Monday, September 15, 2014

Book Review: Trevelyan by Naomi Musch

Trevelyan
Naomi Musch

 

     Publisher: Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc. (May 21, 2014)
     ASIN: B00KI26HKW
4.99, 10.95 print

Buy on Amazon
From the publisher:
Five men and two Elven princes have embarked upon a quest: to save a sister from the wasteland of the Great Winter where she is held in the clutches of a Monster Lord who all believe brought desecration and ruin to the once glorious kingdom of Trevelyan. It is a land where hideous creatures and madness prey upon the careless, a land where faerie magic has taken an evil turn. For fifty years, no man or ally of men has been safe beyond the Cranreuch Plain. 

Until Belle's choice leads them all to discover the truth. 

Now rescuing her might come at a cost no one expects -- and from an evil no one but a princely beast and the faeries of Evensong ever anticipated. 

My review:
Combining the most fun of several genres and fairy tales, Musch’s latest novel for all readers adds a new twist to the tale of Beauty and the Beast.  A ruined, widowed father makes a terrible decision in order to save the rest of his family. His daughter Belle, one of his six children, is loved by all except her two sisters. Their vanity and jealousy rises to a horrible level of selfishness that may ruin not just the family but the world as they know it.
When a prince is cursed by an evil faery queen, the spell is only gentled by a promise of true love. The prince is turned outwardly into a hideous beast and the land around the legendary kingdom of Trevelyan turned into perpetual winter. The prince believes he has found true love, but must convince the woman he has exchanged for her father’s life to return that love. Meanwhile, the young woman, Belle, becomes enraptured with a dream of the love of a young and handsome prince whose portrait and diaries she finds.
Granted a leave to return to care for her ailing father, Belle is able to convince him he is well. When the leave is over, she must decide whether or not to return to her captor. However, the choice is taken from her when the means of return vanishes. Even as she learns her brothers’ search for her has led them to the Beast’s palace, she prays her delay will cause no lasting harm.
As with every good fairy tale, the ends justify the means and the moral of the story teaches us that sometimes what we wish for isn’t what’s best for us. Well done story. Told from multiple viewpoints with enjoyable humor and suitable angst for most readers.  

About the Author:

Naomi Musch loves stories rich in American history, but writes in several other genres as well. Naomi's aim is to surprise and entertain readers while telling stories about imperfect people who are finding hope and faith to overcome their struggles, whether the setting is past, contemporary, or even fantastic. 

She and husband Jeff have five adult children, and enjoy epic adventures with them around their home in the Wisconsin woods. She invites readers to say hello and find out more about her stories, passions, and other writing venues at http://www.naomimusch.com or look her up on Facebook (Naomi Musch - Author) and Twitter (NMusch). 

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for the review, Lisa! Great capsulization of the story!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is interesting, Tracy. I keep thinking about it, picking out different fairy tales and aspects of stories I think are hidden in it. So cool.

    ReplyDelete