Prince of Glass and Midnight by Linsey Miller

 

Prince of Glass and Midnight by Linsey Miller   384 Pages

Summary: Ever since the death of his mother, Prince August of Charmant has sworn off love. Now with only a few months until he inherits the throne, August is unable to delay conversations of marriage any longer. But news of a magical memory curse plaguing a nearby village—the same village he used to spend his summers with his mother—offers August a reprieve. He convinces his father to give him one week to lead the royal investigation before returning to the palace for good. Despite feeling relief, August dreads confronting his own bittersweet memories of the village, his mother, and Ella, the childhood friend he hasn’t spoken to in nearly six years. But maybe the best person to help him restore the town’s memories is the girl he hasn’t been able to forget.

Once reunited, August is surprised to see how Ella has changed. While she’s still beautiful and clever, she’s more reserved and possibly keeping secrets of her own—a fact August finds increasingly hard to ignore. Together they investigate the origins of the magic impacting the town, but with more and more people forgetting their true loves, their rekindled friendship places them in more danger than they could have imagined. With time ticking down to his return to the castle, August must grapple with his growing feelings for Ella and solve the mystery before it’s too late.

When the clock strikes midnight, the fate of the kingdom may just rely on finding the owner of a lost glass slipper…

My thoughts: This book was interesting. Almost, if not all, the Disney princes are just so one dimensional. This book (series) gave them life and character depth. It was an easy read. 

Ready Player Two (Ready Player One, #2) by Ernest Cline

Ready Player Two (Ready Player One, #2) by Ernest Cline-370 pages

 I really enjoyed reading Ready Player One a few years ago, so I preordered this as soon as it was available. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first, but I didn't hate it either. Pop culture references still abound in this sequel, such as Tolkien, Prince, John Hughes, and many others. I am a moderate fan of John Hughes and have seen many of his films and I have read The Hobbit and seen all of the movies based on Tolkien's works (The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy). I am not  as familiar with Prince, however. Anyway, many of the references hit home and this is still a good read. I am not sure how I feel about the ending, but each reader can decide for himself or herself. 

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley, 278 pages

Told from the perspective of just about every character, the book unfolds the history of Bella who was born a knight's daughter but raised a peasant. When her mother dies in childbirth, her father wants nothing to do with her or her mother's family. Poor Bella is rescued by her mother's sister who drops her off with a peasant woman who was the Prince's wet nurse. Bella grows up into a beauty with a heart to match, but soon her father comes back into  her life to steal her away. Through hardships and trials, Bella becomes everything she was destined to be and more -- (with the help of some very magical gifts). It was, unfortunately, very hard for me to finish the book because of the differing viewpoints and jumping timelines.

Defy by Sara B. Larson- 336 pages

This is an adventure story written by a debut novelist.
Alexa, who must disguise herself as a boy, has secured a spot in the king's army with her superior fighting skills. One night, she is assigned to stand guard over the prince only to have him and a few of his guards taken captive. Will she be able to keep her secret hidden?   Does the prince have a secret of his own?

Little Miss Curious

Prince Puggly of Spud and the Kingdom of Spiff by Robert Paul Weston

Prince Puggly of Spud and the Kingdom of Spiff by Robert Paul Weston - 206 pages

Puggly has been chosen as the new prince of Spud based on his fashion sense.  All the kingdoms are obsessed with fashion.  Princess Francesca doesn't fit in her kingdom as she is more concerned with comfort that fashion.  When they meet after both being insulted at Francesca's father's ball, they decide to teach everyone a lesson about how stupid following fashion trends is.
I can't really say if I liked this book or not.  I thought the idea behind it was interesting, however I didn't care for the execution.  The book is written in rhymed verse with several changes in fonts, type size, and shades of black.  It was very distracting and in my opinion took away from the story.

Gossamer by Renita Pizzitola

"Gossamer" by Renita Pizzitola, 222 pages (in print)

Kyla has lived a normal teen life with her mom and dad for 17 years. Approaching her 18th birthday, her world is turned upside down when Connor and Grant arrive on the scene. As in all teen fantasy novels, Kyla immediately feels a strong, electrical attraction to Grant and doesn't know why. She ends up falling "deeply" in love with him without even knowing him. Turns out she is half human, half Fae ... and a changeling with a twist. Her mother hid her with humans to keep her safe until she turned 18. (There is some human organization that's out to kill her). It is Kyla's destiny to return to the Fae and become a "fairy princess" by marrying the prince. But what if that is not how she wants to live her happily ever after? The prince is wonderful, better for her, etc. (Almost like Twilight's Jacob) but her heart beats only for Grant. This novel is just like all teen fantasy romance novels with a love triangle, moody main love, on again off again relationship and lots of drama. I was really happy when I finished the novel and really can't see picking up anymore in the series.

"Princess of Glass" by Jessica Day George

"Princess of Glass" by Jessica Day George, 266 pages
(Book 2 of the series)

Princess Poppy loathes dancing. She is one of the 12 dancing princesses that were cursed to dance every night of their life until freed by a soldier. So when Poppy is sent on an "ambassador" mission along with her unmarried sisters to various kingdoms, to attend balls and calm the rumors that surround her family, she is none to pleased. Daily nightmares still haunt her from her dancing days and something is afoot at the castle that reminds her of the curse she was once under. Soon everyone is acting strangely like they are under a spell and it's up to Poppy to get to the bottom of it. Along the way, she forms great friendships and the beginning of a relationship with a certain Prince "Charming." Traces of Beauty & The Beast, Cinderella,  Aladdin and several other fairy tales can be found throughout the pages.