When she is just six years old, something terrible happens in her kingdom and Princess Gretel is forced out into a terrible rainstorm. She's wet, cold, and all alone when she is found by a kindly man named Adale. He and his 10 year old son Hansel decide to take her in and make her one of the family, even knowing that the kingdom she comes from is a kingdom that their own king has just destroyed and if they are found to have her, it will mean death for all of them. 10 years later, Gretel is a lovely 16 year old young woman, and Hansel knows that one day he will have to let her go to one of the young men of the village. That thought drives him crazy, for Hansel has fallen in love with the young girl. Then something strange happens, Adale decides to get married to a woman that neither Hansel nor Gretel have ever met or heard him speak of before. They are both stunned, but try to be supportive. When his new wife moves in things get terrible, especially for Gretel. She is rude, unkind and obviously trying to get rid of Gretel, and worse, Adale never seems to be himself anymore. Hansel and Gretel must figure out just what is going on before it's too late!
This was a cute book. It's only about 150 pages, so I was able to read it fairly quickly. There is plenty of mystery and romance in it as well. I like the characters, I like the setting, and I like what happens in the plot. I can't say that it is my favorite of Jenni James' fairy-tales, but it's cute and fun. It's worth the time to read it!
I was able to borrow this book from my local library.Labels: Clean Romance, fairy tale re-tellings, Jenni James
