By K.M. Shea
When Gemma’s drunken father tells King Torgen of Verglas
that his daughter can spin straw into gold, Gemma assumes her life is over.
Held captive in a room filled with straw, Gemma is ordered to spin it all into
gold by dawn the following day, or she will be killed by the king’s orders.
Rather than cry her eyes out over her sad fate, Gemma tries escaping, and
becomes acquainted with a mysterious mage named Stil. Stil offers to help Gemma
complete her task, for a price, and turns the straw into gold thread.
Unfortunately the gold whets the greedy appetite of King
Torgen, who is determined to wring more gold from Gemma. Gemma is relieved when
Stil agrees to help her a second and third time…but his requested payments for
the task grow stranger and stranger…
Can Gemma outsmart the evil king and survive Stil’s unusual
bargains?
What an interesting way to retell Rumplestiltskin! The trend
right now is to make Rumple the good guy/love interest instead of the little
trickster that he was in the original. This is no exception, and to boot, Stil
(as he is known in this story), is a mage. A wandering sorcerer who hears of
Gemma’s predicament and wants to help. You know what they say about good
intentions, sometimes they end up making things worse. I enjoyed this novel a
great deal, mostly because Gemma is so snarky and no-nonsense. She doesn’t
place trust in anybody but herself, and will escape on her own thank you very
much. Stil is ever amused by her and, obvious to everyone but Gemma, almost
immediately starts to try and win her affection. It’s cute and fun, and boy am
I enjoying Shea’s development as a writer. Her characters are getting more and
more interesting all the time and a pleasure to read!
I give this a 3.75 out of 5
