You’ll remember I raved about All The Things We Have Lost by Aimee Alexander (see review here), the pen name of Denise Deegan, who I had seen and been inspired by at the Wexford Literary festival, and who is lauded all over the place for her writing which traverses multiple genres (hence the pen name I would guess!) As a result when I was asked to review this I was thrilled. What had grabbed me on listening to Ms. Deegan speak, was her ability to tell a good story, and I knew a fairy tale from her would be exquisite.
Length: 26 pages
Please note that the cover image leads to a universal Amazon buy link for the book
What they say:
As heir to the throne, Prince Richard is expected to marry well, and his parents are adamant that only the finest princess will do. But is royal blood really more important than the spark of true love?
His father, the king, has devised his own test of true royalty, inviting the haughtiest heiress for miles around to spend a night at the castle, balanced atop a pile of mattresses concealing a single pea. But even though she passes the test, she is too outraged by sleep deprivation to stay beyond breakfast. Meanwhile Richard can’t stop thinking about Rosie O’Toole, the charming chambermaid who has taught him how to lay a fire and find true meaning in his life…
When Rosie is unfairly dismissed and disappears without a trace, Richard is determined to find her. He must bring her back to the castle and reinstate her at once. But as he grows more desperate, Richard realises that he is no longer searching for a chambermaid, but for his one true love.
The Review:
To start with, don’t you love when the dedication alone makes you sit back and smile?:
“Once upon a time, there were two little girls who forced people to watch their ‘plays’. This story is written by one of those little girls for the other. To Ail, with love and chewing gum.”
And I quickly settled into this lovely Kindle short, where Prince Richard isn’t too keen on the process of being set up with a princess. His father, the King, has to be sure that any princess is truly that, and so he organises for mattresses to be set up with a pea underneath, stating, as we know, that if she is truly a princess she will feel the pea under the cushioning of the mattresses. This short shone with vibrant sparks of comedy, as the King and Richard worried that the princess might fall from the stack of mattresses set up to hide the pea. The comedy was also apparent as we met Princess Victoria, a demanding so-and-so that made me giggle with her disdain and complaining. In the midst of this we were introduced to the lovely chambermaid, Rosie, who not only showed us how lovely she was, but made us thoroughly fall in love with Prince Richard, who saw her as someone who could teach him a lesson or two.
And so as well as excellent comedy, beautiful romance and engaging characters, I was thrilled to be faced with a man (woman) hunt, with the heat on Richard as he and his staff scoured the kingdom for his wife to be. I loved everything about this short, and I have to say, for the price (less than a magazine-£1), it’s well worth it, in particular I’d imagine devouring this with a hot drink or a bar of chocolate on a commute, or after a hard day’s work in front of a fire. Or anywhere really! A perfect, nicely different autumnal read to make you smile, giggle and swoon. Very satisfying.
Thanks so much to Ms. Deegan and Netgalley for this book in return for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
About the author
Denise Deegan lives in Dublin with her family where she regularly dreams of sunshine, a life without cooking and her novels being made into movies.
Denise has been a nurse, a china restorer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations officer, an entrepreneur and a college lecturer. Her most difficult job was being a checkout girl, although ultimately this experience did inspire a short story…
Denise writes for both adults and teenagers. Her novels have been published by Penguin, Random House, Hachette and Lake Union Publishing. Writing under the pen name Aimee Alexander, Denise’s contemporary family dramas have become international best-sellers on Kindle.
Denise’s most recent novel, Through the Barricades, won the SCBWI Spark Award 2017.
Her writing for Young Adults includes the much-loved contemporary trilogy, The Butterfly Novels: And By The Way, And For Your Information and And Actually.
Denise writes women’s fiction as Aimee Alexander including Pause to Rewind, The Accidental Life of Greg Millar and All We Have Lost.
Denise is represented by the East West Literary Agency and Barry Krost Management. She is a member of the SCBWI.
Denise currently lives in Dublin with her family and golden retriever, Homer, star of the Butterfly Novels.
Denise is available for school visits. See here for more information.
Follow Denise on Twitter @denisedeegan or email denise at denise(at)denisedeegan.com
(Taken from her website: denisedeegan.com )
Her books On Amazon: here
Aimee Alexander on Amazon: here
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