The Beautiful Pretender: A clean fairy tale retelling inspired by Beauty and the Beast and The Princess and the Pea (A Medieval Fairy Tale)

The reclusive margrave needs a wife and he needs one quickly. He enlists the help of newly weds Jorgen and Odette to help him find the perfect candidate. Despite his orders to marry in haste, he prefers to find a mate with whom he feels compatible—a real lady of culture and distinction who cares more about others than she does about fashion.Odette suggests a house party with a series of tests for each potential bride that will help the margrave make an informed choice. The invitations go out and the festivities begin.This time, though, the heroine comes from the serving class of a medieval fiefdom. Avalina, a beautiful young woman who has few choices about her destiny, lives in a society where everyone is kept strictly in his or her place.Forced to perpetrate a lie and pretend to be a lady, she must navigate the medieval equivalent of "The Bachelor" while at the same time making sure that the Margrave of Thornbeck feels sympathetic towards her master, the Earl of Plimmwald, without taking any real interest in her.Unfortunately, the Margrave seems to single her out for his attentions at the same time someone seems to single her out for cruel pranks. How long can Avalina live a lie before the truth is revealed, and just what makes a person a 'lady' or a gentleman?Dickerson brings up the difficult questions that readers today face—culpability when one is coerced to act a certain way and forgiveness when we feel sinned against. How can a person reconcile his or her feelings with the call to forgive and forget and at what point can one break away from a past that threatens to destroy one’s future?As always, I appreciate the beautiful balance between intrigue, characters with depth and gentle romance.

The Beautiful Pretenderby Melanie DickersonRating: 5 of 5A Medieval Fairy Tale Book 2Thomas Nelson - Fiction | Historical RomanceAlthough he is the most powerful man in the region, the margrave is powerless to refuse the need for a bride and it must happen in 2 weeks. In order to choose a worthy bride, he and his advisors cook up a plan to invite ten noble ladies (whom the king approves) and test them.When the Earl of Plimmwald cannot send his wayward daughter to the margrave, he chooses to send Avelina, her maidservant, in her stead. Avelina must be respectful but not allow the margrave to notice her. She tries her best to avoid scrutiny but despite her best efforts, the margrave still continues to notice and favor her. When lives are endangered, can Avelina and the margrave figure out who's behind it in time to save lives? Can Avelina deny her feelings for the margrave? What will happen to her once the truth is discovered?I am such a HUGE fan of Melanie Dickerson and her fairy tale romances. She is incredibly talented in writing historical fiction and I can never put her books down. I found this story not just romantic but fun, interesting, and exciting to read. I loved the two main characters and how they interacted. I can relate to the search for love and wanting to test another's character.You won't want to miss this book. Although this book is the second in the series, you can read this one as a standalone, but the first book in the series is also a fun read, which I would also highly recommend.I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, Melanie Dickerson pleases her readers. The boys and I read this one together. They enjoyed it as much as I did.This is the fairly tale retelling mix of the Princess and the Pea and Beauty and the Beast. We met the Margrave in The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest and learned that he took over after his brother died. He's being blamed for the death of his brother and that does not help Reinhart's guilt of not getting his brother out of the fire safely. Now the king has decided that Reinhart needs a wife. He sends him a list of 10 eligible women who would make a good wife. Reinhardt invites them to his castle and the contest begins.Avelina is a maidservant. When Lady Dorothea runs off with her lover, her father convinces Avelina to take his daughters place. He needs the help of Reinhart to keep his lands but doesn't expect Avelina to win his heart, just to make her presence known. Adeline tries her hardest to get Reinhart to fall for Lady Magdalen, a very sweet and deserving lady. No matter how hard she tries though, Reinhart keeps finding his way back into her thoughts.There is a lot of adventure. Some evil works against Reinhart, and plenty of mysterious happenings. And through it all we see the beauty within Avelina. And we find that Reinhart is a bit of a softy after all. The book is entertaining and well written. There are happy times and intense momentsI received a pre-release copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. We (the boys and I) all give this one 5 stars and look forward to Ms. Dickerson's next book.

I decided on reading this book with mixed feelings. Medieval stories are usually not my favorites. However, I am extremely happy I did choose to read it. it was a great story from beginning to end. Avelina / Dorothea was a great character and I loved the way the story was written that Avelina decided and relied on her own thinking and values to make decisions rather than relying on what she felt she had to think when she was in the role of Dorothea. The setting and events were definitely from the medieval time period but well explained and integrated into the story. Honestly, I did mot want to put the book down, but find rather I wanted to find what the next "hurdle" for Avelina would be and how she would handle it. Now we just need a sequel with Thornebeck and Avelina as they move forward incorporated into a story with Magdalen on the Duke of Wolfberg to include Jacob and Brigitta.

Avelina is a lady's maid to the daughter of an Earl, but when she aids in her lady's elopement with a knight, she finds herself in a most precarious situation. The Margrave of the region is looking for a bride and thus he invited ten young eligible women, the Earl's daughter was to be one. With his daughter missing, the Earl insists Avelina take his daughter's place and ensure the Margrave does not choose her. And this is the premise of this historical fairy tale. Of course, the Margrave is drawn to Avelina despite her attempts to thwart his attention, making for good conflict.The author, Melanie Dickerson, is known for her medieval fairy tales. This is the first book of hers that I have read, irresistibly drawn to it because of the striking cover. The pace of the story really picked up in the second half, as did the romance and the accumulation of conflict.This is pure escape fiction - a charming love story in the time of princes and princes and courtly love. Very enjoyable; light and airy too!Thank you to the author and publisher. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for visiting my blog, [...] where the greatest historical fiction is reviewed! For fascinating women of history bios and women's fiction please visit [...]

I wasn't sure what to expect with this story as I haven't read much from this author before. It was a nice story that moved along at a good clip. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because it seemed like some truths about characters weren't revealed until right before an event happened which referred to those traits. Would have liked to have those set up earlier in the story. But it was a really good read and I'd actually even read it again. (There aren't many stories I'd read through twice!)

Melanie Dickerson is one of my very favourite authors and this is the tenth book I've read by her. I'd have to say, this one has been one of my favourites. I read The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest just prior to reading this one. Although the 2 books are connected it can be read as a standalone title like all the books by this author. I was quite impressed by her managing to write 2 totally unique retellings of the same fairy tale, not one section of this book felt like a repeat of The Merchant's Daughter, her other Beauty & the Beast retelling.Avelina is the complete opposite of everything our hero thought he ever wanted, so why can't he get her off his mind? I guess you'll just have to read the book to find out...On another note, I really enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous book a well as meeting the heroine from the next book, The Noble Servant. I'm eagerly awaiting delving into Lady Magdalen's story as soon as I submit this review.

I enjoyed this book because I found it to be different then anything I have read as far as fiction goes. A light read and sometimes that is all we need.

ich fand schon das erste Buch in dieser reihe schoen zu lesen. romantisch und spannend. das zweite hat mir ebenso gut gefallen.