A shrewd servant. A penniless young woodcutter. A priceless stolen treasure.Melisende joins a crusade, her head full of glory and victory, only to flee from her first battle. Forced to hide as a housemaid while the enemy army occupies the city she’d hoped to save, she despairs of ever finding her way home.Mithra plans to settle down with the girl of his dreams, but when the war spills into his … but when the war spills into his city, all dreams of the future are shattered. When he finds a Crusader maiden in the woods and they stumble across a priceless treasure, he thinks his luck might have turned…until he discovers the penalty of stealing from the Forty Thieves.
Can Melisende and Mithra save his family from the Forty Thieves?
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Cute shirt story. A story of time in a different light. Greed will always get you in trouble. You get right into the characters and rewrite the storyline. Good retake of an old story.
When Melisende leaves home to follow the crusade, she had no idea what she’s in for. Dressed like a boy, she hears the knights in the scouting party talking and it’s nothing a woman should hear. They are definitely not what Christian knights should be. Once the fighting starts, she runs and hides. Mithra is a young man who father is a woodcutter, yet he is an apprentice for a merchant. After the work day, he heads out to cut a cart of wood for his father. After going farther than usual, he accidentally finds Melisende, or rather, she finds and saves him just as mean are approaching. Apparently she had hidden very near the forty thieves cave. What follows is a medieval tale of adventure, intrigue and possibly even love. The plot is great and the characters even better. Good guys, bad guys and everything in between. I definitely didn’t want to put it down!
Melisende wanted adventure and help make things favorable for her people and Mithra was a good man, a respectful and obedient son and conformed with what was expected of him. But helping a maiden in distress, with more skills and resources than him, put him in another path and one very dangerous. Action, suspense, adventure, mystery, violence, a little romance and passion. Liked Melisende’s character, her wittiness and readiness to take action. Something that I really enjoy these stories is how unpredictable they are. Anything can happen and the author makes use of her magic mixing and interspersing different characters and situations and making them work. Good that I read Float first because of the references to characters from that book.
A wonderful retelling of Ali baba and the forty thieves, with touches of her other Faire Tales woven in. Her stories always amaze me.
While I may have had a vague idea of what the story was about, I was unable to predict what would happen next. Sometimes my mind would make a left turn while the story made a right. That is something that I truly enjoy. This story shares cameos of characters from another story in the series.
I received a copy of this book as a gift. This is my honest review.
Another really enjoyable Fairytale retelling. This action packed romance finds Melisende rescuing Mithra from the Forty thieves and he then helps her avoid the Seljuk army. I love the way these tales intertwine and finding out what actually happed to Melisende was fun. If you haven’t read all the previous tales you really should do this now.
This was a fun version of the forty thieves. I really enjoy this series in general and this one was far from disappointing. Melisende and Mithra’s romance was well worth the read.
Holy Wars and thieves: adventure galore for a Lady and a humble woodcutter
4 stars plus
Really enjoyable, quick read. This is another action-packed fairytale romance in Carlton’s continuing and frequently interconnected series, with some fun twists on the original Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves story. The time setting in the midst of the Crusades and the addition of a spirited young nobleman who finds the Crusaders a cut-throat and unprincipled bunch of marauders gave new life to the old Middle Eastern tale. Melisande is resourceful, idealistic and possesses a bit of magic and knowledge of herbs that is actually less important to her survival than her own sharp mind and agility. She’s a grounded heroine, despite her high birth, and I was happy she got her HEA. Just don’t get on her bad side! Mithra, the humble hero who dreams of becoming a successful merchant, is loyal and unselfish, plus he treats Melisande with respect and dignity. They are a great pairing.
I’ve enjoyed most of the stories in this imaginative fairytales retold series. Author Demelza Carlton has added a bit of passion and some touches of realistic violence, including an attempted rape, to the story. Overall, this latest is another captivating romance with major parts action and adventure.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.