When Maren runs away, the last place she expects to end up is the Malvagarian palace, home to the enchanted gardens, a cursed prince, and a magical rose that traps her there. Crown Prince Briar isn’t pleased to be stuck with a troublesome guest, especially one as mischievous and curious as Maren. She, on the other hand, is determined to befriend him, and finds herself inconveniently falling in … love with him instead. Despite her lack of beauty, feelings steadily blossom between her and the prince.
Their budding romance is soon threatened when sinister magic begins to eclipse the enchanted gardens, a darkness which quickly spreads not only to the kingdom, but to the king himself. In order to stop it, Briar and Maren will both be forced to make the ultimate sacrifice, only to realize that the gardens’ requirements may prove too high a price.
Inspired by Beauty and the Beast
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Yes! We finally get to see Prince Briar’s story and learn about his curse. I have been eagerly anticipating this book every since finishing Reflection a few months back, and I can honestly say it was worth the wait.
First, the main characters are very well developed. Maren reminded me of Rosie from Spelled. Her curiosity is probably one of her most prominent personality traits that shows up early in the book and never leaves. She goes through a lot of character growth and has a compelling backstory. Her personality matches Briar’s surprisingly well. Briar is a character we got to know back in Reflection, but this time, he is alert and attentive. His journey was very satisfying. Of course, it was also fun to see cameo appearances from the previous books, particularly Drake and Rhea. Again, Camille Peters shows us some of the challenges of life after marriage without detracting from the current tale which is something I continue to appreciate.
The main plot is one I very much enjoyed. The pacing was spot on. I read a lot of fairy tale books, but I have not seen this particular take on Beauty and the Beast yet. I loved how the magic gardens in this story are similar to the forest of Pathways. The various scenes and plants described are very detailed. Each plant and garden are ones I want to see for myself. Even without the characters and the plot, I could probably fall in love with this book for the descriptions alone, theyr’e that enchanting.
In conclusion, this is a solid addition to the Kingdom Chronicles. With well-rounded characters, good plot development and pacing, and overall engaging writing style, this is definitely a book readers of fairy tales should pick up. If you’ve already read the previous books in this series, then you really won’t want to miss this one!
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*
I am not a big fan of the Beauty and the Beast story but I loved some of the other books by Camille Peters so I decided to try it.
I…just…I…I was floored!
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and keeps to the concept but I never thought I would fall in love with the Beast, Briar. He was so sweet and kind! I loved that he enjoyed gardening and plants in general!
The magical gardens…were AMAZING!!!! I wanted to live in them!!
But there is clearly a problem now since I’m not gonna marry a man until he gets me a garden like that and I’m not even sure the Prince of England can get me one of those. LOL
This review is my honest opinion. I am NOT related to the author nor do I know them personally. I did NOT receive a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.
Maren, Maren, Maren. There’s being headstrong and there’s being just plain stubborn. She has a tendency to get herself into difficult situations – and this backfires disastrously.
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but one of the key messages is that physical beauty isn’t everything. Maren’s true beauty comes from within.
Lavena may have been the villain of one story – but I have a feeling her tale isn’t over yet.
I loved this. I mean sit to read a few chapters and end up going to bed at 2 am. I loved the twists and turns, the curse and magic, the characters. I have not read the others in the series but I want to. Not sure I can like the others as much as I love Maren and Briar but I want to read more of this world. The magic garden was fantastic. I want to have conversations with a garden! And I loved the focus of the beauty being beautiful on the inside. A definite re-readable book.
(4.5 Stars)
I have to start by saying that this series has some of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen and the story found beneath this beauty was delightful.
Beauty and the Beast is one of my most favorite fairy tales and Peters does a phenomenal job of translating this tale into something fresh, making her own mark in the retelling world. The way she builds this world into something tangible is amazing and incorporating plants and nature is ingenious.
I’m a sucker for a crown prince and Briar was an intriguing character. I loved the way he interacted with Maren, how he stuck up for her, and the way they worked together to unravel mysteries, magic, and more in this winsome fairy tale romance. A book with charismatic characters is always a bonus and I really enjoyed watching the progression. Although there were few characters to start with, the ending had an influx and the climax was dazzling, making my head spin and giving me slight anxiety.
This book is long, so give yourself some time to get through it, but if you love fairy tales like I do, you’ll enjoy it.
Content: mild romance; mild moments of danger/peril/adventure
*I received a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.*
I truly love this series and was very excited to read another installment—especially since this one is a retelling of my favorite fairy tale. There were many details and choices the author made for this retelling that set it apart from other Beauty and the Beast retellings, making it an interesting and delightful read. The “Beauty” character having a very negative relationship with her father, the way the “Beast” character becomes beastly, “Beauty” being not traditionally beautiful, the way “Beauty” comes to be trapped in the castle (this was one of my favorite things. I liked that the garden chose to entrap her, for her safety—very different from the traditional tale)…The enchanted garden was lovely. Briar was an intriguing character in the last book, I loved having the chance to get to know him and his curse better in this one.
I can’t put my finger on why, but this book was probably my fourth or fifth favorite in the series. It may be lower on the list because I wasn’t as enchanted by the connection and love story between the protagonists. It was still nice, but I just didn’t feel the spark as much as I have in the other books.
I can’t wait to read more sequels! The series remains one of my absolute favorite fairy retelling series. This one was well worth the read—a Beauty and the Beast retelling that holds it own and contributes a lot to the genre, for sure!
(I did receive a free advance reader copy of this book, but the review is unbiased and honest.)
Wow, Camille Peters has done it again! I’m not shocked in the least, as all of her books are so amazing, but I especially loved this book. (And can we talk about that cover for just a moment? So beautiful in that dark red dress!!) This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I really enjoyed Camille’s spin on the fairy tale, making it her own. Maren is such a sweet girl and I really found myself rooting for her. While her curiosity was very trying at times, she burrowed herself into my heart as such an endearing and deserving heroine. Prince Briar is so kind and swoony–the quintessential perfect prince–and I thought Camille wrote his conflict within himself so incredibly well. And those kisses! I loved the swoon-worthy kisses! They made me sigh in a most satisfied way. I had a hard time putting this book down. It’s always fun to see characters from previous books make an appearance, but not reading the previous books in the series won’t make a difference in enjoying this story, as it’s a standalone novel. That being said, if you haven’t read the other books in the series, you should because they’re all gems. There are so many characters in this world that I’m dying to get to read the stories about. September can’t come soon enough.
-I received a complimentary copy. All opinions, thoughts, etc. are entirely my own.-
Enchantment was actually better than I thought it would be. I didn’t have low expectations going into this story, but Beauty and the Beast retellings are a favorite of mine and as such, I hold them to a little bit of a higher standard. And I wasn’t disappointed. Before I share what I enjoyed about the book (there being several items), I should mention that Maren, the heroine, did bug me for a good portion of the book. She’s not a bad character and she didn’t bug me completely. It was mainly how she reacted to situations that sparked up her insecurities about her appearance. I liked that she had those insecurities as it made her character and her personality that much more real, and that was a plus for me as I read. That being said, it felt like she reacted differently at times because the story needed her to, and didn’t feel consistent throughout the book. At the very beginning of the book, when she’s explaining (as the narrator) why she ran away from home and then shortly after in an early scene in the book, she comes off as someone who does have insecurities about her appearance, but also has a bit of a backbone of her own and finds her own value to keep up her courage. Even then she’s still on shaky ground as far as her self-worth goes, but her self-worth, her backbone still shows at the beginning. BUT that backbone, I swear, just vanishes through most of the book, turning all insecurity-based situations for Maren into situations where she has no shield and is visibly hurt and reacts accordingly. When Maren finally goes up against the primary antagonist (I guess would be the best way to describe that character), she has this line (mentally spoken) about how she doesn’t need someone to defend her and that she grew up standing up for herself against such hateful comments (paraphrased of course). Um, excuse me, what the heck. That line is what really drove the point home for me. First of all, I’m here for girl power and loved Maren (after she finally stood up for herself again) for the rest of the book because of her girl power. Yet, for most of the book, she had lost that backbone. Where was it? Where did it go? It didn’t feel consistent and Maren seemed like a weaker character because of it. But enough about Maren. Time to share what I did enjoy about the book. I really liked this retelling. The changes that the author made to the general plot were refreshing. How Maren ended up at the palace, not just why she ended up there but how she had to stay was changed, and then everything at the palace that connected with the Prince’s curse. I had read Reflection and so had gotten a very partial glimpse of Prince Briar and the kind of curse that he was under, enough so that I was excited to find out what it actually was. That curse was definitely, absolutely a high point for me in this book. Seriously, it was great. With Enchantment being part of a larger series, it was fun having key characters from the earlier books make an appearance here. Having read the previous books, I was already familiar with the characters, but their inclusion in the book was written in such a way that a new reader to the series wouldn’t be that confused over who they are. All in all, I greatly enjoyed seeing the pieces come together as I read and finished the book, and although the ending wasn’t the best (from the writing angle), it didn’t detract from the story itself, so I’ll give it a pass.
4.5* Camille Peters has done it again! A lovely addition to her Kingdom Chronicles series of reimagined fairy tales, with a unique voice from our heroine. Lovely imagery, consistent characters, and gentle reminders of the connections between other stories in the series are highlights of this story.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Enchantment is a beautiful retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a very unique twist. The story itself is a beautiful love story about true beauty and love conquering evil. The two main characters are very likeable. I love how the female main character is very realistic and relatable. Maren struggles with self-esteem, due to always being told how plain she looks and verbally abused by her father. Instead of being a perfect and beautiful princess, she is a merchant’s daughter who loves adventure and often doesn’t say the correct thing. But she is a strong, caring, and intelligent person who strengthens those around her.
Camille does a beautiful job painting a very vivid image of what the enchanted castle grounds look like. She gives enough description to help the reader feel like they are in the garden, without slowing down the story with too much description.
Camille also does a beautiful job with character development in all of her fairy tale stories. She always has a lesson to be learned by her characters, and it is wonderful to join them as they develop and overcome weaknesses.
I can’t wait for the next book in the series!!
This was such a wonderful story. I looked forward to reading it and getting Briar’s story. I was quickly drawn into the story, and I enjoyed getting to know Maren. As the book progressed, I was struck by how some of the traditional elements of the Beauty and the Beast story were different, in some cases almost reverse, while others aligned more with more traditional retellings. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and I look forward to reading more in the series as they are released since I love the world and characters in this series.
Content: clean
Source: review copy
It is another ENCHANTING read by Camille Peters! Each book in this series just gets better and better. Beauty and the Beast retellings are by far my favorite, but I have NEVER read one like this! Do yourself a favor and read it now!
Ahhhhh! I loved this book! I was so excited to read Enchantment and it was so good. I have loved Briar ever since I read about him in Reflection, Rhea’s book, and I was so happy to have a book about him. Enchantment is the long awaited book about Briar, okay well it was only a couple of months but it felt like forever. Enchantment is the fifth book in Camille Peter’s Kingdom Chronicles and it totally bypassed the other books as my favorite, though I still really like Identity.
Enchantment is inspired by Beauty and the Beast. And even though I have read many Beauty and the Beast retellings, this is definitely my favorite! Camille puts her own spin on a well loved fairy tale, and it was so interesting. Usually in Beauty and the Beast, the beast is a surly mean man but in Enchantment, Briar is so much more. He is kind and he is just trying to do his best for his kingdom.
I loved Enchantment, Maren and Briar were so cute together. She brought out the playful side of him and he helped her stay grounded. It was so cute reading about them falling in love. But their relationship will have to weather some heavy storms, they will have to stop the darkness that threatens their kingdom and they will have to figure out what it means to care about each other.
Mari was so much fun to read about. She was so cheerful and mischievous, she made me laugh and want to smile. But she also had hidden depth, there was more to her than meets the eyes. She was so upset to be stuck in the Malvagaria castle, but as she stayed there and started to get to know Briar she started to find herself falling for him. However, she knows that she doesn’t belong there so she shouldn’t hope for more right?
Briar is by far my favorite character. He was just as sweet as I thought he would be. I felt so bad for him, he was carrying such a heavy load. He was the heir and he was cursed. But he was still kind, he didn’t let his circumstances define him. At first he didn’t quite know what to do about Mari, but as he got to know her she became someone who could complete him. But what will he do when things start to get hard and he finds himself changing before his own eyes?
I adored Enchantment and I would definitely recommend it. I don’t want to spoil anything but you need to read this book! I don’t know what else to say but tell you that it was amazing and it is my favorite of her books. I absolutely can’t wait to read Voyage and see what kind of adventure Princess Seren goes on!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.