"The Captive Maiden" by Melanie Dickerson

I cannot even begin to explain how excited I was for the release of "The Captive Maiden"! In case you are unfamiliar with Melanie's last two books, "The Fairest Beauty" and "The Captive Maiden", they are the retold fairy tales of Snow White and Cinderella! And even though the books completely stand on their own, they are also intertwined, which is always exciting for us book lovers!

In "The Captive Maiden", Gisela's father passes away when she was just a young girl, leaving her in her stepmother's care. Unfortunately, her stepmother treats her as nothing more than a servant girl, and makes Gisela cater to her every whim as well as to her stepsisters. Gisela doesn't plan to stay with her stepmother forever though, and hopes to someday get away.

Meanwhile, while in town one day, she meets the Duke's handsome son, Valten. He doesn't know who she is, but invites her to attend the jousting tournament the next day. But will she be able to sneak out of her stepmother's reach to be able to go?

I really did enjoy this book so much! :) I love that there were a few little details that were a little different than the classic Cinderella story and I felt that it really made the story stand apart from most of the retellings. I also loved that Sophie and Gabe from "The Fairest Beauty" were brought into this story!

Melanie Dickerson has definitely made a fan out of me, and I will continue to read her lovely books!

I rate this book as 5 stars. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”