Falling for the Trickster ~ Review

Falling for the Trickster

To Win a Dark Heart #1

By Lucy Tempest

Falling for the Trickster is a Rumpelstiltskin/Goose Girl mashup that focuses on the maid who tried to usurp her princess. In this retelling, the princess is awful, and no one can blame Ottoline for wanting a better life, considering Princess Gertrude's abuse. 

When she is offered the chance to switch places and get the life Gertrude is assured of, Ottoline takes it. It will only cost her an unknown favor to Roderick. What could it truly cost if he can switch things up so easily?

Yeah, it's never a good choice to make a bargain without knowing the costs. But nothing is as Ottoline, Gertrude, and Roderick expected because the king of Orcage demands that the "princess" turn objects to gold. Her upcoming marriage to the prince is not enough to dispel the debts owed to Orcage. 

Does anyone else see the problem? 

With the assistance of Roderick again, for the price of a kiss, everything will be great. Not so, the king is not so easily satisfied, and Roderick's gold-turning abilities are limited. Everyone needs a reset, but nope, not happening. What follows is a sweet yet dangerous attempt to stop the king and get what both Ottoline and Roderick truly want.

I loved how various aspects of the Goose Girl and Rumpelstiltskin played out. There is a lovely interweaving that allows both tales to be fully present while offering something new and fresh. The villains get their day, and in this retelling, you will be rooting for them to succeed. 

I was provided a complimentary copy with no expectations. All thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Book:

Rumpelstiltskin meets The Goose Girl.

An opportunistic maid.

A manipulative faerie.

A gilded deal that binds them both.

Ottoline has had enough. After years of enduring Princess Gertrude’s cruelty, the maid’s patience snaps during their voyage to the foreign kingdom of Orcage, where the princess is to marry the crown prince to settle a royal debt. There, she crosses paths with a silver-haired, silver-tongued man with a penchant for deals and deception.

Cunning and ambitious, fae nobleman Lord Roderick von Ravenstock offers Ottoline the opportunity of a lifetime: to switch places with her tormentor and claim the life of a princess.

With a snap of his fingers, she is set to live the life she had dreamed of at the glimmering court of Orcage...until its superstitious king demands she fulfill her kingdom's debt by turning everything into gold.

Trapped by her own masquerade, Ottoline turns to Roderick again, and he offers to save her, in exchange for a kiss.

One kiss. One favor. One step closer to ruin.

As the king’s demands escalate, so do Roderick’s bargains, each adding another layer to his plot against the royal family, and drawing her deeper into a deadly game of magic and court intrigue. But when the king’s greed spirals beyond control, Ottoline has no choice but to escape into Faerie where she falls from one monster’s grasp into the next.

Risking his plans, Roderick saves her and, as she recovers under his watchful gaze, the forced proximity begins to crack their defenses, revealing who they are underneath their roles as the trickster and the fraud. Villains in the lives of others, but heroes of their own stories.

Together, they plot one last con to bring the king to his knees. But nothing ever goes to plan, especially when hearts are on the line.

Falling For the Trickster is the first book in the To Win a Dark Heart series which retells fairytales as old as time, but this time it’s the villain’s turn to get a happy ending.

2026 is Here and Bookish News!

 Hope everyone had a lovely holiday.
I have submitted my story, Water's Gift, which you will be able to
enjoy in March 2026.

I can't wait for you to read my retelling of
The Water of Life, 
which will be published in 
Of Hope and Honor.

Preorder the ebook for only $2.99
(Now on sale for 50 % off)

https://us.amazon.com/dp/B0F9S7NT5B/

Finding Jane Fairfax ~ Review

Finding Jane Fairfax
By Robbin J. Peterson

You know Jane Fairfax from Jane Austen's Emma. You know that Emma wasn't her biggest fan or even her bestie. But what was her story before she left the Campbells, before Miss Campbell became Mrs. Dixon. And how did she and Frank Churchill meet and form a secret attachment? Well, Finding Jane Fairfax will give a glimpse into the lives of two young people who were an important part of Highbury Society even when they didn't call it home.

This was an interesting read. Jane never felt she deserved the life she was living with the Campbells. The Campbells were a loving family who treated Jane as if she were part of their family. The problem was that Society didn't accept her or her situation. She knew that her only hope for the future lay in taking a position as a governess.

Frank felt unwanted and cast off by his father, as his Aunt and Uncle Churchill raised him. And by raising, he was under his aunt's disapproval almost constantly. His friends were too lowly; standing up for the defenseless was beneath him. In short, his aunt was raising him to be a kowtowed snob. And as for his future wife, his aunt would choose her and mold her into a replica of herself.  I didn't like Frank's Aunt Churchill in Emma but in Finding Jane Fairfax she is so much worse, making Lady Catherine de Bourgh seem positively docile. 

The characters were well-developed, as was the setting. I appreciated how aspects of Jane's letters to Highbury were worked into the story. Overall, this was a well-written and engaging book. And as anyone who is familiar with Emma knows how Frank and Jane's story ends, but this book ends before either of them returns to Highbury.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

 

Jane Fairfax knows she is truly fortunate. Most orphans face lives of hardship, whereas she was adopted by doting surrogate parents who elevated her place in Society and loved her as their own. Yet even they cannot shield her from the grim realities of life without a suitable marriage. In moments of despair, Jane comforts herself with a well-worn memory: that of a young man whose kind words when they were children once soothed her heartbreak. But now that boy has grown into a dashing gentleman―and their lives could not be more distant.

 

Frank Churchill is a prisoner of his station. His inheritance is held in the balance by his demanding aunt, and the weight of her expectations is suffocating him. But when a chance encounter brings the lovely Miss Fairfax back into his life, he discovers what it is to truly live. As the pair secretly become acquainted amid the confines of Society’s strict rules, their friendship blossoms into love. But in a world ruled by unyielding traditions, endeavoring to build a life together would mean inviting a scandal that would shake the very foundation of the ton.

 

AUTHOR BIO

Robbin J. Peterson is the author of Going Home, Conviction, and 13 Days of Girls Camp. She earned her degree in English literature from Utah State University and her associate of arts degree from Snow College. She has six kids, plays the viola, and works as an elementary school librarian.