The Curse of Nona May Taylor

Once upon a time, I was Nona May Taylor, a twenty-three-year-old folk singer on a collision course with stardom. Until a jealous witch cursed me into old age so she could steal my career. Now I’m hiding out in my grandpa’s cabin in the Montana wilderness, nursing my aching joints and shaving my old lady beard while the witch climbs the charts as one of the world’s biggest pop stars.

It sounds tragic, but the weird thing is, it’s really not so bad. The cabin is peaceful. I have my family and my agent—even though the witch cursed them too. I have my eccentric neighbors—even though they live ten miles away. And I have Charlie, the adorable hiker I’m nursing back to health after he fell in my woods. Charlie has no idea who I used to be. To him, I’m just a quirky geriatric recluse. But sometimes the way he looks at me, it’s like he sees me, the real me under the wrinkles.

When the witch said only true love could break the curse, I figured it was just another one of her tricks. But when I looked in the mirror this morning, my skin was smoother and there were strands of brown threaded through my silver hair. It must be my imagination. Charlie and I barely know each other. I’m old enough to be his grandmother, sort of. There’s no possible way he’s my one true love! So why am I swooning while he plays my old songs on my guitar? Why is he laughing at all my terrible jokes? Why can’t I shake the feeling that I’ve known him for years? And why is the witch suddenly back on my doorstep?

Beat the heat with this snowy, witchy, and very adult gender-flipped Beauty and the Beast retelling!