Mondays Need a Good Book: TOPAZ REIGNS

 

THE BLURB: It has been four months since Maggie learned the dark truth behind the tale of the Princess and the Pea and freed Princess Lindy from the cursed Emerald. Lindy is now back in the past where she belongs, queen of her tiny Scandinavian country, and Maggie is a fully reformed ex-stalker.

Except … she can’t stop doing internet searches on Lindy and her country.

One morning, Maggie wakes to find history turned on its head. Apparently, you can’t destroy a centuries-old curse without consequence. In order to prevent the changes in history from wiping out the present, Maggie resurrects her stalking gene and learns that fairy tales don’t stay dead for long.

Or at all.

THE SCOOP: I loved meeting these wonderful characters from EMERALD BOUND again! Second books in a series sometimes don't satisfy me, but this one was great--you could read it without having read the first one, because the author does an amazing job of reminding us what happened in the first book without dumping it all out on the first page. (but you'll enjoy this one more if you have read the first one, because the characters are so likeable).

I especially loved seeing Lindy go back to the seventeenth century with her modern experiences. Her growth was fun, and the gentle development of her romance was perfect.

THE VERDICT: The story is FUN. It's clever, the plot twists unexpectedly, the characters are endearing, and it's a really fresh approach to time travel and the question of whether you can change history. I love watching characters explore the implications of time travel, and this story had such a charming and intriguing answer to those questions.