The Beautiful Pretender

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The Beautiful Pretender
Melanie Dickerson
Thomas Nelson

What happens when a margrave realizes he’s fallen in love with a servant?

The Margrave of Thornbeck has to find a bride, fast. He invites ten noble-born ladies from around the country to be his guests at Thornbeck Castle for two weeks, a time to test these ladies and reveal their true character.

Avelina is only responsible for two things: making sure her deception goes undetected and avoiding being selected as the margrave’s bride. Since the latter seems unlikely, she concentrates on not getting caught. No one must know she is merely a maidservant, sent by the Earl of Plimmwald to stand in for his daughter, Dorothea.

Despite Avelina’s best attempts at diverting attention from herself, the margrave has taken notice. And try as she might, she can’t deny her own growing feelings. But something else is afoot in the castle. Something sinister that could have far worse—far deadlier—consequences. Will Avelina be able to stop the evil plot? And at what cost?

     I mentioned in my review of The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest that my favorite character was the Margrave....and I got my wish for the next book in the series to be about him. That's always nice.

     I really liked the plot of this one. I thought it was going to be based solely on "The Princess and the Pea," but there's a good bit of "Beauty and the Beast" in here too, which is always a good thing in my book :) It does share a lot of similarities to some of the author's other retellings, so I might have enjoyed it a tad more if I hadn't read them, so it wouldn't have seemed quite so similar.

     The characters are likable. However, I do wish there was a bit more depth and development in the characters/plot, and a little less repetition in the writing. Altogether, though, I'd still definitely recommend this one to Melanie Dickerson fans; it certainly contains all of the elements her readers continue to enjoy. Sometimes a girl just wants to read about virtuous maidens and noble heroes, and Mrs. Dickerson never seems to fail in that regard. :)

Rating: 8

I received this book for free from booklookbloggers.com in exchange for my honest review.

Comments

  1. English LadyMay 15, 2016 at 4:25 AM

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  2. HaydenMay 15, 2016 at 7:47 AM

    I got a print copy, although I was very surprised that I got it so soon, since it usually takes Booklook a lot longer to get books to me...maybe they send out two different shipments? I don't know. Hmmm. I hope you get your copy soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Girl with the Gold PenMay 29, 2016 at 9:18 PM

    I've seen Dickerson's books a lot. I haven't gotten around to reading them yet. I love her covers.

    ReplyDelete

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