other characters that are introduced that I liked and look forward to reading more about in the future. I look forward to reading the next book in this series Spindles And Spells: A Fairy Tale Retelling Of Sleeping Beauty.

Series Character and Story Connections for Tower Of Thorns: A Fairy Tale Retelling Of Rapunzel

Briar Rose's story will be in Spindles And Spells: A Fairy Tale Retelling Of Sleeping Beauty

Ella's story will be in Pumpkins And Proms: A Fairy Tale Retelling Of Cinderella (Book 03)

Marigold's story will be in Lilies Of Loss: A Fairy Tale Retelling Of The Frog Prince (Book 04)

Helena's story will be in Feathers Of Fate : A Fairy Tale Retelling Of The Goose Girl (Book 09)