Review of “A Midwinter’s Wedding” by Melanie Cellier

 Review of “A Midwinter’s Wedding: A Retelling of The Frog Prince” by Melanie Cellier

I’ve enjoyed this series so far, and I was curious what the author would do with the classic tale, “The Frog Prince”. Interestingly, the main character is not a prince but a new princess, Cordelia from Lanover. We have met two of her sisters, and her brother in previous installments. Her elder sister, Clarisse was married to Prince Konrad in “The Princess Fugitive”, her other older sister Princess Celeste was introduced in “The Princess Companion” as a potential marriage prospect for Prince Max, and her brother Rafe was in “The Princess Pact” book. So, by this point in the series we’ve met quite a few characters that all cross over into this novella, such as Prince Max and his wife Alyssa, Princess Ava and her husband Hans, and even Hanna from the novelette.

Despite all the returning characters, this novella is very much about Cordelia and her love story with Ferdinand. The main plot is Cordelia trying to uncover a mysterious plot to poison the royals. The book takes place over the course of about a month, and all the while Cordelia is looking for a potential husband. At first, she thinks Prince William, whom we met in “The Princess Pact”, however she finds him to be shallow and uninteresting. She strikes up a friendship with Ferdinand, captain of the guard. At first, Ferdy’s looks hold her back from thinking of him as more than a friend. But throughout the story Ferdy proves to be loyal, and caring, even saving her life when she fell into the ice lake.

One of the things that I like about this book is Cordelia’s journey of feelings for Ferdinand. It feels honest and realistic, having her want Prince William only to find that despite his handsome looks, she just didn’t have any feelings for him. The opposite happens with Ferdinand. She goes from finding him odd looking, and through his actions, she finds that she wants to spend her time with him.  By the end of the book, she literally must choose who to run to, Prince Will or Ferdy, and she doesn’t even hesitate to run into Ferdy’s arms for protection. It’s a well-done love story between the two characters.

The other main plot is that Cordelia is trying to figure out who is plotting against the royal families. We get small hints throughout the book, keeping up the mystery of what is going to happen. The resolution is well done, with Cordelia and the help of Ferdy, foiling the plan to poison certain royals. It’s an interesting motive, with some people upset that commoners are marrying royalty or members of the court. Prince Max married Alyssa, who was a commoner. Princess Ava married Hans who was not royalty. Lord Stefan married Hanna, a commoner, and even Princess Marie is not technically born of royalty. So, the plot to take them out, ties into the stories that have been told in this series. There’s a lot of crossovers with the previous books, but it doesn’t overshadow the story in this book. Plus, it’s fun to see all these characters interacting with each other, while continuing to build out this world.

I really enjoyed reading this novella, it’s an easy and fun read, that’s well paced. I enjoyed the romance plot with Cordelia as well as the mystery subplot. I have really enjoyed this series, and this is another solid entry.

 

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"The Chimera Prophecies" consists of eight short science fiction/dark fantasy short stories. Themes of how reality and identity shape our journey and humanity.