The Beautiful Pretender by Melanie Dickerson
After inheriting his title from his brother, the margrave has two weeks to find a noble bride. What will happen when he learns he has fallen for a lovely servant girl in disguise?
The Margrave of Thornbeck has to find a bride, fast. He invites ten noble born ladies who meet the king’s approval to be his guests at Thornbeck Castle for two weeks, a time to test these ladies and reveal their true character.
Avelina has only two instructions: keep her true identity a secret and make sure the margrave doesn’t select her as his 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
My Review:
I love these fairy tale stories put into the medieval time period. I’ve yet to read one by Melanie Dickerson that I haven’t liked. The story embodies everything that we have come to love about fairy tale stories. The hero and heroine fighting against the norm and the evil that tries to prevail over their lives.
Avelina a servant pretending to be an Earl’s daughter in order to make an ally of the Margrave of Thornbeck. Of course as in all fairy tales many obstacles have to be dealt with and overcome and then there is the issue that even though her goal is to keep the margrave as an ally and to try to avoid being chosen as his bride, Avelina’s heart begins to betray her and she inadvertently longs for him.
However, her duty to her Earl and the people of Plimmwald helps her to attempt to keep her focus on pushing the margrave’s affection towards her new friend. However, those attempts seem to fall short and regardless she seems to win the affections of the margrave. What will he think when he finds out her secret? That I will not spoil. You’re just going to have to read the book. Believe me you will want to.
You can purchase a copy here, or by clicking the title above.
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”):Many thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free copy of this book to review and post. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.
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A Little Bit of Everything 