Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Book Review: The Beautiful Pretender

The Beautiful Pretender. Melanie Dickerson. 2016. Thomas Nelson. 320 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Reinhart Stolten, Margrave of Thornbeck, spotted the pack of wolves devouring their fresh kill at the bottom of the ravine.

Premise/plot: The king has "requested" that Reinhart marry soon. So reluctantly he invites ten or so eligible young ladies from the nobility to his estate. With some help from Jorgen Hartman and his wife, Odette, he will choose the most worthy to be his wife. The young women will be put through a series of subtle tests to expose their true characters.

Lady Dorothea is one of the young ladies invited to Thornbeck. But she has other plans. Plans that will take her far, far away. So it will fall to Avelina, Dorothea's maid, to "save" Plimmwald. She'll masquerade as Lady Dorothea for a few weeks. Her instructions: DON'T GET CAUGHT; DON'T GET PICKED.

My thoughts: Dare I say that this is my FAVORITE, FAVORITE fiction read of the year?! I do have several months left in 2016. But this one is oh-so-good. I just LOVED AND ADORED it so very much. I love Avelina. I love her friendship with Magdalen. I love her developing relationship with Reinhart. I love how they surprise one another! But it was the scenes perhaps inspired by Beauty and The Beast that got to me the most. This one was GIDDY-MAKING through and through.

This one is recommended to anyone who loves historical romances, historical fiction, or fairy tales.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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