Melanie Dickerson: The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest Review + GIVEAWAY

By Kelly Bridgewater

*Giveaway instructions on the bottom*

Back Cover Copy: 

A beautiful maiden who poaches to feed the poor. A handsome forester on a mission to catch her. Danger and love are about to unite in Thornbeck Forest.
The margrave owns the finest hunting grounds for miles around—and Odette Menkels spends her nights poaching his deer to feed the hungry orphans of Thornbeck. By day, Odette is a simple maiden who teaches children to read, but by night this young beauty has become the secret lifeline to the poorest of the poor.
For Jorgen Hartman, the margrave’s forester, tracking down a poacher is a duty he is all too willing to perform. Jorgeninherited his post from the man who raised him . . . a man who was murdered at the hands of a poacher.
When Jorgen and Odette meet at the Midsummer festival and share a connection during a dance, neither has any idea that they are already adversaries.
The one man she wants is bound by duty to capture her; the one woman he loves is his cunning target . . . What becomes of a forester who protects a notorious poacher? What becomes of a poacher when she is finally discovered?

My Review:

I have read all of Melanie Dickerson’s Young Adult books, retelling the famous fairy tales, and I have loved every single one of them. If you have not read them, they are: The Healer’s Apprentice, The Merchant’s Daughter, The Fairest Beauty, The Captive Maiden, and The Princess Spy. I love her newest retellings of Swan Lake and Robin Hood in The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest, and Dickerson grips the readers like a good story should.

The first thing I love about her stories is the ability to create her settings. I feel like I’m transported to late fourteenth and early fifteenth century Germany. I can see the disarray of the villages inside and outside of the castle gates. I can smell the urine and the body odor as the character’s move through the setting. Dickerson’s research into this time period by describing the clothes and modes of transportation is spot on. I felt like I was roaming the grounds, trying to avoid the seedy side of town with the heroine’s. I love the castles, knights, parties, and masquerade balls.

Another thing I enjoyed about Dickerson’s writing is her heroes. All of them have redeeming qualities in them that makes me love them. In The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest, our hero is Jorgen Hartman, the local forester, who is on a hunt to find the poacher. He is good, kind, honest, intelligent, hard-working, and trustworthy. I wish he was real. He was such a great hero. Always thinking of others before himself. What a great guy. As a complete foil, Dickerson created the heroine, Odette Menkels, who is intelligent and hard-working. She wants the best for the poor kids in town by teaching them to read and write and giving them food. I liked her. She was selfless too.

As for the conflict, Dickerson does a great job at combining two well-know fairy tales and creating a new one. I enjoyed the dilemma with the poaching aspect. It was nice to see Odette deal with the worries that Jorgen, the man she loves, will find out she is the poacher he is supposed to be hunting, even though he does not know it. The conflict is external, internal, and romantic. Dickerson wove these three strands together seamlessly.

I would recommend Dickerson’s books to anyone who enjoys fairy tales, not just to young adults. These stories still have the swoon-worthy hero and strong heroine, but the conflict will grip your heart and not let go. I cannot wait to read more stories by Dickerson.

I received a ARC of Melanie Dickerson’s The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Thomas Nelson. All opinions stated above are all my own.

Melanie Dickerson’s bio:

From Melanie Dickerson's Amazon Author Page

Melanie Dickerson is the author of The Healer's Apprentice and The Merchant's Daughter, both Christy Award finalists, winner of The National Reader's Choice Award for 2010's Best First Book, and winner of the 2012 Carol Award in Young Adult fiction. She earned her bachelor's degree in special education from The University of Alabama. She has taught children with special needs in Georgia and Tennessee, and English to adults in Germany and Ukraine. Now she spends her time writing and taking care of her husband and two daughters near Huntsville, Alabama.

How to connect with Melanie Dickerson: 

Facebook 

Amazon Author Page

Personal Website:  
Goodreads

Where to purchase her books:

Amazon

Christianbook

Barnes and Nobles

Your local favorite bookstore

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Okay, my reader friends, don't miss this opportunity to get your own copy of The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest. Melanie has generously offered a copy of The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest to one person (limited to U.S. residents only). Leave a comment, mentioning your favorite fairy tale and why. The contest runs until Monday, May 18th at midnight. I will pick a winner on Tuesday, May 19th and announce it here on the blog. Please leave your email address with your comment, so I know who to contact. :)

*****Be sure to come back on Friday, May 15th where I interviewed Melanie Dickerson, and she talks about the next book to come out!!!***********