The Princess Pact: A Twist on Rumpelstiltskin (Four Kingdoms)

Though The Princess Pact is the third full-length novel in the series, the two novellas act as the perfect bookends to link it to the second and fourth novels, respectively. I was pleased to find that the pacing and suspense in all three books were fairly consistent with The Princess Fugitive, and the links between the protagonists made each new story feel more welcoming than the last. The more I read the series, the more it feels like coming back to visit a beloved land instead of exploring a strange and unfamiliar one.The Princess Pact tells the story of Marie, who was first introduced in The Princess Companion as an ally to Alyssa. She is a princess who never quite looks as much like a princess as she is supposed to. In this book, she learns why that is. It's a whole lot closer to the story of "Rumpelstiltskin" than The Princess Fugitive was to "Little Red Riding Hood." Marie's mother is the miller's daughter who married into royalty when she demonstrated that she could spin straw into gold, and Marie is the child who was promised to Rumpelstiltskin in return. The twist, however, is that Marie is not the queen's daughter, but rather Rumpelstiltskin's. This revelation is earth-shattering to the teenage princess and places a rift between her and her family that takes the remainder of the book to mend.The villain, who is known as "R" for most of the story, takes on a role reminiscent of another famous fairy tale character, the Pied Piper. He uses an enchanted jewel to lure all the children away from their parents and into his rebel camp, giving it a bit of a Hunger Games feel. The jewel's hypnotic power is similar to that of Jafar's staff from Aladdin. This enchanted jewel was used first by the villain in the preceding novella, Happily Ever Afters, which focuses on the adventures of the two merchant cousins from The Princess Fugitive, Sarah and Evelyn. Unfortunately, the villain in that book is not very interesting compared to Rumpelstiltskin, but it does foreshadow a taste of the jewel's powers and where it came from before Marie got involved with it.I enjoyed the romance in The Princess Pact even more than The Princess Companion or The Princess Fugitive. Marie falls for a handsome adventurer named Rafe who helps her to locate Rumpelstiltskin's rebel camp. Rafe and Marie have an adorably awkward chemistry when they first meet. Their feelings toward each other become more intense as they become entangled with R's schemes must work together as spies. Since they are the only ones who are not under the jewel's spell, it is imperative that they are able to trust each other, and that trust quickly develops into something deeper. Rafe also becomes fast friends with Marie's playful brother, Prince William, who shares his thirst for adventure.

3 1/2 stars. This was an sort of enjoyable book but I probably won't read it again. For one thing, I don't enjoy stories in which the hero/heroine is always obsessing over their looks, and with this one I didn't understand why it bothered Marie to be so 'un-princess like'. I mean, she wasn't ugly. Unfortunately, the entire series seems to hinge on this 'every princess has to be gorgeous' thing.Also, the characters were not very deep and the dialogue was a little stilted. The romance was alright, but it didn't strike me as at all realistic or compelling and it seemed very similar to the other romances in this series. The book was full of cliches and the end seemed much to easy--I was never worried at all for anyone. One last problem; Rafe was pretty much perfect, from his looks to his skills, which sort of killed his character for me. But it wasn't an all bad story.

An amazing heartwarming story with a main princess lead that grows from bored and ordinary to exciting and a strong leader of righteousness. The story takes a while to build and get going, but once it does wow what a ride. Leaves you with crazy good feelings of true love and powerful heroines.And I absolutely loved The Four Kingdoms Series. The stories are intertwined. You could enjoy each individually (they kind of could stand alone) but you need to read all of the amazing, clear, downright brilliant stories so it is best if you read them in order because there are a lot of spoilers in each subsequent book (and many things referred to that happened in previous increments). Make sure you read the novellas in the right spots.Book 1: The Princess Companion: A Retelling of The Princess and the PeaBook 2: The Princess Fugitive: A Reimagining of Little Red Riding HoodNovella: Happily Ever Afters: A Reimagining of Snow White and Rose RedNovella: The Coronation Ball: A Four Kingdoms Cinderella NoveletteBook 3: The Princess Pact: A Twist on RumpelstiltskinNovella: A Midwinter's Wedding: A Retelling of The Frog PrinceBook 4: The Princess Game: A Reimagining of Sleeping BeautyBook 5: The Princess Search: A Retelling of The Ugly Duckling

This book was so good. I really enjoyed the story line and getting to see Marie’s story. I love how interconnected all these books are. It’s so great to see that Marie’s story was starting to begin in the first book of the series and to see how the idea of Marie in the first book holds true in this book as well. I’ve read books before where the characters change from book to book to fit the story and that’s not the case with these books so far. If you see the character in a previous book then that character stays the same in the next book and it’s so great to have that consistent character growth between books without changing the essence of the character. I definitely loved the twist on Rumpelstiltskin as well. I’ve ready great Runpelstiltskin retells and some pretty bad ones but this one was great. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!

This book is a light, quick read and a solid addition to the series. I didn't purchase the novellas to my regret. This is not really a stand alone book series. There is action, romance, and a few plot twists that hint a bigger series plot. All of the heroines in this series are blonde (ignore the covers) intelligent, and resourceful, and most importantly, NOT depending on the hero to do all the work. The world building and dialogue are entertaining and at times, humorous. The heroine's insistence that everyone in a geographical area should all look alike was a bit disturbing coming on top of her insistence that the reason her looks were a problem was not that she didn't look like her 'parents' but that she didn't look like a princess. Suspend your tolerance radar and you have an enjoyable, comfortable read to an increasingly solid and intriguing world. I will be buying the next installment.

Another great book by Melanie Cellier - great world building and engaging characters - recommend it to anyone who has read the other books in the series.

I am waiting for the fourth book for Four Kingdoms. So the Lanover stories next I hope . Maybe soon?

Rumpelstiltskin is a really hard fairytale to grasp, but this story did an excellent job! Combine that with an interesting world, layered characters and loads of plotting, planning and relationship building and you get a great story!

Once again i have enjoyed another one of Melanie's books. I love that they refer to other characters in the books in the series. Well worth reading in order.

Couldn't put it down