The Frog Prince

By Jenni James

A prince disguises himself to find true love—Prince Nolan has had enough of Princess Blythe—the woman to whom he has been betrothed since infancy—and her simpering letters. Does the princess truly not have a brain in her head? Never before has he communicated with someone who seemed so childish and spoiled. It was time he met her for himself, to decide if he could actually follow through with this marriage. But to do it right, she must not see how handsome he is. He needs a disguise—something that would show him her true nature.

Nolan asks an old herb woman to transform him into a creature that is disgusting to any female—a frog. The spell will last thirty days unless the princess does the impossible and kisses him. Now the true test begins. Will Blythe prove to be as monstrously annoying as he believes she is, or will he learn to see past his judgments and find a loving princess waiting for him?

Here’s another win for Jenni James! She doesn’t always get a good fairy-tale out there, but this one made my ‘to read again’ list. This is a sweet story with a creative twist to the classic tale; the frog prince voluntarily becomes a frog? Nolan is endearing as a frog and learns that there is so much more to his intended than he thought. Blythe is a girl who just wants what everyone wants; to be herself and be loved for herself. There are shenanigans and misunderstandings and true love in the story which will leave you smiling and making that universal sound of approval, “Awwww…”

I give it a 3.75 out of 5- above average for the author and the genre. 

Wildwood Dancing

By Juliet Marillier

High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It’s an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle’s hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm.

But their peace is shattered when Father falls ill and must go to the southern parts to recover, for that is when cousin Cezar arrives. Though he’s there to help the girl survive the brutal winter, Jena suspects he has darker motives in store. Meanwhile, Jena’s sister has  fallen in love with a dangerous creature of the Other Kingdom---and impossible union it’s up to Jena to stop.

When Cezar’s grip of power begins to tighten, at stake is everything Jena loves: her home, her family, and the Other Kingdom she has come to cherish. To save her world, Jena will be tested in ways she can’t imagine—tests of trust, strength, and true love.

I have heard a lot of love for this book and was just waiting for the right time and mood to read it. I was not disappointed. IT was a sort of mix of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and The Frog Prince, except it was so originally done, you can only catch a passing resemblance to this stories. It was great story-telling. The choice of setting the story in Romania was awesome, though I was miffed with the names and even with the pronunciation guide, I still had difficulty and found it halted the flow of the story. Other than that the girls, of which there are only 5, are well fleshed out and individual, which is rare to find outside of the heroine of the story. The fairy realm is beautiful and the dwarves and other creatures were just as mystical. I was reminded of all the images that stuck in my mind as a child about fae creatures and was transported there with them. There is much about love and sacrifice, honor and choice. It’s got some great gems in it about where our choices lead us, and the love story was not straight-forward and predictable. That was my favorite part. I got a bout of dread when vampires showed up—but no worries. They are not even named as vampires, but “night people” (though they totally were vampires) and they are as nightmarish and eerie as they should be. No sparkles! It was a wonderful story full of magic and a little mayhem, and mostly a test of courage and ingenuity for the characters. Highly recommend this, not only to people who like re-tellings, but people who enjoy a good fantasy.

I give it a 4.25 out of 5

Enchanted

By Althea Kontis

It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.
The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?

Quite to the contrary of what I thought I had picked up—another fairy-tale retelling of the frog prince—I got an original, creative, and difficult-to-guess story of a magical family and their impossible lives. This was delightful to read. I never knew what was going to happen next or what fairytale I would invariable fall into. There were allusions to Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and many other more obscure tales. Sometimes this seems to bog down the main plot, but it was all good fun to read. I found that more than anything this was a tale about the Faeries and their dabbling with humans. Sunday was a delightful character, a down-to-earth heroine that finds her magical family difficult to deal with, but loves them more than life. Rumbold on the other hand is less easy to decipher, his life shrouded in intrigue and mystery, which keeps the reader enthralled as to how he will find himself as well as winning Sunday’s heart. I for one will happily read the next installments of this series, it was well written and a fun and romantic adventure.

I give it a 4 out of 5

The Frog Princess

By E.D. Baker

Princess Emerelda is just about as opposite of a fairy-tale princess as one can imagine. With a laugh like a donkey's bray, and about as graceful as a three-legged cow, she never expected that when she escaped to the swamp to find a prince-turned-frog practically begging her to kiss him. But in true fashion with her life, things go wrong. Horribly wrong. And Emma, as she is called, finds herself wrapped up in an enchantment with the only way out being she has to cooperate with Eadric, the prince that might actually be the frog of her dreams...

This book was really cutesy and fun to read. It wasn't at all surprising at what happens though. It was just a fun book to pass the time. There were even a few laugh-out-loud moments, which I greatly appreciate. Eadric is such a guy, even when he's a frog. The whole book he just keeps begging Emma to kiss him, which is really pretty funny. Emma, on the other hand, blows him off and just wants life to go back to normal again. This book is really really close to the new Disney movie that just came out "The Princess and the Frog". If you like fairy tales, this one is pretty fun to read.