Title: The Merchant’s Daughter
Written By: Melanie Dickerson
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction/Fairy Tale Retelling
Recommended Ages: 13 & up

Introduction:

Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite fairy tale. So when I realized this one was a retelling of that tale, I had to read it. This is my second time reading it, and I must say that it is better the second time through.

Characters: 1/1

Annabel was by far my favorite character, although Frau Eustacia was probably a close second. This story stayed a little more true to the original fairy tale than the first book in the series did, and that was interesting to see. Having a beastly human can be challenging and I was pleasantly surprised by how well Melanie set Lord Ranulf up to be both beastly and kind just like the beast.

Dialogue: 1/1

The dialogue was fitting to the story and the location it was set in. I enjoyed the miscommunications and misunderstandings.

Plot/Storyline: .75/1

This almost had a full star, but then I realized there was a plot hole at the end. So it got degraded slightly. Overall, however, Melanie did a great job creating a solid plot with many twists and turns. I enjoyed it.

Overall Writing Quality: .75/1

I am a bit more picky when it comes to traditionally published books, and this one, unfortunately didn’t live up to my standards. The formatting of the Kindle version was a little off here and there and I feel like it could have gone through another edit or two before publication.

Un-Put-Down-Ability: 1/1

Despite those minor details above, this book was almost impossible to put down. I kept wanting to know what would happen next. And am glad I had a day of down time in which to read the whole thing in one day.

Conclusion: 4.75/5

If you like fresh looks at tales as old as time (come on, I had to do it once), you’ll like this one. There is some violence that could be a bit much for some people, but for the most part this book is very clean both in the romance and violence.