The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson

I have always been a fan of fairy tales and Melanie Dickerson has a wonderful gift of retelling fairy tales. In The Golden Braid, Ms. Dickerson gives us the retelling of the story of Rapunzel and she does it remarkably well.

When the story begins, almost nineteen year old Rapunzel is living with her mother Gothel in the village of Ottelfelt in the Holy Roman Empire. But a young man proposes to Rapunzel and while she tells him "no", her mother decides they must move once again to the larger city of Hagenheim. Rapunzel gets excited as her dream is to learn how to read and she feels she may be able to learn in a larger city.

Their journey becomes treacherous and Rapunzel finds herself being rescued by Sir Gerek, a knight. Later down the road Sir Gerek finds himself being rescued by Rapunzel. He promises to repay her by teaching her to read.

As the story progresses, Rapunzel discovers a mystery surrounding her life that could possibly change it forever. Ms. Dickerson has created a wonderful world to place Rapunzel in and weave aspects of the original fairy tale. I truly enjoyed this retelling.

If you love historical romances set during the Medieval time period, or retelling of fairy tales, or just enjoy a good clean read I would suggest you pick up a copy of The Golden Braid. While it is listed as a book for young adults, I believe adults will enjoy it just as much.

On a 5-Star Scale -  4 1/2 Stars!

I would like to thank Litfuse Publishing Group and Thomas Nelson for my copy of The Golden Braid. I received my copy for free in order to read it and give my honest review, which I have done.

Smiles & Blessings,

The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson

Since I was a little girl, I have always loved a good fairy tale. Cinderella just happens to be one of my favorites, maybe because I was sometimes called Cinderella when I was younger. So when I had the opportunity to read, and review, The Captive Maiden I jumped at the chance!

Ms. Dickerson has a talent of taking an age-old fairy tale and putting her twist on it creating a masterful retelling.  The Captive Maiden is her retelling of Cinderella and once again she has created a masterpiece.

The two main characters, Gisela and Valten, were well crafted and endeared themselves to my heart.  I truly enjoyed watching their relationship develop over the course of the book. I found myself rooting for them both time and again as they faced each challenge. 

While The Captive Maiden is listed as a young adult novel, I guarantee you, adults will find this book a treat to read. With twists and turns you are held captive from page one until the turning of the last page.  I highly recommend this book to all those readers who love a good fairy tale retelling and a good clean Christian read.

On a 5-Star Scale - 5 BIG Stars!!!!!

I would like to thank Zondervan and the BookSneeze program for my copy of The Captive Maiden. I received my copy for free in order to read and give an honest review, which I have done.

Smiles & Blessings,

The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson - a review

The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson, is a retelling of the story Beauty and the Beast.  In this story Annabel is the daughter of a once wealthy merchant.  The story begins after Annabel's father has passed away and she, along with her mother and two brothers are being held accountable for not doing their fair share to help the community of Glynval.  It has been determined, by the town, that in order to pay their debt, one of the family must become an indentured servant to the new lord, Ranulf le Wyse, for three years.  It is rumored that the new lord is terrifying and beastly.  In the meantime, one of her brothers has decided she should marry the local Bailiff, an old friend of her father's who has promised to pay their debt to the town for Annabel's hand in marriage.  Annabel decides that she will be the one to become an indentured servant to the new lord as it would be more pleasant than marrying the likes of Bailiff Tom.  She dreams of the day her servant-hood is completed and she can move to a nunnery where she can spend her days reading the Holy Writ.

This sets the story for Annabel and Lord Ranulf le Wyse.  What ensues is a sweet love story along with some mystery and danger thrown into the mix.  I found Ms. Dickerson's retailing of the story of Beauty and the Beast quite sweet and enjoyable.  Annabel and Lord Ranulf le Wyse were characters that were quite believable and endearing to the reader.

I haven't really read many books set during the time period of the 14th century, basically, because it was never my period of choice.  I picked up The Merchant's Daughter simply because I heard it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, my favorite all time fairy tale.  I must say I have a new appreciation of books set in this time period and I may just have to pick up another book down the road.

I would definitely recommend The Merchant's Daughter to anyone wanting a good Christian book offering a sweet love story with some intrigue thrown in.

On a 5-Star scale - 5 stars!!!

***** I would like to thank Zondervan for supplying me with my review copy of The Merchant's Daughter.  I received my copy for free, in order to read it and give my honest review, which I have done.   I received no monetary compensation for my review. *****

Smiles & Blessings,