REVIEW: "A Royal Masquerade" by Alison Tebo

-

 

About the Book:

✦ Title: A Royal Masquerade

✦ Author: Alison Tebo


✦ Genre: Clean fairytale retelling (The Goose Girl)


✦ Series: Book #2 in the Tales of Ambia series (see review for prior book here!)


✦ Recommend for: ages 12/13+

My Personal Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

📖 Synopsis

Burndee can barely tolerate the mischievous Prince Colin, but the two of them are invariably thrown together in a way that keeps them at one another’s throats.

While attending a noblewoman’s wedding, Burndee and Colin’s private feud comes to a climax when Burndee loses his temper and does the unthinkable. With Prince Colin unable to attend to his royal duties and Burndee bound by an inconvenient spell, can the two of them work together long enough to unsnarl the mysterious goings-on around them?

A madcap and magical novella of The Goose Girl from a unique perspective.

💭 My thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella! I loved how the author did the retelling of the Goose Girl (read the Author's Note in the beginning), and her writing style was delightful. The events in this story were incredibly amusing, if a little chaotic, and there was a madcap energy that kept me entertained from start to finish. The characters were fun, and I really appreciated the minimal romance. Overall, a fun, humorous, lighthearted read that would highly recommend to both those who love fairytale retellings and those that don't!

⚠️ Broad content notes

Same magic content as book 1; prolonged, somewhat descriptive fight scene; name-calling and mild language like "what in the blazes"; non-detailed kisses, embraces & mentions of flirting.

🌹 Was this review helpful? Please consider following The Boundless Bookshelf!

Bookishly yours, 


Lottie M

Popular this week

REVIEW: “The Nature of Small Birds” by Susie Finkbeiner

-
Image
  About the Book: ✦ Title: The Nature of Small Birds ✦ Author: Susie Finkbeiner ✦ Genre: Triple timeline fiction w/ light faith threads (1975, 1988, 2013-2014) ✦ Series: Currently a standalone novel ✦ Recommend for: Ages 16/17+ {not for those very sensitive to war and adoption} My Personal Rating 3.5 ⭐️ 📖 Synopsis In 1975, three thousand children were airlifted out of Saigon to be adopted into Western homes. When Mindy, one of those children, announces her plans to return to Vietnam to find her birth mother, her loving adopted family is suddenly thrown back to the events surrounding her unconventional arrival in their lives. Though her father supports Mindy's desire to meet her family of origin, he struggles privately with an unsettling fear that he'll lose the daughter he's poured his heart into. Mindy's mother undergoes the emotional rollercoaster inherent in the adoption of a child from a war-torn country, discovering the joy hidden amid the difficulties. And Mind...
Read more

REVIEW: "Wormwood Abbey" by Christina Baehr

-
Image
  About the book… *Title: Wormwood Abbey *Author: Christina Baehr *Genre: Cozy historical fantasy (with dragons and a touch of romance) *Series: Book #1 of the 5-book series The Secrets of Ormdale *Recommend for: Ages 13/14 & up My Personal Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ 📖Synopsis As a Victorian clergyman’s daughter, Edith Worms has seen everything — until a mythical salamander tumbles out of the fireplace into her lap. When a letter arrives from estranged relatives, Edith is swept away to a crumbling gothic Abbey in the wilds of Yorkshire. Wormwood Abbey isn't just full of curious beasts and ancient family secrets: there’s also a tall, dark, and entirely too handsome neighbour who is strangely reluctant for her to leave. An unexpected bond with her prickly cousin Gwendolyn gives Edith a reason to stay in this strange world — especially when it turns out that Edith herself may have a role in guarding her family's legacy. But not all of the mysteries of Ormdale are small enough to fi...
Read more

REVIEW: “All Manner of Things” by Susie Finkbeiner

-
Image
About the Book: ✦ Title: All Manner of Things ✦ Author: Susie Finkbeiner ✦ Genre: Historical Fiction (with light faith threads) ✦ Series: Currently a standalone novel ✦ Recommend for: Ages 16/17+ My Personal Rating 4 ⭐️ 📖 Synopsis When Annie Jacobson's brother Mike enlists as a medic in the Army in 1967, he hands her a piece of paper with the address of their long-estranged father. If anything should happen to him in Vietnam, Mike says, Annie must let their father know.  In Mike's absence, their father returns to face tragedy at home, adding an extra measure of complication to an already tense time. As they work toward healing and pray fervently for Mike's safety overseas, letter by letter the Jacobsons must find a way to pull together as a family, regardless of past hurts. In the tumult of this time, Annie and her family grapple with the tension of holding both hope and grief in the same hand, even as they learn to turn to the One who binds the wounds of the brokenhearted...
Read more

REVIEW: “The Reluctant Godfather” by Alison Tebo

-
Image
  About the Book... *Title: The Reluctant Godfather *Author: Alison Tebo *Genre: Clean fairytale retelling (Cinderella) *Series: Book # 1 in the Tales of Ambia *Recommend for: Ages 12 & up My Personal Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📖Synopsis Burndee is a young and cantankerous fairy godfather, who would rather bake cakes than help humans. A disgrace to the fairy order, Burndee has only two wards entrusted to his care…a cinder girl and a charming prince. A royal ball presents Burndee with the brilliant solution of how to make his wards happy with the least amount of effort. He’ll arrange a meeting and hope the two fall in love. A humorous and magical re-telling of Cinderella from a unique perspective. 💭My Thoughts  This was actually really...neat 😉 (Burndee's highest compliment). It should be noted that I am not a fairytale retelling reader, this being only the second I've read. Furthermore, I have never even watched Cinderella and have no interest in doing so. (Or any Disney movie for tha...
Read more