mary mecham – Damsel in Delight

(ARC personally sent by author, part of the All that Glitters release team, but all opinions are my own!)

Release Date – 24^th of May – (it’s on KU so you can read it there if you have the subscription!)

This was honestly the Rapunzel retelling I NEEDED! Instead of a captive naïve princess held at the will of a witch we have a strong tactical princess who makes a deal with a dragon!

Pollux (the dragon she goes up to offer herself as the kidnapped to) is just so much more than I expected. Yes he is tactical and hoards gold like a dragon but he is also wickedly intelligent and genuinely cares for both Rapunzel and her ‘hoard’ or kingdom.

The plot twists and turns and completely dumps the fairytale on its head, pulling out a few elements and weaving them into a fairytale retelling that feels like something new and nostalgic!

Also the drugged lipstick? Genius.

World – 4/5 – I will say that the world isn’t really the focus, it is the characters and the romance set within it but there were no moments it really made me trip up like some books and fit the plot perfectly.

Characters – 5/5 – This is the big change from the usual fairytale, it has been taken from Rapunzel being a naïve princess to one who is dangerously manipulative and I love both Griffin and Pollux so so much.

Romance – 5/5 – I am too worried I’ll drop a plot twist spoiler so let me just say wow – this was such an enjoyable change from predicable plots!

Plot – 4/5 – changes a few things here and there, but we kept the tower, we kept the royal heritage and I enjoyed it very much!

Romance Rating: Soft

Violence Rating: Level 3

Content Warnings: None.

13+ (if you wanted you could read this one around 12, while i think a little older will probably enjoy it more, it has no content I wouldnt be comfortable giving to a tween.)

I love this book so much! I have already read it twice in the last year because it has all of the famous tropes like just one bed and arranged marriage but without any of the spice or even a hint of it leaning that way which I love.

Azora and Tarquin’s banter was amazing – I love that she didn’t hold back or pretend to be someone else for her mission! It makes the romance so much more realistic because Tarquin was falling for her not a persona. Also – the training scenes *swoon*!

Its fantasy romance but we also got a good dose of the fantasy side of it – the world, wars, strange customs and Phoenix shifters! I cant believe I haven’t mentioned the shifter part of it yet – we have this rich culture centred around fire and heat (even including spicy food!) because they are fire birds and the world just radiated of the page!

The ending – no spoilers! – was something I don’t think I have seen done before but I loved it so much! The plot twists and the romance and the gorgeous world make this a no-brainer 5 star!

World – 5/5 – yes! I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Plot – 5/5 – the twists, the turns! The everything! The romance and then the war and just everything between! I always struggle to talk about plot without spoilers so let me just say read it – you’ll be sucked into the whirlwind within a chapter!

Romance – 5/5 – honestly heart wrenching – I think my heart attually skipped around some of those twists but true to fantasy romance form I was 100% behind the couple the whole time!

Characters – 4/5 – I really did enjoy the characters, they aren’t usual for fantasy, an assassin and a prince but the reveal about the government and the way the kingdom is ruled was really interesting and I neeed more details (I think that is world tho and I’ve already gushed up there about that!). Tarquin I loved, Aloza was just the perfect FMC and the little cute fire baby godson of Tarquins stole my heart from the first page!

Romance Rating: Soft – perhaps a closed mouth kiss or two, no detail.

Violence Rating: Level 3 – Medium threat and danger. Medium combat scenes with injuries described non graphically. Death and violence are present and regularly part of the storyline and plot.

Content Warnings: death (past and present), betrayal (medium).

Tag: mary mecham

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