Julianne Donaldson-Melanie Dickerson-Sarah M Eden

Please seed for as long as possible and enjoy

As requested by KS Princess

Sophie has long wished to get away from her stepmother's jealous anger, and believes escape is her only chance to be happy. Then a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother, and everything twists upside down. This could be her chance at freedom---but can she trust another person to keep her safe?
Gabe knows he defied his parents Rose and Wilhelm by going to find Sophie, and now he believes they had a right to worry: the orphan girl has stolen his heart. Though romance is impossible---she is his brother's future wife, and Gabe himself is betrothed to someone else---he promises to himself he will keep her safe, no matter what.
When the pair are forced to run to the Cottage of the Seven, they find help---but also find their feelings for each other have grown. Can they find a way to protect Sophie while also safeguarding their hearts?

This well-crafted retelling of the Snow White story leaves out magic and potions, substituting instead, human emotions, faults and strengths, and romance in the post-medieval setting. Sophie, raised as a scullery maid in the residence of a power-hungry duchess, is rescued by Gabe, the brother of the man to whom she unknowingly was betrothed as an infant. Dickerson develops Sophie and Gabe carefully, skillfully showing how their relationship moves from shyness and distrust to guilt over their increasing devotion and the eventual release of Sophie from the early betrothal to Gabe’s brother. Especially imaginative is the rendering of the group familiarly known as the Seven Dwarfs, although here they are known as the Seven, and each has his own physical or intellectual challenge as well as skill. Solid storytelling, cleverly woven references to the folktale, and historical detail combine in a novel that is a likely popular choice for girls in search of gentle romance. Grades 5-8. --Francisca Goldsmith