I stumbled across this book by chance awhile ago, and recently stumbled across the fact that I hadn’t reviewed it! This one is a fairy-tale retelling by Melanie Cellier called The Princess Companion.

I really enjoyed this retelling of the princess and the pea. Still, I think it would be a disservice to give this a full five stars because I feel like a lot of it was on the verge of great writing while a lot of it was already there. There were a couple of times where I found myself flipping (skipping is probably more accurate Kindle terminology) ahead because the story stalled for me. Also, there were a few character inconsistencies. (Our heroine is extremely sensitive to touch, but sometimes rough handling didn’t hurt her any more than it would a ‘regular’ person). And the king’s volatile nature really bothered me, I couldn’t wait for the prince (or the queen) to put him in his place!

I did love the character of Alyssa. She was realistic and curious. She was also smart enough to look at the whole picture and to be unselfish. I like the prince, Maximilian, who is sensitive with a strong sense of duty/chivalry. I was also surprised to find that the queen was Cinderella in later years and I loved how the author showed the lifelong struggles of a couple who fell in love at first sight and a woman who felt inadequate in her roll as a royal, a wife, and a mother. Add to all of that, some political intrigue (which I love) and a great cast of secondary characters, and you have a really, really great retelling. I feel like this author will only get better! Book two in the series is waiting for me on the Kindle, tempting me and I bet you’ll never guess which secondary character becomes the new heroine. It’s going to be good! Happy reading, my friends!