The Princess and the Horse by Mette Ivie Harrison

This is only currently available as an eBook.  I enjoyed reading it this way.

The story is about Fierce.  Fierce is a hound and runs in a pack that doesn't really accept her very well.  Her mom has abandoned her to become human and she has hard feelings toward humans.  She is quite alone but stays with her pack because that is all she has known.  Then she meets the Princess with her wild magic.  Her life changes from that point on.

The thing I love about he The Princess and the Horse is that once again there are wonderful characters and a great tale with twists and turns.  I love this princess.  She is spunky and full of wild magic.  I love Fierce too.  The characters seem so real to me and I enjoy looking into their hearts and knowing more about them. 

Great enjoyable story that I will read again I am sure.

A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

I feel like I’ve just returned from an adventure after reading this book.  Elodie is from a little town called Lahnt.  That is where her family lives but she is venturing off to hopefully get an Apprenticeship in the town of Two Castles.  Right off she gets bad news.  It appears that they have done away with free Apprenticeships.  It is too late to turn back so she sets out anyway.  She is hoping for a lot of good luck but finds everything seems to be the opposite of good luck.  She doesn’t know who to trust but makes unexpected friends in places she hadn’t dreamed of. This was a book full of adventure.  There are castles, ogres, dragons, magical animals, kings, princesses, dogs, lions, an ox, poison, acting and plenty of adventures await her. 

Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon

What if the story of Cinderella has been wrong all this time?  What if all this time no one has gotten the details right?  The author writes this as being the real Cinderella story.  This is a story about a very happy family which consists of:  a dad, a mom and 4 little girls (Katrina, Cinder, Ella, and Beatrice).  Then something in the story happens that breaks up their happy family.  There is a change.  Soon things are not happy.  Cinder finds herself in a position to try to save her family and she’ll also have to save the entire kingdom from a very dark and evil prince.  That’s a heavy burden for anyone to bear but, Cinder will find she can do much to help.  I really liked this book.  It wasn’t the typical happily ever after book and yet it had a very satisfying ending.  It was a book that really makes you think about real life troubles and of family.  It was very hard to put down.

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

This book was a bit unexpected.  Who would’ve thought of a castle that is alive and that can add rooms or switch around hallways?  That is exactly what this book did.  It was a fun adventure.  I grew to like Celie.  She is one of the princesses at the castle.  The castle likes her a lot and she finds the castle a big help when the castle and kingdom are threatened.   I enjoyed using my imagination and thinking of what it would be like to be in a castle that if it liked you suddenly your room was soft and luxurious.  Or if the castle didn’t like you it would seem to get smaller and cramped and military like.  It was so cool to cheer for the royal family that lived in the castle and hope they came out of it alright.  Jessica Day George makes a story feel real even though there is magic and things that are not typical in real life.  It seemed that it could happen.  I had fun with this book.

Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry

I really enjoyed this book.  I loved her last book "The Amaranth Enchantment" and so I happily picked up this book.  I wasn't disappointed.   I couldn't put this book down.  It was about everything I love in a book.

Evie is interested in healing.  She helps with birthing babies and is intrigued by medicine and helping people get better.

She is from a small cozy villge.  Much happens in this story when a King comes to visit their village.

This book has adventure, snakes, Princesses, kings, castles, and of course, romance.   It really is a great book.  I really enjoyed reading it!  BRAVO!

Peasant Queen by Cheri Chesley

This was a fun little tale that I enjoyed.

Krystal is a girl that her brother's take care of since her mom is blind and her father has died.  Her brothers set up an arranged marriage for her.  She is not happy about it and runs away.  As she runs away though she is surrounded by some guards and kidnapped.  Magic is used and she is very far from home and taken to a castle and to King Gregory.  This is a different life and there is lots of adventure in this distant land.

One thing about the book I would have liked to have different is I kept wanting to make the main character eat. It seemed she never ate. She was always too involved in what was going on around her to bother eating.  Her stomache was often upset.

This book has magic, romance, kissing, adventure, beauty and is just a fun read.  I enjoyed it.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

This story happens in Ayortha.  It is a story about a girl named Aza with a sister named Areida.  It doesn't talk much of Areida (the friend of Ella in the book "Ella)  It is mostly about Aza.  Aza is not pretty. She knows it.  This is a fun adventure she has and how she finds happiness, love, and adventure.  This book also follows a familiar fairy tale.  I liked this book.

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

This is a continuing story from Princess of the Midnight Ball.  This is a story about Poppy after the Princess of the Midnight Ball.  It sounds a bit like another fairy tale we all know.

Poppy is sent to a neighboring kingdom to promote peace.  She is in a new community.  There is a strange green light that happens on occasion here and she is cautious because of her background.  She is in a new adventure involving magic.  I enjoyed this book.  It was a fast, fun read.

The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison

This book is a lot like the Princess and the Hound. I really am surprised Mette is not a guy. The details of Hunting and killing and the unmagic are very clear in my mind and sometimes a bit shocking to me.

Mette knows how to write. She is a great writer. I've never read books like hers before. They to me are in a category of their own. I do like her books but I find myself pausing for a while when asked to describe them. I think her background really helps these books to be well written. Mette is a unique author but a good unique. I really think I like her writing.

The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison

This is a book with grit. If I didn't know the author was a girl, I'd think she was a boy. This book is descriptive about hunting, aggressive and written in the view point of the prince. It's a new kind of writing for me. When I say that I don't mean it bad. It's just different that what I am used to. Mette is a great writer. She is very good.

This plot in this book is developed really well. It is intriguing and makes me ask questions right away. There's so much to this book of such great substance. I really did enjoy it.

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

This story is like its name…enchanting. This is a story about Lucinda. Her parents went to a ball and never came back. She lives with her uncle and very mean aunt. I think what I like most was that I didn't know where the story would lead to next. Things seem to change so quickly. I loved the male characters in the book. I grew to care for them quite a bit. I giggled quite a bit while reading this book. It is one of those precious books I wanted to read in one sitting. I even tried not to read it in one sitting but, kept coming back to it. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading it again.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

This book is a Newberry Honor Book. I love this book. It is a story about Miri. Miri lives in the mountains with her sister, Marda, and her father. The people in her village work in a quarry. Her father won’t let Miri work there. She doesn’t feel useful with her family.

Then news from royalty comes that the prince will chose someone from Mount Eskel to be the princess. An academy is started to train the girls. There are many obstacles, dreams, surprises, learning, and hardships that happen in the academy and Miri misses her family.

This is an exciting adventure. I love Miri and love the romance that goes on in the book. I highly recommend this book.

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

On the acknowledgements page at the end of the book it says: "This story is based on the fairytale "Maid Maleen" as recorded by the Grimm brothers, though I took many liberties with the original in my quest to find Dashti's story."

This is a story about Dashti. Dashti is a mucker. She has a talent of singing and with that song she can heal. When she sings to a mistress to ease her aches, the mistress decides to train Dashti to be a maid for Lady Saren. So, Dashti learns to read, write, and care for her. It takes many months to just train.

So after her training, and barely becoming Lady Saren's maid, she goes to a very busy house and meets Lady Saran. Lady Saran right away makes her pledge to serve her.

Next, She finds out Lady Saren's father is going to lock her up into a tower for seven years because she would not marry the man her father had decided on for her. Lady Saren had another man in mind.

Dashti finds her self having to take care of Lady Saren in a cemented tower and writes it all in a book day by day. I couldn't help but want to keep reading this book. They have many adventures and I really liked discovering them for myself and I think you will too!

Loved this book, and I'd love to read it again.

River Secrets by Shannon Hale

This is a great book. I love the character of Razo. He is a fun, loving guy. This book follows him and what a fun adventure it is!

The Tiran people come and offer an exchange of people. A select few of the Bayern people will go to Tiran and another select few of the Tiran people will go to Bayern. This is done in hopes to promote peace among the two countries.

Razo finds himself among the group that goes to Tiran along with Enna, Finn and Talone. He wonders why. He doesn't think he has anything special about him. The people seem hostile and want war with his country. He discovers some things about himself he didn’t know about before.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this book, it is great. I look forward to Forest Born on September 19, 2009 where the story can go on.

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

This book doesn't disappoint. It is adventurous, fun, romantic, and thought provoking. Enna is Isi's (Anni's) friend. Enna's brother finds a piece of vellum and learns how to use fire. He seems to change because of it and not in a good way.

Meanwhile, Isi is having a problem with the wind. It is very loud and her husband finds her a place that doesn't have as much wind that is low in the castle.

War is on the horizon with a country that wants to take back their land from many generations ago.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this book. It is a delight. I had a hard time putting this book down. It is wonderful!

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

I am officially a Shannon Hale fan. This book was wonderful and I want more. Fortunately, there are more books about this same place called, "The Books of Bayern." I will be reading them.

I was hooked on his book by page 2. I recounted what had happened so far from page 2 to my husband. When I said it aloud I realized that everything was intriguing and so much happens even by page 2. I relished every word and couldn't put the book down.

Ani is born with her eyes closed. She doesn't open them until her Aunt comes and tells her stories in the middle of the night. She is close to her aunt and her Aunt teaches her many things and stories that come in handy later on in the story. I don't want to say too much because there's much to be discovered on your own.

I highly recommend this book and would love to read it again--if I didn't have more of her books to try.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett illustrated by Tasha Tudor

After trying to read the last two books, this one was just beautiful.

This is a story about an amazing girl that is being dropped off by her father at a girl's school. Their relationship is described beautiful and you know they are close.

This is a little girl who doesn't give up. This girl has fortitude. She is strong and goes through much but still comes out a Princess.

This is good, beautiful writing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

According to the jacket of the book, "Princess and the Midnight ball" is a reimagining of “The Twelve Dancing Princess.”

I would agree, It definitely tells a new tale and yet in the spirit of the old.
I love the spirit of this story. It has magic, yet it is still believable.

I love the love story between Rose and Galen. From the very beginning, I was pulling for these two. I find that a compliment to the author.

There is such intrigue in this book, that I was pulled in from the very first page and continued to want to read it every moment.

This was a great, fun, exciting, and romantic book. I highly recommend it.