Midnight Masquerade
Stavos Voronin was not as blind-eyed as many nobles and royals. Evony’s physical gestures—even the simplest movement of her hands—revealed that she had not always been destitute. The same was true of the children—of their polished manners and the boy’s knowledge of horses and tendency to be bold and fearless of strangers.
Ah yes, Stavos enjoyed a good mystery. After all, interest in the inexplicable circumstances surrounding the royals of Abawyth was the very thing that had lured him to the kingdom—the enigma of Abawyth’s twelve sleepy princesses. And yet now—now his mind was all the more intrigued. Not only was the obscurity of what had caused the profound and baffling torpidity of Abawyth’s princesses laid out before him, but also he found his curiosity intensely piqued over the riddle surrounding the very lovely Evony and her siblings.
As Stavos strode through the village resting on the outskirts of Abawyth Castle, his mind reeled with possibilities. His musings were drawn back to why he had come to Abawyth at all—to solve the conundrum surrounding the twelve beautiful princesses of Abawyth kingdom—to solve the seemingly impenetrable crux and thereby win the hand of one of Abawyth’s princesses, as his father, King Letholdus of Ethiarien, had commanded.
My Review: Evony Elorietta has never known such harsh work and conditions in her life. She is the oldest daughter and princess of Elawyth. Unfortunately her aunt, Queen of Abawyth and mother, Queen of Elawyth disappeared around the same time and fearing for their safety, Evony had removed herself and her two siblings from their castle, hoping for safety with King Standwood, her aunt's husband. But when they arrived at the castle, King Standwood swore the siblings would be protected, but Evony's cousins, the 12 princesses of Abawyth told her otherwise and told her to depart from the castle and hide herself and siblings as best as she could before the king could find them. Thus Evony finds herself working as hard as she can to support herself and siblings by working as a seamstress for the mean and critical Agnes Teche, but there's never enough food or money. One day Evony has just purchased the eggs for her breakfast and started off toward her modest home, but she forgot to pay attention to what was in the road and she's knocked down by a large horse carrying a nobleman, no doubt the next in line to figure out what is ailing the 12 princesses of Abawyth. Her breakfast is ruined and her ankle badly hurt. The man, Prince Stavos, refuses to allow her to return to work until she is healed, even going so far as to seek out the horrible Agnes Teche and pay her a kingly some for the loss of Evony. Evony knows the secret of her cousins' malady and knows that she must share it with Prince Stavos, but will he be able to save her cousins, her aunt, her mother and Evony's own family before it's too late?
This was a really fun book! I love the way that Marcia Lynn McClure took the fairy-tale of the 12 Dancing Princesses and turned it into her own. I love her characters, the strong-willed Evony Elorietta, kind-hearted Prince Stavos, and I can't forget her cousins, the 12 Dancing Princesses, although you really don't get the story from their point of view, it's obvious that they all have personality too. This book is full of the author's signature, plenty of kissing, romance, and a little danger thrown in too! You won't regret reading this fun fairy-tale retelling.
I was sent an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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About the author: Marcia Lynn McClure’s intoxicating succession of novels, novellas, and e-books, has established her as one of the most favored and engaging authors of true romance. Her unprecedented forte in weaving captivating stories of western, medieval, regency, and contemporary amour void of brusque intimacy has earned her the title “The Queen of Kissing.”
Marcia, who was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has spent her life intrigued with people, history, love, and romance. A wife, mother, grandmother, family historian, poet, and author, Marcia Lynn McClure spins her tales of splendor for the sake of offering respite through the beauty, mirth, and delight of a worthwhile and wonderful story.
Labels: Clean Romance, marcia lynn mcclure
About the author: Marcia Lynn McClure’s intoxicating succession of novels, novellas, and e-books, has established her as one of the most favored and engaging authors of true romance. Her unprecedented forte in weaving captivating stories of western, medieval, regency, and contemporary amour void of brusque intimacy has earned her the title “The Queen of Kissing.”