A sleeping beauty. A kingdom frozen in time. Only one can save them all. Once upon a time… Lord Siward intended to go hunting, but when he stumbles upon a ruined castle and accidentally wakes the mysterious maiden sleeping inside, he knows his holiday is over. With the kingdom in trouble, Siward should be protecting the realm, but every time Rosamond looks at him, he gets lost in the girl’s … lost in the girl’s green eyes. Who is the mysterious beauty, and why does he feel she holds the key to the kingdom’s deliverance?
Romance a Medieval Fairytale series:
Each book is a standalone, so they can be read in any order:
- Enchant: Beauty and the Beast Retold
- Dance: Cinderella Retold
- Fly: Goose Girl Retold
- Revel: Twelve Dancing Princesses Retold
- Silence: Little Mermaid Retold
- Awaken: Sleeping Beauty Retold
- Embellish: Brave Little Tailor Retold
- Appease: Princess and the Pea Retold
- Blow: Three Little Pigs Retold
- Return: Hansel and Gretel Retold
- Wish: Aladdin Retold
- Melt: Snow Queen Retold
- Spin: Rumpelstiltskin Retold
- Kiss: Frog Prince Retold
- Hunt: Red Riding Hood Retold
- Reflect: Snow White Retold
- Roar: Goldilocks Retold
- Cobble: Elves and the Shoemaker Retold
- Float: Enchanted Horse Retold
- Steal: Forty Thieves Retold
- Call: Pied Piper Retold
more
underdeveloped story and characters – felt like half the story was left out
If you were looking for something with lots of smut, you came to the right place. If you were looking for romance, I would look elsewhere. I didn’t find this story very romantic. Honestly, it was very cheesy. Good thing it was free when I got it.
So, I may get into spoilers from here on out…
Rosamond starts out as this extremely naive girl, who is supposed to be finding a husband. She’s honestly kind of stupid. She’s also a plant witch. She spends her time worried about dresses and what her mother thinks and really boring stuff like that.
And suddenly she decides she’s in love with her guard. *sigh*
On their way back home, she kisses him, and he does the, “you can’t do that cause you’re the princess and I’m just a lowly guard” cliche.
And then everyone gets sick and the princess saves everyone but herself. Sure. The sacrifice would have felt more selfless if we’d had more time to get to know the characters better.
Anyway, 50 years passes and she wakes up to a young man, who she thinks is the guard she “loved” and basically demand that he sleep with her, which he obliges, cause what young man would refuse a demand like that from a beautiful girl. My biggest problem with this is that when she fell asleep, she was so naive and she literally knew nothing. One 50 year nap later, she’s got the sexual prowess of a goddess. Like what? No build up. She’s so obviously a virgin from the way it was described.
I was amused by Siward’s reaction after he wakes up from his night of passion with the strange young woman he just met. He freaks out a little and then vows not to touch her until they are married. Which works out fine, until she sneaks into his room later and he just can’t resist her.
And Rosamond has turned into a snobby high born girl. She commands everyone around her. How does a 50 year nap change someone so drastically?
I won’t give away the rest of the story, but it wasn’t very good. I only read it because it was fairly interesting and I couldn’t sleep.
Book has very flat characters, and I was left with questions.the plot starts then skips time, but what happened during that time? The writting needs a little work. I think this book has great potential though! Plot needs a little something extra. I enjoyed the beginning and the fleshing out of some main characters, but not there wasn’t nearly enough , the male main character needed work. I feel like I knew more about minor characters than the main ones. There is a disconnect between the characters age progression. How did these people change through time? What made them who they are? Or why did a character in the beginning seem shy/helpful but suddenly something very different when the story jumped through time?
Story telling at its best and the story has been going on forever. A new twist with an old tale. Easy reading, good book.
Short and sweet. I felt like this was a little more YA then I was expecting.
Expected more given the hype of this author and the re-telling of this fairy tale. It’s definitely not the caliber of Gregory Maguire.
Awaken (Romance a Medieval Fairytale #6) by Demelza Carlton – Entwined with the Sleeping Beauty vibes, there are hints of the Children of Lir and Fair Rosamund (and it’s not just the name). This is the third timeline in this series, and someone should really make one to keep up with all the bouncing around! Love the world building! Happy Reading!
Couldn’t finish this- boring- could have been good, just another potential good story wrecked by bad sex writing, in my opinion.
Sex, magic….. I didn’t bother to finish it.
The heroine is not really likable (she tends to be selfish and whiny) and her hero is even less (he is somewhat gullible.) But it is a cute easy read. I was really surprised that Monika did not recognize the Princess immediately — this story could have gone in a completely different direction and had other possibilities than it did.
Creative re-telling of Sleeping Beauty. Enjoyed reading it!
Didn’t even finish it!,
A great adaptation. I enjoyed seeing Rosamond mature through the story. I was astonished at how ugly Monika’s thoughts and actions turned. Siward is a passable bloke.
This retelling was both faithful to the original fairy tale as told by the Grimm Brothers and refreshingly original. I particularly liked how the author integrated the origins of the Black Plague (i.e. via the Silk Road trade) to add a certain degree of historic realism. I found the reactions and interactions of Rosamund and Siward to be very realistic and speaking for two people of very different generations meeting at one point in time.
A very imaginative take on sleeping beauty. The inspiration is clear, but this is truly original, and very engaging. Wonderful characters and storyline. I received a free review copy of the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a Sleeping Beauty type of story with a new twist. Personally, I think I like this version better. It’s an interesting new version which I found entertaining. But I must say Princess Rosamond is more like a modern woman of this time. For someone who is new to the experience and joy of sex, she caught on quick and she’s not in the least inhibited. In fact the way she’s described she’s a nymphomaniac. It’s a cute and magical story, and I had fun reading it as I’m sure others will also.
My second read from author Demelza Carlton was an interesting spin and expansion/re-telling of a the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. The thought of reading a “fairy tale” didn’t particularly appeal to me but I’m glad I did. Extremely well written, the characters, well developed. I’m a character reader, I get into the characters. Who and what they are. Why they do the things they do. The things that make the reader get invested into the characters and thereby the story. BY the end of this book I couldn’t turn pages fast enough to see how Carleton’s carefully crafted tale would unveil. I’ll be reading more from this author!
I may actually like this version of the story better than any of the other ones I have read. The story flows very smoothly and is well told. The characters are enjoyable to read about. I really like some of the twists the author put on this classic tale of sleeping beauty.
Did not demand much from the reader. Very light reading.
Enjoyed this book very much.