Book Review & Giveaway: The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

The Princess Spy

The Frog Prince Retelling

In this “Frog Prince” fairy tale retelling, 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.

Margaretha finds herself unable to pass Colin’s message along to her father, the duke, and convinces herself “Lord Colin” is just an addled stranger. Then Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well, and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy—not only is she unable to keep anything secret, she’s sure Colin is completely wrong about her potential betrothed. Though when Margaretha overhears Claybrook one day, she discovers her romantic notions may have been clouding her judgment about not only Colin but Claybrook as well. It is up to her to save her father and Hagenheim itself from Claybrook’s wicked plot.

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I first read Melanie Dickerson when I picked up her debut novel. It was a few years after it was originally published, but once I read it I was hooked on her novels. I immediately went searching for more of her writing. Her books are labeled Young Adult, but I have no idea why. Yes, they are certainly suitable for young women, but every adult I know who reads them LOVES them.  Each of her books are centered around a love story, a couple who must overcome insurmountable odds. Her last few novels have been rewrites of fairy tales, both Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. All the books can be read as stand a lone books. The newest, The Princess Spy, is one of her best. I won’t spoil how she handles the frog prince, but suffice it to say… it was genius.

One of the things I love about Melanie’s books are the heroines, and the heroes, and the love story, and…. wait that was more than one thing wasn’t it? It’s so hard to pick one thing, so I won’t try.  From the moment I sat down to start reading, I knew I was lost to this book. I didn’t even try to fight it. I just read it as fast as possible until the book was done.  Losing myself in the story line was easy when Margaretha’s such a strong and independent woman, who is determined to save her family.  The only problem is once the book is done, you are left with lingering thoughts and the dreaded let down. You miss the characters and story.

Thankfully, Melanie is hard at work on her next set of books. Yes, there are two in the works.  The first is , which releases in May, 2015, and is already available for pre-order. It’s a Swan Lake/Robin Hood mash-up and is the first book in a new series. Next up in this current series is a Rapunzel story releasing Nov. 2015.

In the mean time, if you would like to win a copy of this book please leave a comment!  This book doesn’t release until November 4th, so if you win this contest you will be scoring an early copy! Enter fast… the contest closes Tuesday, October 21st.

You can find Melanie Dickerson at: http://www.melaniedickerson.com/index.html

Happy Reading!

Stacey