Fairytale Themes and the Prince Next Door

Bestselling author and RITA winner Catherine Mann returns to the Lair today. Catherine writes action-packed military romantic suspense for Berkley and Sourcebooks and steamy romances for Silhouette Desire. She'll have new book, The Maverick Prince, out from Desire next month, but today she's talking fairy tales. Welcome back, Catherine!

I enjoyed responding to a recent reader comment about the enduring appeal of romance as found in popular fairytale premises. So much so, I decided to tackle the topic in a more public forum where we could all think about this idea.

As an author for Silhouette Desire, I find myself reveling in those time transcendent fairy tale themes. For example, Cinderella type stories are popular in the Desire line. Throughout history in different cultures there has been a Cinderella narrative of some sort, earlier versions tracing all the way back to China in around 850 AD and Egypt in around 550 AD. Historically as well, there are European Cinderella tales, and there's even a Native American Cinderella legend.

Little Red Riding Hood – also known as Little Red Cap - has more than thirty-five different retellings, including a Chinese adaptation that replaces the wolf with a tiger. Other versions can be found Africa, Japan, Burma and even a Norse poem. Beauty and the Beast – one of my personal favorites – was first noted in France in the 1700s and has variations in Italy. Pygmalion dates back to Greek mythology.

Obviously, there's something in these themes and tales that resonates in our psyche at a core level, so much so that we seek them out as they’re retold with a new twist over time. For me, as a writer, it's awesome to think I have the opportunity to touch people's lives with my own take on these centuries old beloved themes. As a romance reader, I'm overjoyed to revisit those beloved fairytales in all their different incarnations, shared by my favorite authors!

My newest Silhouette Desire trilogy – “Rich, Rugged and Royal” – touches on the time-honored Cinderella theme, with a bit of Beauty and the Beast blended in.

The three Medina royal heirs lived most of their childhood in pampered isolation. Their father, deposed Prince Enrique Medina, left his Spanish island homeland of San Rinaldo after his wife’s assassination and built an impenetrable fortress off the Florida coast. Once old enough to break free of their father’s smothering stronghold, the trio of Medina sons set out for the U.S. mainland to forge their own destinies and fortunes. Over twenty five-years after that violent coup, their royal secret is out… and three women find their destinies changed when a secret prince next door is revealed.

Book 1: THE MAVERICK PRINCE, November 2010
Book 2: HIS THIRTY-DAY FIANCEE, January 2011
Book 3: HIS HEIR, HER HONOR, March 2011

What’s your favorite fairytale? When do you recall seeing your first Disney cartoon movie? I'm giving autographed copies of The Maverick Prince to two commenters today.