7. As Old As Time by Liz Braswell
A Disney twisted tale. In this delightful, captivating story, Belle is the daughter of the enchantress who cursed the Beast. See, his parents, the King and Queen, didn't like people with magic. So they turned a blind eye to the "disappearance," beatings, and murders of the magical beings living within their realm. The enchantress, wanting to make them pay for their crimes, refuses to rid the kingdom of the plague, returning a year later to see if their 11 year old son, the Prince, is any better than his parents. But he sneers at the "old beggar woman" and turns her away, so she curses them. But magic has a way of coming back on itself...
As a lover of all things Disney, this was such a fun read. I loved the way it cut back and forth between things that were happening in the present and slowly revealing the past in other chapters. And while the ending still hit a somewhat bittersweet note, it felt absolutely right.
