Apples Dipped in Gold
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4.2 • 81 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
He was her curse—and her only salvation.
Samara has spent years enduring cruelty at the hands of her brothers, surviving on nothing but hope and the fierce belief that she deserves more. When a royal engagement promises her freedom, her fate changes in a single night when she is intercepted by Lore, the enigmatic Prince of Nightshade. Feared for his poisonous touch and shrouded in secrets, Lore is haunted by seven years of longing for Samara, the one mortal who makes him vulnerable. Thrust together by fate and old wounds, their slow-burning desire threatens to unravel everything in a kingdom where magic is a weapon and trust can mean ruin.
Apples Dipped in Gold is a dark fairytale retelling and enemies-to-lovers romance, weaving a gothic Cinderella story with intoxicating tension, forbidden passion, and immersive world-building. Scarlett St. Clair delivers a tale of heartbreak, healing, and love against all odds. Step into the shadows and discover a romance that will haunt you long after the last page.
Customer Reviews
A sequel worth waiting for
I’ve been waiting patiently for the release of this story. I absolutely enjoyed reading Mountains Made Of Glass. So, I knew that I would love reading this one and I did. If I remember correctly, there are six or seven fairy Brothers. I’m waiting patiently for the release of those books. This author is not new to me. I’ve read three of her books so far. Samara’s backstory was so sad but it’s pretty awesome that she was given a happy ending with Lore. I rated this story, five stars out of five because it warmed my heart and also, I was glad that karma came for certain characters. That’s all I’m going to say.
Fairy Tales Smushed Together
You ever start a book and immediately realize you’ve entered the wrong neighborhood of fairy tales? That’s this one. The story opens with a prince who meets a traumatized orphan and basically says, “Hi, you’re cute. Wanna get married?” Like bro, calm down. She hasn’t even finished processing her childhood trauma and you’re out here speedrunning matrimony.
Before Samara can say “stranger danger,” a talking fox shows up, gives her street-level survival tips, and becomes the only character in the entire novel with a functioning brain stem. The fox is like, “Girl, keep your head down, shut your mouth, and brace yourself—things are about to get stupid.” And oh, was he right.
The carriage gets attacked, the prince gaslights her, and out pops Lore, the Elven Prince of Nightshade, who loves her so much he calls it a curse. Imagine brooding so hard you turn affection into a medical condition. Their romance evolves faster than mold in a damp loaf of bread. By page 120 they’re already making moon eyes and bad decisions, and I still wasn’t sure they’d actually met properly.
The writing tries really hard to be poetic but keeps tripping over itself. It’s like watching a figure skater attempt a triple axel and land on their face in slow motion. Plot points appear, vanish, and then reappear like, “Surprise! I was relevant the whole time!” The pacing is so uneven I half expected a drumline to show up and keep time.
But the true hero? The fox. That furry little chaos consultant. If there’s any justice in the universe, he’s getting his own spin-off trilogy where he just roasts stupid humans and occasionally saves the world with sarcasm and common sense.
By the end, the story collapses into itself like a dying soufflé. There’s a curse, an apple, a kiss, and an ending so abrupt I thought I’d accidentally dropped a chapter somewhere under the couch.
⭐️⭐️½
One star for the fox.
Half a star for the potential this mess almost had.
And the rest deducted for dialogue that sounds like it was written during a power outage.
Best enjoyed with boxed wine, a low tolerance for nonsense, and the comforting realization that sometimes the real fairytale is the friends you make while hate-reading.