Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Melanie Dickerson: The Beautiful Pretender

By Kelly Bridgewater

After inheriting his title from his brother, the margrave has two weeks to find a noble bride. What will happen when he learns he has fallen for a lovely servant girl in disguise?

The Margrave of Thornbeck has to find a bride, fast. He invites ten noble born ladies who meet the king’s approval to be his guests at Thornbeck Castle for two weeks, a time to test these ladies and reveal their true character.

Avelina has only two instructions: keep her true identity a secret and make sure the margrave doesn’t select her as his bride. Since the latter seems unlikely, she concentrates on not getting caught. No one must know she is merely a maidservant, sent by the Earl of Plimmwald to stand in for his daughter, Dorothea.

Despite Avelina’s best attempts at diverting attention from herself, the margrave has taken notice. And try as she might, she can’t deny her own growing feelings. But something else is afoot in the castle. Something sinister that could have far worse—far deadlier—consequences.

From Amazon

 My Thoughts:

I really enjoy Melanie Dickerson's fairy tales stories. They may be remake of the Grimm's famous stories, but I enjoy them. They still take place in Germany, which rings true with me as a reader. When Dickerson posted that she was writing another book in her Medieval Fairy Tale story, I was excited. After reading The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest, I couldn't wait to see what kind of trouble Dickerson would allow her characters to get into. I'm glad to say that I enjoyed this book just as much as the first one. 

One of my favorite things about Dickerson's writing is her ability to make me feel like I'm time traveling. I know that I really can't, but with her writing, I really feel the struggle of the peasants who have to work for the Lords, Dukes and Kings. I can smell the disarray of the world that Dickerson has brought to life for me. 

I enjoyed meeting and spending time with Avelina aka Lady Dorothea and the Margrave of Thornbeck. Avelina is a kind hearted woman who knows that she is not allowed to have the Margrave of Thornbeck fall in love with her, so she does everything she knows how to get him to fall in love with her friend, Magdalen. But, however, Avelina falls in love with him anyways. As for the Margrave, he is a gruff man who has a limp from a previous injury, but he is a true knight at heart who saves Avelina, not only once, but twice. 

Their romance is sweet and makes me happy at the end. While the romance guides the story along, I never once felt that it was rushed or unrealistic. It was just right for a young adult to enjoy and pray for their own knight to come and share their world with. 

In true Disney fairy tale fashion, Melanie Dickerson's newest book, The Beautiful Pretender drew me into the setting and had realistic characters who fought for their new love. I recommend this book to fans of Fairy tales in general and fans of Dickerson's previous stories. 

I received a complimentary copy of The Beautiful Pretender from Thomas Nelson and the opinions stated are all my own. 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Purchase The Beautiful Pretender

Do characters or the story make a fairy tale for you? Why or Why not?

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