Twelve princesses. One wounded soldier. A mystery that must be solved.Once upon a time…Princess Bianca is sent with her sisters to the summer palace, a place no maiden has ever returned from. While her sisters seem perfectly happy, she has only one desire: escape.Vasco, a wounded soldier on his way home from war, stumbles across the summer palace and sets out to solve the mystery no man has … out to solve the mystery no man has managed to yet. If only they let him live long enough…
Can the fair maiden and the wounded soldier uncover the sinister secret before it’s too late?
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
I love books like this one it reminds me of the movie Barbie and the 12 dancing princesses a little bit which I still love to this day. The author did a great job I will for sure be reading more by her!!! 🙂
Revel by Demelza Carlton – The twelve dancing princesses does a crossover with the robber’s princess. Twelve wicked princes get turned into ravens every sunrise, and the only way to break their curse is to marry twelve willing women at night. Bianca, the hedge witch up the road, and an injured soldier have three days to solve the mystery and save her sisters from becoming the princes next victims. This is a fun retelling of this fairy tale! Happy Reading!
New fairy tale to me in every sense. I am not sure how it was supposed to go. I was lured in by what I didn’t know. The story here was in the way things happened. I will assume this was a unique telling of this particular timeless story.
Narrator Mary Sarah has a very beautiful voice that transcends the fairytale realm. She has the ethereal quality of fantasy. I do warn those that choose to listen that my views of this audio my be skewed by the fact that I do not listen under normal speed, too slow. I do speed up my audio and find that the speed can match that of the story being told and lend a different light to the immersion in to the story.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Demelza Carlton. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
I found it interesting how Demelza Carlton tied this retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses with her retelling of the Little Mermaid. However, the books can be read in any order. Neither spoils the other. I also like how her characters have magic and aren’t merely damsels in distress. Bianca was a talented witch in addition to being a princess. She was also a bit of an amateur sleuth. It was fun.
My complaint with this book is similar to the last one. The felt like YA, except it began and ended with sex. It just felt out of place, as did certain motivations of the main characters. I think this series would make more sense if it was clean, sweet YA romance, but in this case, you could skip the prologue, skip the last chapter, still get the full story, and avoid the sex. In case that is useful to anyone.
I received a free audiobook from StoryOrigin and have reviewed it willingly.
This was a surprisingly sweet rendition of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”. I particularly liked Bianca – a princess who itched to be more than merely beautiful, who found a crippled soldier to be more honourable than the princes she was afflicted with, who choose to step up to solve a mystery that threatened more than her father’s treasury. I found Bianca much more sympathetic than her less-than-observant sisters.
This retelling offered magic, true love, mysterious characters and most of all the anticipated happy ending for Vasco and Princess Bianca! I must admit that I barely remember the original fairy tale but I remembered the detail about the gold & silver leaves taken as evidence. I was delighted to see that here along with other details. Most entertaining and a pleasure to read! If you love well told fairy tale retelling than this is perfect for you!
This was one of the best 12 Dancing Princesses retellings I’ve heard – I listened to the audio book. Demelza Carlton has created an amazing Medieval Fairytale world. Many of our favorite fairytales – and some more obscure ones – have new life breathed into them in this series. The soldier who solves the mystery of the worn out dancing slippers is especially appealing in this version, and their ‘love story’ is so much more plausible as Demelza tells it. Highly recommend.
Bianca and Vasco must solve a deadly mystery before either of them succumb to it. This story contained a few scenes which I found to be a bit gruesome, but that did not detract much from overall. Bianca is delightfully strong and intelligent. Vasco overcomes both his demons within and those in the world.
I received a copy of this book as a gift from the author. This is my honest review.
A poor soldier and a princess combine forces to end an ancient curse and free 12 princesses from a life of seclusion in this fairy-tale reworking which is a part of Demelza Carleton’s popular series of medieval reworkings of the classics.
A little magic, a little romance, a little danger and suspense – in all a great escape for a beach getaway or a weekend retreat.
When Princess Bianca joins eleven of her half sisters in exile, she discovers that a mystery exists in the Summer Palace. Each morning a pile of worn out dancing shoes are found just inside the bedchamber shared by the princesses. She also discovers that the man who solves the mystery will be granted the Palace and estate, and given his choice of one of the princess to bride. Bianca teams up with Vasco, a wounded soldier who has found work at the cottage of an old woman who lives near the Summer Palace, to solve the mystery. Revel is a fresh take on an old tale. The story is familiar, but with a few twists and surprises. Bianca and Vasco are a great pair. Kun is knowing and humorous advisor. The villain(s) are particularly evil. Demelza Carlton once again brings us with an interesting and well done retelling of a favorite story. I like Mary Sarah’s presentation. Her narration is enjoyable, and she has a good range of voices.
Revel: Twelve Dancing Princesses was, as the title states, a remake of the original, and yet another fantastic retelling in the series. It certainly fleshed out the rather ‘weak tea’ original version. It’s book 4 in the series, but as with the others, you absolutely do not have to read the others to enjoy this. Now, there are some characters you might learn more about that would be fun, but that’s a choice you’ll not suffer from either way.
Bianca is a princess from a rather large harem of the King’s and has spent her life there, dreading the queen’s notice (Bianca is not her daughter) and court intrigue in general. A pretty girl who hates being pretty for the attention in brings, she is sadly the victim of that very curse, and yet blessed with the magic of invisibility (gotta love that irony). The queen sends her away to a summer ‘palace’ where it is widely known to be where unwanted princesses are sent. This is where the mystery of the shoes wearing out nightly happens. Turns out, the girls are dancing their nights away with some mysterious men. Bianca having at least half a brain, sees the danger in this.
Vasco, our hero in this story, is a simple soldier who has spent his life fighting after a tragic youth. After an injury that leaves him unable to perform satisfactorily, he is discharged and wanders about until he meets up with a witch who happens to be helping teach Bianca about her magic. He does odd jobs for her for a while, and eventually she sends him off to the palace to try and solve the mystery.
The chemistry between the two is quick and easy, and quite enjoyable. Bianca doesn’t begrudge him his lack of title and he simply wants to help her he’s so enamored. Together they manage to save the day (of course), and get their happy ever after. I enjoyed very much that the hero of this story was a simple soldier. Both characters were likable and the story was engaging.
If you enjoy your fantasy with some mystery, a little action, some steam, a tad bit of magic, and more than a few stuck-up princesses, this is a good read for you.
An enjoyable retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses.
It was a good story but very long.
Nice twist on old fairy tale
I love the retelling of fairy tales. It’s so enjoyable to get a new spin on a known story.
excellant
Happy endings are all a person or princess could ask for. Good reading. Unusual tale with a future. Loved it!. I received a complimentary copy of this book for voluntary review consideration.