Romance, intrigue, and danger abound in this five-book bind-up of Melanie Dickerson’s bestselling fairy-tale retellings.
The Healer’s Apprentice: Rose has been appointed as a healer’s apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, and when Lord Hamlin—the future duke—is injured, it is Rose who tends to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to fall in love, and wonders if he feels the same. But Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. As Rose’s life spins toward confusion, she must take the first steps on a journey to discover her own destiny.
The Merchant’s Daughter: Annabel is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. She soon finds he is actually very kind and caring, and the two strike up a friendship that could soon become more. Then Annabel becomes involved in a situation that could possibly lead to Ranulf’s demise.
The Fairest Beauty: Sophie desperately wants to get away from her stepmother’s jealousy, and receives her chance when Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle to rescue her, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother. Though romance is impossible--she is his brother’s future wife, and Gabe himself is betrothed to someone else--the pair flee to the Cottage of the Seven to find help. Before long both must not only protect each other from the dangers around them, they must also protect their hearts.
The Captive Maiden: When Gisela learns the duke’s son, Valten--the boy she has daydreamed about for years--is throwing a ball in hopes of finding a wife, she vows to find a way to attend, even if it’s only for a taste of a life she’ll never have. To her surprise, she catches Valten’s eye. Though he is rough around the edges, Gisela finds Valten is everything she hoped he would be. But other forces are bent on keeping the two from falling further in love, putting Gisela in more danger than she ever imagined.
The Princess Spy: Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle, claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook and left for dead. And only Margaretha--one of the few who speaks his language--understands the wild story. It is up to her to save her father, Colin, and Hagenheim itself from Claybrook’s wicked plot. AMAZON LINK
Book #1-"The Healer's Apprentice" was a good story and had depth to the people in it. Rose was a good main character surrounded by a few people who knew more about her than they let on. Of course, that doesn't come out until much later.
One of the really good supporting people was the woman that Rose was learning from. At times there is almost a motherly kind of attention from her.
Faith in God is part of the story as well and I was glad to see it wasn't overbearing. The emotional level to the story was also good. Especially the struggle between Rose and Lord Hamlin when it comes to dealing with their attraction. There is quite a surprising twist towards the end of the story. The ending was one that I enjoyed.
Book 2- "The Merchant’s Daughter" was a well written story with main characters that I liked. It had plenty of depth and emotions when it came to the people. At times it felt like it dragged a bit. However, it just didn't pull me in as much as I would have liked. It does have a good ending with a sweet Epilogue though.
Book 3- "The Fairest Beauty"- this a story with plenty of depth, twists, turns and surprises. Sophie is a young woman with a heart of gold raised up under a ruthless, evil woman who hated her. And to say that the Duchess was evil was putting it mildly. Insanely evil would probably be closer to the mark. But Petra, the cook has mothered her the best that she could under that ruthless reign Sophie does have people who are in her corner even though so many times they have been powerless to help very much. But there are people who step up to help her with Gabe being one of them and then on their journey to safety they do find others.
Gabe is a charming, footloose second son who will be doing a whole lot of growing up when he goes on this "Quest." It doesn't start out a a 100% noble quest but his life is changed for the good through it. It was enjoyable to watch and how the both of them grow closer together. They recognize the struggle of being betrothed to others but Sophie has put her trust in God to work everything out for their good.
The action and their pursuers are intense and it keeps the book pretty active. I liked how the final surprises came out and how the H.E.A. was worked out.
BOOK #4- I liked both of the main characters. Also the fact that Valten finally gets his love story.
Gisela has had to be pretty creative just to survive her life as her vicious stepmother uses her as a servant. A servant who at the least provocation is severely punished. She managed to remain beautiful inside and out.
Valten is still that champion in the joust but it's beginning to wear thin for him. He's restless and wants a change but he's just not sure what he wants to do next with his life. Not only does he have some battle scars from the jousting but also some emotional ones from his brother marrying his betrothed. He knows much about battle but almost nothing about women. So he runs into troubles when he becomes attracted to Gisela.
Parts made me think this story was like an updated Cinderella only with horses and jousting too. At a couple of points even the stepsisters started calling her a version of Cinderella.
The enemy that Valten has made through no fault of his own is a fierce one. His hate for Valten is a roaring one. He's also not afraid to cheat or kill to get what he wants. Remember the danger that was mentioned? It was real and the action gets pretty intense for quite a while.
I liked how the story ended.
#5-In the last and final book, The Princess Spy, Margaretha was the "star". She was a chatter box with a tender, good heart. In the story there will be times that mouth of hers will get her in trouble but also some times it's a help. She's often discounted by others because of her constant talking and her difficulty in keeping a secret. But on being beautiful there is no dissension. Through everything she does show herself to be so much more than even she knew. She had strength, was clever and had unwavering faith that God would save them all. But she helped where she could !
Colin was the rescued Englishman who was on a mission of justice although at times it might also been about vengeance too. That is something that Margaretha later has him thinking about. He is an honorable man though who is struggling to make things right. He is also suffering grief and some guilt for his friend being killed because of him.
There is plenty of clever, evil moves on the part of the villain. So many times Claybrook just seemed to be a step or two ahead of them.
The final battle and it's outcome was done well as was the Epilogue.
At the end of the book there is a Interview with Melanie Dickerson. There is also Discussion Question included for each of the books.
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