It's A Charmed Life (The Grimm Chronicles) by Selene Charles (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Welcome to a world of fantasy, fairy tales, and murder most foul... 

My name's Elle. Princess Arielle, for those who know about my past. Cursed by my own father, now I'm banished to Grimm. I'm a siren, killer, and one of the best damned cold-case detectives in all of the bloody realms. I don't stop until I discover the truth, no matter where that truth leads.

My next case sends me to Wonderland, a harrowing place of madness and dark secrets. I'd rather be landlocked than step foot on that tainted soil, but I don't have a choice after discovering Alice's bloodstained ribbon and a bandicoot's claw covered in blood beside two stiff's at the Charming's sprawling castle. My insatiable thirst for truth leads to a conspiracy that will not only rock the Grimm world but also my own.

No one ever walks away from Wonderland unscathed... No one."

My Thoughts:

I am so, so excited to have found this series and to have read this book!  I picked this one up thanks to reading another blogger that I trust's thoughts on the second book (I believe), and was just so intrigued by the sound of it.  I instantly downloaded a copy to my kindle and didn't look back.  This was such a fun read but it's going to be kind of hard for me to describe.  Take all of the fairy tale characters (and even worlds) that you know and love, then twist them into something different, darker, and edgier.  That's basically the best way that I can describe this book.  Let me just tell you that I loved every minute of it!  Our main character is Elle - or Arielle from the Little Mermaid (kinda sorta) if you are keeping track - but in this book she is basically a badass detective who has been banished from her kingdom for unknown reasons.  She has to go Wonderland during her current investigation which is a dark and dangerous place.  There's even the Mad Hatter and the Hare except the Hatter is a handsome investigator for Wonderland who has visions of the future and past.  I could keep going but I'm sure you get the point by now.  Nothing is as you expect it might be, and one of the best things about this book was just seeing what this author did with all of the fairy tale characters.  She created her own world with some of these well known but albeit very different characters.  And I just could not get enough of it!!  I plowed through the pages of this book and enjoyed every minute of it!  I just had to see how everything was going to turn out!  There is quite the chemistry between Elle and Hatter which I'm looking forward to seeing continued on in future books (I hope!).  I don't know what else to say besides read this one!  It's SO good!

Overall, I obviously enjoyed myself immensely while reading this book.  I've actually already started reading the second book in the series because I just needed more time with these characters and this world.  The only downside is that I'm going to have to wait for book three (please say there is going to be a book three).  Luckily, it does look like this author has other series that I can check out to tide me over.  Fair warning that the author ties up the ending of this book perfectly....but....she gives you a hook that makes you instantly want to jump into the next book.  Which I obviously did!  I would recommend this book to fans of the paranormal, urban fantasy, and fairy tales in general.  Half of the fun is just seeing the different characters and aspects that she incorporates into the story!  Highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  This was honestly such a great beginning to this new series that I couldn't get enough!

Disclosure:  I read my copy of this book thanks to my Kindle Unlimited membership.  Thoughts are my own!