Unexpected Rewards (Not Every Girl #2)

Jane
McGarry
Genre: 
Young Adult

In recognition of services performed for the Crown, Olivia Davenport is appointed as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Helen.  Although she would much rather be training with the squires, Olivia is grateful for the opportunity to live in the palace where she and her love, Prince Liam, will be near each other.  Olivia will also hopefully be able to convince the King and Queen that she would be a worthy princess for Liam.  Events take a sinister turn though, when the King’s witch prophesies that he will die during the next spring.  Olivia is appointed as assistant to the witch to see what else she can learn. 

 

Readers, particularly teenage ones, who enjoy stories written in fairytale-type settings are likely to be attracted to Olivia’s story.  Characters based on the usual suspects from the beloved age-old tales are all present in this simple novel, although one would benefit from reading the earlier installment first.  The book is written in the first person present tense but the author seems to struggle handling other tenses, which readers may find distracting.  She also, at points, uses a strange mix of archaic and modern words and some inconsistent forms of address.  The story can be slow-moving and one might feel that it could be told in a book half the length.  However, as one reads one can’t help but be drawn to the characters and to root for Olivia and her gorgeous Prince Liam.

 

Heather Belleguelle