Book Review: The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

THE PRINCESS SPY by Melanie Dickerson
SERIES: Fairy Tale Romance #5
GENRE: Young Adult Romance/Fairy Tale Retelling (Christian)
PUBLISHER: Zondervan
RELEASE DATE: November 4, 2014
PAGES: 300

In this historical fairy-tale romance book from bestselling author Melanie Dickerson, based on The Princess and the Frog, Margaretha hopes to find her prince … but when a man claiming to be an English lord arrives at the castle, she finds herself questioning her heart as she uncovers secrets about her current suitor that cast the mysterious lord in a new light.

Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, will be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle, claiming to be an English lord Claybrook attacked and left for dead. And only Margaretha understands the wild story.

Margaretha convinces herself “Lord Colin” is just addled. Then Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy—she unable to keep anything secret—though what she soon discovers changes her romantic notions not about Claybrook but possibly Colin as well. It is up to her to save her father and Hagenheim itself from a wicked plot.

Other Books In This Series

“book’s first/memorable line”

I love love love Melanie Dickerson’s fairy tale retellings. The Princess Spy is her 5th, and it’s just as good as all the others.

Lord Colin, the hero in our story, is a sentimental favorite of mine and a great guy in his own right. He has such good intentions but they have gone awry through little fault of his own. Enter Margaretha. (This is one thing I just love about Melanie’s books – her heroines are not dependent on the heroes to save the day! They team up and very often do at least some of the saving themselves!) Together, they try to unearth a plot that threatens her family’s kingdom and quickly realize that it may be up to them to foil it.  Somewhere along the way, their hearts begin to tangle as well, and the “happily-ever-after” magic that we all so adore wakes up with a gentle spark.  However, “The End” is nowhere in sight at this point and Colin & Margaretha have many obstacles to overcome that may leave their “once upon a time” as just that – a memory.

As always in Melanie’s books, the characters are full of life and you will smile warmly at seeing old friends again. The plot twists and turns until you’re ready to jump in there, armor up and give them a hand! I really enjoy how Melanie’s settings always create that warm, cozy fairy tale feeling even though all but one of the stories has taken place in Germany – a country not exactly known for inducing warm, cozy feelings :).

Bottom Line: Loved this retelling of The Frog Prince! Melanie Dickerson, as always, hits it out of the fairy-tale retelling park 🙂 Particularly enjoyed the chance to revisit the world of my still-favorite-of-hers The Merchant’s Daughter (may or may not have grinned like a besotted fool when I realized who we were talking to). Oh – and the way she makes sure we know that The Princess Spy is a retelling of The Frog Prince had me literally laughing out loud!! Poor Colin haha.

(I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from my own collection. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)

My Rating: 4.5 stars / loved it!

KissingBook Level: 3 / may forget to breathe on occasion

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Melanie Dickerson is an American author of historical romances. She is a 2-time Christy Award finalist, a 2-time Maggie Award winner, winner of The National Reader’s Choice Award for 2010’s Best First Book, and winner of the 2012 Carol Award in Young Adult fiction. She earned her bachelor’s degree in special education from The University of Alabama. Now she spends her time writing and taking care of her husband and two daughters near Huntsville, Alabama. Connect with Melanie at her website.

What about you? What makes you want to read The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson?