A little mermaid. A prince to save. Only silence can break the spell.Once upon a time…The mermaid Margareta saved Prince Erik from a shipwreck. Wanting to see the prince again, Margareta strikes a bargain with the Master of Beacon Isle. If she saves his sons from a terrible curse, he will reunite her with Prince Erik. All she has to do is stay silent until the curse is broken.Silence is a … curse is broken.
Silence is a virtue…until Prince Erik arrives early, searching for the mermaid who saved his life.
Can two hearts speak louder than words?
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 absolutely love this series. I know they’re fairy tales retold so they always have happy endings but I still find myself rooting for the hero/heroine. So excited to read more.
Different twist on a classic fairy tale. I would have liked to see the story go more in-depth.
New twist to my favorite fairy tale. The twist to this story was in the way things happened. There was a unique telling of this story. I have come to appreciate that from Demelza. I love Little Mermaid since the first time I heard that story. Margareta tale of course involved a prince and a promise. All goes awry when that prince shows up early. But all is not lost and the tale make some advances. There were twist here and tears.
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.
This is a creative retelling of The Little Mermaid. Margareta is a siren, but even her father doesn’t know it. After she rescues a squire, Erik (you know the story), her brothers do something terrible and are cursed by a witch. There are two options for them. First, they can find women who will fall in love with each of them. Apparently there is little chance of that, so their father appeals to his daughter for the second option, one woman who loves all of them can choose to go without speaking until the witch deems the woman has earned their freedom from the curse. Of course Margareta agrees. Margareta also has the magical ability to control the waters due to her siren heritage. It’s a fun twist on the sea witch part of the story.
The problem with this book is that it isn’t sure what it is. While I know that there is a niche market for dirty adult fairy tales, this reads like a YA novel except for the scenes where both Erik and Margareta think about and ultimately act out their more primal urges. It’s not even the actions that are bothersome, it’s the way they’re described. For two naive and inexperienced individuals, it feels dirty. Margareta’s friend is also a bit explicit, although perhaps that can be overlooked since she was happily married until her husband died. It’s unfortunate, because otherwise I enjoyed the originality of the tale and it could have been a fun addition to the growing archive of YA fairy tale retellings.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from Story Origin and have reviewed it willingly.
This was quite a nice melding of “The Little Mermaid” and “The Swan Brothers”. It gave Margareta a really good reason to not speak (although I agree that her brothers deserved their fate). Erik was not at all like his namesake in the Disney movie, but he was sweet as the bumbling fumbling ambassador. I sympathize – it is all too easy to trip over your own tongue and feet when meeting the girl of your dreams.
The way Demelza Carlton has linked these fairytales together is really cool. Silence is very different from the other little mermaid stories I’ve heard or read but she makes it all work. The characters were interesting and the plot detailed. The world she has created is a bit medieval, a bit fairytale, and pretty dark, which is appropriate. I really enjoyed Silence. Oh, and this is a review of the audiobook version.
I found Margareta to be a delightful character: strong, loyal, and protective. The evil that she endures goes by the name Master Nicholas, her father. I also enjoyed the inclusion of Lady Penelope. There were several interesting pieces from other stories in the series. I sincerely hope that you enjoy this story as much as I did.
Margareta is a mermaid, or at least part mermaid (her father says she is a siren). She has agreed to remain silent (for how long she doesn’t know) in order to break a curse put on her brothers (they have been turned into crows). Years of silence have not broken the curse, and she is losing the Prince she loves. What can she do? On a beautiful day when Margareta was returning to the beach after some mermaid time to herself, the solution presents itself in the form of a love-struck prince, some angry birds, and an even angrier enchantress. In Silence, Demelza Carlton has created a clever retelling of the Little Mermaid. The story and characters are familiar, with a couple of intense twists. This engaging version of a favorite fairytale is narrated beautifully by Mary Sarah.
Silence is the 6th fairytale remake in this series and is just as wonderful as the first five! I have looked forward to each release and this one didn’t disappoint anymore than its predecessors. It was considerably shorter, and felt like a connector story of sorts, but still a wonderful read.
To summarize: Silence is a retelling of The Little Mermaid that has a much happier ending than the original (not the Disney folks). As with the previous books, this deals with very real adult issues and thus transforms from a traditional fairy tale meant to teach or scare children, to an intriguing story for an adult readership. Definitely suggest giving it a read! But do read Revel first-it provides more background and a better understanding of the heroine’s brothers.
A novel twist on the tales of The Little Mermaid and The Wild Swans. This is original and very entertaining. The story remains very much a fairytale. It is an excellent work. I received a free review copy of the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Silence by Demelza Carlton — I think this was a freebie from bookbub, but I’ve read several of Demelza Carlton’s novellas now. The pesky ravens return to torment someone else! And this ending was not what I expected! This story blends The Little Mermaid with The Seven Ravens with an interesting twist right at the end. Happy Reading!
These are just so good!
Couldn’t get into the story
Fun take on little mermaid- enjoyed the characters and story line.
A good story with a twist on the mermaid/siren theme.
Didn’t care for this one.
This must have been for young people…although it has sex in it so maybe not? I get that it is just a novella and no time is allowed to develop much. It started out very interesting when the heroine saved the hero. That was the cool part.
My third read from author Demelza Carlton was an interesting spin & expansion/re-telling of the Little Mermaid 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!
A delightful retelling of the little mermaid. A little whimsy, a lot of humor, a little romance, a little mystery and some wonderful characters.
Can’t wait to read the other 5 books in Demelza’s series.
Silence: Little Mermaid Retold (Romance a Medieval Fairytale, #5)
While this was not my favorite Fairy Tale … it was an interesting retelling. The characters are well defined and intriguing. The story was fun and familiar.
Well done! {I was given this book as an ARC in hopes I would write an honest review.}