Tales of Enchantment 2: The Quest

Tales of Enchantment 1: The Question of Royalty, the first book of this series, ends with Prince Frederick and Princess Serena marrying and going off on their honeymoon. Tales of Enchantment 2: The Quest takes up the story of Frederick’s step-sister Giselda some three months after the wedding. Giselda has decided that she will marry Crown Prince Michael of Ermont – in spite of her odd feeling that she may miss Rodin, Prince Frederick’s comrade, more than she thought possible. In addition to that, Michael seems just a little fixated on anticipating their wedding night. Rodin is the son of the castle gardener, and has been Prince Frederick’s friend since childhood. His last duty to the Prince is to protect Princess Giselda until her marriage. Then the King and Prince Frederick send Michael off on a quest to find a golden bird with the power to heal, so that he might prove himself worthy of their daughter and sister.

I liked this second installment of the story even better than the first. The writing is smooth and literate, neither too spare nor too florid – in fact, it’s just right! The plot is interesting, with a twist on the traditional fairytale quest. I think the moral of it is that what you see on the surface may not be the true character of something, and that something that glitters may not be gold. Rodin is a fascinating character, with depths that are initially hidden from Giselda. This meshes with my impression of him in the first book. Giselda, on the other hand, is much more likeable and complex than she first appeared. Together they are very sweet, and I enjoyed their story very much. This is definitely an erotic novel though, because the sex scenes are pretty hot and explicit.

Reviewed by: Jean