The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley

From the author's website:  Unwanted at home, Molly goes to work for the king of Westria as a humble scullery maid. She arrives at the castle with no education, no manners, and a very disturbing secret: she sees visions, and those visions always come true. One day, while she’s working in the king’s great hall, young Prince Alaric passes by. Molly finds him unbearably handsome—but also unbearably rude. But what does it really matter? She’ll probably never see him again.

In time Molly is promoted to polishing silver and is given a priceless royal treasure to work on: the king’s great ceremonial hand basin. But there’s something odd about it. The silver warms to her touch, a voice commands her to watch and listen, and then the visions appear. They tell the story of a dreaded curse that has stalked the royal family for years. There have already been deaths; soon there will be more.

As tragedy after tragedy strikes the royal family, Molly can’t help but wonder: will the beautiful Alaric be next? Together with her friends Tobias and Winifred, Molly must protect the prince and destroy the curse. Could a less likely champion be found to save the kingdom of Westria?

From Heather:  I quite liked this charming middle-grade book!  There were a few things that I would have liked expanded on a little bit more (Tobias!!!) but for the most part it was just a fun, easy read. The book starts when Molly is just a young girl.  Her father is a drunk who has too many children to take care of, so as soon as he thinks they are old enough (6 or 7) he kicks them out to be servants somewhere.  So sad!  Molly sees one of the neighbor boys dying in a vision and, sure enough, he ends up dead.  So her dad can't get rid of her fast enough.  And Molly's mother is sick and confined to her room, so she is no help at all.  As Molly is leaving for the castle, she talks to her mother and learns that her mother has visions too, but she doesn't explain why they both have them or where they came from.

So Molly goes to the castle and time passes.  Pretty soon it is years later and she is older and friends with Tobias (whom I LOVE!)  I really wish their friendship had been explored a little bit more.  The silver bowl was interesting and the twist at the end took me completely by surprise! The characters were good, but I would have liked a more detailed story.  Maybe that's just me as an adult talking and not as a middle grade child.  My girls would probably love the story!  :0)

All in all it was a great book, one that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.  AND I understand that it is the first of three books, so that is good too!

Dragon Flight (Dragon Slippers, Book 2) by Jessica Day George

Synopsis (from GoodReads.com):

With the Dragon Wars over, Creel finds herself bored with life as a seamstress. Then word comes that a bordering country has been breeding dragons in preparation for an invasion. Never one to sit around, Creel throws herself headlong into an adventure that will reunite her with her dragon friend Shardas, pit her against a vicious new enemy and perhaps rekindle a friendship with Prince Luka that seems to have gone cold. Funny, heart-felt, and action packed, this is a sequel that will satisfy on every level.

Jillian’s Review:

This second installment of the Dragon Slippers series was just as fun, exciting, and interesting as the first. I've mentioned before how much I LOVE George's writing style and she doesn't stray from it in this one. The characters are realistic and likeable (or hate-able) and most importantly, I finished with a smile on my face and an uplifted heart. I really like that Creel (can’t stand her name) is strong and brave but doesn’t really see herself that way. It’s refreshing to no have the main character’s personality be overpoweringly stubborn. That seems to be the trend in the YA novels I’ve recently read.

The only problems I had with this one were that we’re told that Creel and Luka spend tons of time together, but we don't really get to see any of it. I would have liked to see a bit more romance but I understand that this is a juvenile book so it shouldn't have too much. George does a great job of showing the reader what everyone is wearing (which makes sense since Creel is a seamstress), yet I can't for the life of me remember what Luka looks like. Still, these are minor issues for me because the rest of the content of the book was marvelous.

I can’t wait to read the next one!

Review: The Wild Queen by Cheri Chesley

I had the chance to meet Cheri Chesley last weekend.  And I blew it.  We were signing books at the same booth for Stansbury Days, but Cheri took the morning shift and I took the afternoon shift and we only met briefly as I was coming and she was going.  Anyway, I wanted to read one of her books before I met her.  Cheri's book, The Peasant Queen, was published by Cedar Fort in Dec. 2010.  The Wild Queen is the prequel, so I thought I'd start with that.

I'm acutally thinking I might have enjoyed The Wild Queen more if I had read The Peasant Queen first, but that's not to say I didn't like The Wild Queen.  I did.  It had kind of a fairy-tale-ish quality to it, and yet it wasn't like a fairy tale at all.  Are we clear on that?

I liked the story.  I liked that Roweena rode to Demarde when she needed help.  And I liked that she made it.  I liked all the characters.  They were adequately developed and easy to like even though they each had their faults.  In places the writing felt rushed, moving the story along too quickly, like summing up the story, while in others the action was quite slow.  But I never had a problem being interested, I kept wanting to turn pages, and I found it very appropriate for the YA audience it was intended for.  There was action, mystery, and romance.  It is a nice clean read I would recommend to anyone. 

Here is the Goodreads summary that will sum it up better than I can.

"In the exciting prequel to The Peasant Queen, Roweena is the crown princess of Norvallen, a tiny kingdom with only one thing of value-the Healer's Grove. The trees in this small section of forest are enchanted, giving a sap that can be mixed into potions or salves to heal almost any wound.

And it's in high demand.

Lucien, the young king of neighboring Demarde, comes to Roweena's father seeking an alliance, but comes away with a marriage contract for young Roweena's hand. Furious and stubborn, this untamed beauty vows he will never conquer her. But the contract purposely gives her time to come to terms with her fate.

Before Lucien can return, Roweena's home is attacked and her parents are murdered. The Healer's Grove is also attacked-burned to the ground. With nothing more than her horse and the clothes on her back, Roweena goes to the only person she knows can help her. Lucien."