Dangerous liaisons!

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The Beautiful Pretender (A Medieval Fairy Tale  #2) 

by Melanie Dickerson 


I am quite enjoying Melanie Dickerson's Medieval Fairy Tales.  Avelina is in the unenviable position of being a lowly servant girl (though she can read) being thrust into a highly charged political situation with very little support and no real choice. She only has her faith, her pleasant personality and her wits to try to come through the situation unscathed and undiscovered.
Well, we know that's not going to work! But the unlooked for betrayal of her position, the weight of the falsities she has to present, the pain of lying to a man she has come to admire, all take a toll.
The Margrave of Thornbeck has been instructed to marry by his King. Having no choice but to obey, he invites eligible young high born women to Thornbeck Castle for two weeks so that he can chose his bride. Unfortunately, Avelina's mistress, the daughter of the Earl of Plimmwald, has run off with one of her father's Knights. So Plimmwald sends Avelina to take Dorethea's place with strict instructions about keeping a low profile, and not to do anything to attract the attention of the Margrave. Well of course, that doesn't work!
The novel has much to recommend it. Love, faith, friendship and treachery all come together in a delightfully packaged story.

A NetGalley ARC

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