Princes and Dragons in Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Veiled Rose (Tales of Goldstone Wood, Book 2)
by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Copyright 2011
Bethany House Publishers
400 pages
ISBN: 9780764207822
I'm not usually one to pick up books labeled as fantasy but whenever I have I enjoyed them--unfortunately I didn't care for this one. It wasn't the writing style, which was fine, but I didn't feel any connection at all to the characters and Prince Leo annoyed me. He seemed very immature and, well, snotty. I realize he was a child when we first met him but he remained pretty much the same throughout his young adult years. Granted, at the end of the story in his encounter with Rose Red he was truthful about himself and accepting of her so that gave him a tad more appeal but still not enough to make me want to read the next book to see what happens next. Rose Red was a decent character and her loyalty to the Prince and Southland was unfailing in spite of being cruelly treated.

I guess maybe I just didn't "get" this story. It probably would have helped if I had read the first book, Heartless, but time didn't permit. I will say one thing about this series--the covers are amazing! Don't get me wrong, I love books with pretty pastel covers but these are so mysterious and somewhat foreboding and not something you see everyday on a Christian fiction book.

If you are a fan of fantasy or fairy tales or have middle school aged children who are this might be a series for your home library. Even if you don't like religious fiction this series may still be enjoyable since there are only parallels to Christianity and no "preachiness."

To learn more about the author visit her WEBSITE

* I received my complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for posting my honest review.*


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Comments

  1. Carrie at In the Hammock BlogOctober 28, 2011 at 10:19 PM

    I felt the same!! I was soo confused for the whole book. I hadn't read the first one either.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tales of WhimsyOctober 29, 2011 at 1:07 PM

    I've been wanting to try book one of these.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Renee (BlacknGoldGirlsBookSpot)October 29, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    Carrie, it looks like this series should come with a warning, "Read in order or be confused!"

    Did you get a chance to download this when it was free? I know you're usually up on all the freebies. :-)

    XOXO~ Renee

    ReplyDelete
  4. Margaret MetzOctober 30, 2011 at 11:09 AM

    I think you really need to read these in order for them to make sense. They rely heavily on each other. I liked the covers too. What's kind of ironic is that I liked Leo a lot better in this book than in the first one. lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. Renee (BlacknGoldGirlsBookSpot)October 30, 2011 at 9:39 PM

    Oh wow you liked him better in this story? He must have been a real jerk in the first book. :-P

    XOXO~ Renee

    ReplyDelete

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