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–Synopsis–

Princess Liesel never planned to leave her palace—especially not to marry a nobody. But after turning away one too many suitors, her father issues a shocking decree: she must marry the next man who asks, regardless of his rank or fortune. When that man turns out to be a wandering minstrel—who never meant to propose in the first place—Liesel suddenly finds herself cast out and engaged to a commoner.

Now forced to live as a peasant, Liesel must learn to survive without her silks, servants, or status. But as she struggles to adapt, she begins to see her unexpected betrothed in a new light—and wonders if her heart might be changing too.

A sweet retelling of the Grimm fairy tale King Thrushbeard.

–Review–

As mentioned in the synopsis above, this book is based on the Grimm fairy tale ‘King Thrushbeard.’ Being someone who is unfamiliar with that tale, I am not the right person to compare its likeness to its predecessor, so I apologize for that.

This is a very cozy romantic, fantasy book where a spoiled princess is forced to humble herself in order to figure out her true place in this fairytale world. This is a multi-POV story in which the majority is spent in Liesel’s perspective with a decent amount through the eyes of Roderick.

The world is very cottagecore-esque mixed with grandiose facades of royal life. The two kingdoms the story takes place include Princess Liesel’s home of Pozlow and the Kingdom of Brenhausen. Both settings feel as though it came from the pages of a book, with villages, horse drawn carriages and magnificent palaces. The majority of the story takes place in a humble cottage out in the farmlands, so you get to experience the lives of those who live on both sides of social hierarchy in this book. There are aristocratic social gatherings and alliances mixed in with humble citizens who spend their days selling merchandise in the markets and the servants in the castles beckoning to every call of the royal families they are sworn to serve. It was due to these polarizing perspectives that leads to the major character development and plot of the story.

Princess Liesel is the eldest daughter of the King of Pozlow. She is a very proud and stubborn individual who is uninterested in marrying any of the suitors that are sent to ask for her hand in marriage. She has a very selfish attitude in the beginning of the story. This self-centered trait, led to her making some questionable comments publicly, basically insulting an entire royal family. Due to this social faux pas, she is forced into a marriage agreement with a traveling minstrel where she is forced to lose her royal status to live humbly in a cottage. While she is there, she learns how to take care of herself in several ways, including being a productive member of society. She also begins to lower her ego and begins to realize what really matters to her and more directly, WHO matters to her. By the end of the story, her royal title becomes less of a badge of honor while she begins to take her own heart more seriously. She goes from a self-centered egotistical brat, to caring about the welfare of others and genuinely lowering herself in order to love somebody else. She never loses her stubbornness, but it does end up coming in handy for her in the end.

Roderick is the minstrel that ends up getting betrothed to Princess Liesel. He appears to be devastated by the instantaneous event, but he takes it in stride and agrees to his new role. He instantly takes Liesel under his wing, showing immense levels of patience with her as she is struggling to accept her new situation. He never pushes their relationship, but he does push her into being more self-reliant and accountable for her actions, teaching her how to do various tasks including spinning yarn and selling merchandise. He is the main force behind her drastic character arc, so he was probably my favorite character in the book. Always willing to lend a hand to anyone, he remains a very selfless person throughout the whole story. As time goes on, he begins to open up more towards Liesel, becoming more upfront with his intentions. As it turns out, there is more to him and this whole marriage scheme than meets the eye, which was very entertaining to read.

Liesel’s romance with Roderick was pretty slow burn but really only goes through about a month’s time, pre-epilogue. Their enemies-to-lovers trope was lovely to read as it is one of my favorite romance tropes. The arranged characteristic of the relationship is interesting as usual as well. You get all the usual ups and downs that feel much more natural. Their affection towards each other increases as time goes on, leading to a very obvious, but sweet conclusion. I really wanted both of these characters to end on their happily ever after.

All in all, this is a perfect story for you if you are into clean and innocent fairy tale stories. This is only the first book in a series of rewritten tales. The sequel follows Maria, who could be considered an antagonist in this book so it will be interesting to read her story as well. With 250 pages, you could get through this within a day, so I recommend it as a cozy and sweet read 🙂

-About the Author-

Kristen Niedfeldt is the author of ENDING THE RAIN, FINDING EVER AFTER, PRINCESS WITHOUT A PALACE, and MYSTERY AT THE MIDNIGHT BALL.

After studying elementary education at Brigham Young University, she taught third grade for two years before she “retired” (as her students called it) to stay home with her little baby boys!

She has always adored fairy tales, especially Gail Carson Levine’s ELLA ENCHANTED and Shannon Hales’s PRINCESS ACADEMY.

When she’s not writing, she loves to play outside with her kids, cook, and spend time living out her own “happily ever after” with her best friend and husband, Peter.