This is a well presented fairy tale story with the industrious princess, the villainous Queen, the warlock, and the earnest Prince. The events are simply told, in the keeping of a fairy tale, and we have little opportunity to step into the character’s mind. The dialogue was good, perhaps a little forced, but at times it switched to modern speech, freaked out, for example, which didn’t entirely fit within the story. I did like the inclusion of French and another unknown language for spellcasting. (Book Tour Reviewer Eryn McConnell)
Princess Rosella, the only biological child of her father, the King of Rose Mountain, grew up under the overprotectiveness of her mother, the Queen knowing that one day she would be the Queen of Rose Mountain. While her parents and half brothers were born without magical ability, Rosella showed her magic skills from an early age. Learning how to use and control her powers from her grandmothers, Lady Margaret and Queen Lea, at 18 Rosella inherits the Staff of Light from Lady Margaret, and the Amulet of Rose Mountain from Queen Lea when she turns 21. Both magical artifacts are the most powerful in the realm. The Princess is forced to flee her kingdom with her family when evil warlock Mugwort petrifies her parents and the royal court. Travelling from kingdom to kingdom in search of military aid to get together a strong enough army to defeat Mugwort and reclaim her kingdom, will she gain the support she needs? For three years, she has tried to gain support without success – until she and her family arrive at the kingdom of Magnolia, where they meet Prince Julian and his friend and royal page Elias.Through him and Elias, who she learns is secretly in love with palace maid Eliza, Rosella learns about the tyrannical rule of Julian’s older brother, Robert, with their mother, Queen Catrina. Can she help end Robert’s reign of terror by aiding Julian’s right to the throne? Does this mean that she will gain the support of an army desperately needed to reclaim her kingdom? Can she also assist Eliza and Elias in finding their happily ever after? A captivating story, the first of a trilogy, that paints a different picture of the damsel in distress. The romance between lovers and easy friendship extended to once strangers has the reader hoping for a fairytale ending for everyone involved! An engaging and imaginative story you don’t want to end. (Book Tour Reviewer Yvonne Marrs)
Rosella is the only child of the reigning King and Queen of Rose Mountain, and the only one of her step-siblings to have inherited the magical powers of their grandparents. Because of this, the fate of the kingdom rests on her young head. On her eighteenth birthday, she inherits a Staff of Light and will be granted the Amulet of Rose, once she has mastered the magic of the staff. There are the two most magical artifacts in the Kingdom, and indeed, in the whole Realm. However, her magical powers won’t come to their fullness until her 25th birthday. The evil warlock, Mugwort, knows this, and so turns up at a celebration long before this and turns her parents and most of their subjects to stone. Rosella had the foresight to ensure her stepbrothers, their families, and a select group of her cousins, courtiers, and friends escape the kingdom, travelling in magical caravans to neighbouring kingdoms, seeking their aid to overthrow Mugwort, restore her parents to life, and restore the kingdom to them. For various reasons, most refuse her help, but she finally comes to the Kingdom of Magnolia where she meets up with a peasant boy named Julian and his best friend, Elias. She is in disguise, and as it turns out, so are they! Before the big reveal, Julian and Rosella fall in love. Julian lets slip that the evil Prince Robert is planning to marry the Rose Princess and suggests how he thinks the princess can determine which is the worthy prince. Rosella takes his suggestion to heart, and devises a series of tests, which poor Robert fails. The Rose Princess reads better as a children’s story aimed at eight- to ten-year-olds. Tighter writing with less telling of the story and more showing would help this story. The story itself is interesting, with compelling plots and scenes to drive the story along. Carly Lakes is a good storyteller, and I can imagine her telling this story to the nieces and nephews to whom she has dedicated this book. (Book Tour Reviewer Phoebe Wilby)
The Rose Princess is a story full of magic, romance and the battle of good versus evil. All the elements of traditional fairy tales are present here and I think it would work as a book for older children, teens or adults. The book cover is beautiful and invites the reader to want to find out what’s within the pages. I wasn’t disappointed by what I found there. (Book Tour Reviewer Michelle Marshall)
This was a very pleasant and easy to read book that I comfortably got through in a couple of days. Though not incredibly original, I did find myself wanting to find out what happened next and both the story and characters progressed well. Rosella, the main character, was particularly interesting to me and I’d like to find out what happens next in her adventure! (Book Tour Reviewer Eileen Tilley)
The Rose Princess is an original fantasy narrative set in its own world that draws heavily from real-world mythology. The story harkens in many ways to fairy tales and legends. As a book written by a neurodiverse author, I would recommend it to readers who are interested in this perspective. (Book Tour Reviewer Tim Marshall)
The Rose Princess is an enchanting fairy tale story that Young Adult Readers will enjoy. The characters are likeable and very easy for a reader to connect with. The plot moves at a good pace and keeps the reader invested in the story. The Author does tend to tell the reader rather than show the reader throughout her narrative, which takes a little getting used to, but this may be the Authors particular style of writing and it certainly does not spoil the overall enjoyment of the book. There are a large number of characters introduced together at the beginning of the book which can be a little confusing, however the author’s intention is to set the background to Rosella’s family and all the different relationships as they do feature in later chapters. (Book Tour Reviewer Kirsty McKay)
We award 4 stars.
