I had never dreamed that I would move so far away from my family and friends yet I found myself in our car following the moving truck my husband was driving headed for our new home, sixteen or so hours away from the world I had always known. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Oregon, and it just may have been my favorite place I’ve lived. Nevertheless, it was foreign to me.

For the first few months after we moved, everywhere I went I would do a double take as I thought I saw someone I knew. “That looks just like . . .” was pretty much the dominant thought in my mind. My theory is that it was my mind crying out for the familiar and so I was subconsciously looking for my friends at each place I went.

The Princess Search: A Retelling of The Ugly Duckling
by Melanie Cellier

Series: The Four Kingdoms #5
Published by Luminant Publications
Publication Date May 11, 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling, Action/Adventure, Clean Romance
Main Character Ages: 18-24
Written for: High-School/Young Adult, Adult
Pages: 308

Synopsis:

An outcast.
A prince.
And a deadly rebellion...

After a lifetime of rejection, seamstress Evie can't trust Frederic, the crown prince of Lanover--not his words of friendship or the way the warmth in his eyes seems to ask for even more. But when they end up on a tour of his kingdom--one filled with increasing danger--Evie's mistrust might doom them all.

In this spin on the classic fairy tale, an ugly duckling must discover her true worth in order to save her kingdom and maybe even find true love.

If you enjoy clean romance, adventure and intrigue, then try the books in The Four Kingdoms series now! Each of these young adult fairy tale retellings can be read as a standalone story. However, for greatest enjoyment, they should be read in order.

Also in this series: A Midwinter's Wedding: A Four Kingdoms Novella

Evie had been an orphan as long as she could remember and she had moved around from place to place, each time hoping for a home. Each place she lived, she faced rejection and was forced to move on. I was drawn into her insecurity and could understand her lack of trust. It was also impressive how she learned from her mistakes and came to the point where she decided to trust regardless of the rejection she was certain she would face.

Princess Celine was just too cute. Her determination to play matchmaker for her two brothers who were on the Royal Tour with her was charming. She was impish and adorable and often was trying to mother the princes who were significantly older than she was.

There was plenty of action to keep the story moving. The stirrings of rebellion continued to flame into trouble and followed them on the Tour. In one city, they literally stirred into flames. I loved the way that Evie’s experiences from her childhood allowed her to give much-needed insight.

My favorite part of the story was probably when they were in the desert and Prince Cassian was so awestruck by Tillie that he couldn’t speak around her at all. Their interactions and the way that Celine interfered were so funny, sweet and romantic all tied up into one!

I loved the way that the author used the Tour as a way to allow Evie to revisit her past and be able to view it through mature eyes and perspective. It was clever how they journeyed in the reverse order of where she had lived. Slowly, as she learned to trust Prince Frederic and Princess Celine, she unfurled the tapestry of her life to them, letting them see the things she had always attempted to keep hidden. In the process she was able to grow, to heal and to mature into the lovely woman of value that she always had been.

Preview of The Princess Search

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