Unique Cinderella Retelling

 

Image copied from bookshop.org

A Reluctant Assassin by J.C. Morrows follows an unique premise in terms of this Cinderella retelling. As the logline implies the story revolves around the idea of what would happen if Cinderalla was sent to the ball to kill the prince. That and the cover alone had me intrigued enough to turn the page. Overall, I enjoyed the results but there were some things I think could have made this stand out as a fairy tale retelling even more.

So, what did I like about this book. First, it begins with an ominous setting where Kayden is chosen from among several young women for the mission the extremely dangerous and mercurial head of the Order of the Moonstone wants to set in motion. There is tension and mystery embedded in this opening scene that did make me want to keep reading. From there the story begins with a ball and we get duel points of view from here between the prince Dvarius and Kayden our would be Cinderella. Morrows stays true to the original Cinderella scenario here by making Kayden a mysterious contender for the prince's attention. She is posing as a noblewoman to seemingly have the opportunity to be selected as the next princess for the kingdom and eventually the queen. The characteristics that Morrows gives her character makes it easy to see why she stands out from this crowd of beautiful women and captivates Prince Dvarius. Only we as readers know that her mission is more nefarious than anyone realizes. Another thing I appreciated at the start of the book was the way that Morrows conveys that this is not some high fantasy setting but instead is a dystopian kingdom several hundred years after a devastating world war. She does this by having Kayden study a series of paintings that depict different points in history. This was a clever way of giving us information without bogging us down in exposition. I also was surprised by this. I was not expecting the kingdom of Aurelius to be the remnants of what used to be our world. Other positives about this novel were how the Christian tones of the story play out through Dvarius in a realistic way without being preachy or overwhelming the overall plot. That isn't always an easy thing for a Christian writer to do. The hints we get of Kayden's training as she navigates the palace early on were also fun to read about in terms of her character development. 

That brings me to some things I would have loved to see more of in the novel. While the bits of backstory concerning Kayden's training for her mission are well-balanced in that they don't bog us down in flashback sequences, I would have loved to have seen some of this in an opening chapter before she gets to the palace in real time rather than getting hints about it. This is of course a deliberate choice of the author. But I love a good training and spy montage. That's a personal preference on my part. However, the backstory for Kayden also could have been developed a bit more. Early in the story a certain phrase is given true weight and significance on the page, hinting at a traumatic past of some sort for Kayden. But we never get a full view of what this phrase brings to the fore for her. We only are told that it is a trigger of some kind. As a writer, if you are going to give something like that significance early on, I feel it needs to have some kind of pay off for the reader at some point in the book, even if it comes at the very end. I did not feel that was the case in this instance. Instead, it is noted by the characters, the phrase is then avoided and it sinks into insignificance from there. The other thing I think was a missed opportunity for the story was fully utilizing Kayden's talents throughout the story. We start off strong at the beginning, but from one tense moment on, her skills become buried under all the will they won't they push and pull of the romance. If she is as intent on completing her mission as we are led to believe, if the stakes are really that high for her if she fails, I would have liked to have seen this play out more by her doing more assassin, spy-like stuff like mapping out the castle and any secret passages it might have, sending and receiving more coded messages, getting to know the other women competing with her for the prince's attention. Could one of them be another plant from the order? How are they monitoring how Kayden is doing? This would have kept the stakes higher and the tension much tighter, in my opinion, as Kayden fights her growing attraction for Dvarius. While some of this is touched on, I didn't feel it was given as much prominence to the plot and character as it could have been.

That being said, the ending had me wanting to read more in the series to find out what will happen next and how the two main characters might eventually secure a happily-ever-after together. Based on the ratings I've seen of the other books in the series, they seem to just get better from here. If you'd like to pick up a copy to check this one out for yourself, you can click on the title link to be taken to bookshop.org. You may also find copies wherever books are sold.

In a couple of weeks, I'm thrilled to be able to review another cozy fantasy, A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic  by J. Penner that I was gifted an ARC of from NetGalley and Sourcebooks in exchange for my honest opinion. It was originally an indie published novel, but has been picked up by Sourcebooks and is set to have a custom print edition published April 15 wherever books are sold. I plan to get a print copy when it comes out. Below is a blurb and the cover of the novel both copied from bookshop.org.

Image copied from bookshop.org

She doesn't need to have magic in order to be magic...

In the heart of Adenashire, where elvish enchantments and dwarven delights rule, human baker Arleta Starstone works twice as hard at perfecting her unique blend of baking with apothecary herbs. So, when her orc neighbor (and biggest fan) secretly enters her creations into the prestigious Langheim Baking Battle, Arleta faces a dilemma. Being magicless, her participation in the competition could draw more scowls than smiles. And if Arleta wants to prove her talent and establish her culinary reputation, she'll need more than just her pastry craft to sweeten the odds.

Though Arleta may not yet believe in herself, she makes her way to Langheim--with the help of a very attractive woodland elf--and competes. While on a journey of mouthwatering pastries, self-discovery, heartwarming friendships, and potential romance, Arleta will have to decide whether winning the Baking Battle is the true prize after all. But win or lose, her adventure is only beginning...