The Beautiful Pretender

A bag of clichés. I skipped more than half of the book because I could already predict the rest of the story, and I still wasn't very much surprised when I fast forwarded to the last few chapters. The ending was even worse and elicited more eye rolls than expected.

[bc:A Melanie Dickerson Collection: The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest, the Beautiful Pretender, the Golden Braid 33028008 A Melanie Dickerson Collection The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest, the Beautiful Pretender, the Golden Braid (A Medieval Fairy Tale, #1-2, Hagenheim #6) Melanie Dickerson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496703322l/33028008.SY75.jpg 53684358]

Ah, The Beautiful Pretender. I needed something a little different and found this audiobook via my library app. I wasn't aware it was a christian fiction novel when I started. There were the occasional prayers, but the religion wasn't shoved down my throat. It started more as a YA style fairy tale romance. The second half is where the religious aspect picked up, but it wasn't as overwhelming as some other christian fiction books I've read.

With that out of the way I'll continue my review. The rest of the story is rather interesting. There is intrigue and raised tensions between the lords and ladies of the land. There was a mysterious fire. A death of a nobel. A hidden identity. A dating competition (kinda). Flirting. Suspense. It builds up as a masterpiece theater/bbc drama and ends as a hallmark movie.

It was a bit predictable (ok, it was a LOT predictable). A few scenes are straight out of the movies. The wolf scene was almost an exact copy of the wolf scene in Disney's Beauty and the Beast movie. Still, it was a fun read that I wanted to finish until the end. I don't think the characters are very realistic. I think there were some very preachy moments. I also think the book was predictable. BUT for the genre, it was still a good book and a nice read for the afternoon.

Non-christians shouldn't be discouraged from the book. It's easy to gloss over those moments and enjoy the book for what it is.