The Entwined Tales - A Beautiful Curse - Kenley Davidson

One of the things I like about the Entwined Tales series is that I'm getting a novella length trial run of authors that have been on my to-read pile or Amazon keeps recommending.

Kenley Davidson is one of those authors.  Her The Andari Chronicles keeps appearing in my recommendations. 

Her contribution handles another lesser known tale, The Frog Princess, with deftness.

Wait? Don't you mean The Frog Prince?  No.  I mean The Frog Princess. 

Three brothers (princes) are tasked with three impossible tasks in order to earn the crown.  A cursed maiden ends up helping the youngest brother.

A Beautiful Curse follows Elisette on her mission to show that she is more than just a pretty face.  Her quest leads her to a library in Anura where she is reluctantly admitted as an apprentice.  Only she's admitted on trial terms: she can't distract the other apprentices and patrons, she must do her work, and no flirting.

It's at the library where she meets stuffy and proper Dauntry, flirty and fashionable Eldrick, and horse-minded and a bit bookish Cambren.  It's then that she does the impossible - she finds a book for Cambren that the other apprentices cannot find.

However, when her looks cause her problems Ellie calls her fairy godfather to reverse the spell.  Annoyed, Godfather Mortimer turns Ellie into a frog instead. 

That's it.  That's all I'm going to tell you.  I've told you enough to piece together the general jist of the tale.

My thoughts.   I'd have liked more interaction between Ellie and Cambren.  I love how the curse was broken.  And I adore the twist to the ending.

Good retold fairy tales include the happily ever after, but they aren't completely faithful to the original.  They have twists that keep you surprised even as you recognize elements of the original.

Book Length - 162 pages.

My stars - 5

Happy Reading,

Alicia