The Dala Horse, by Lissa Johnston

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was entertaining, engrossing and well thought out. The protagonist Kaya was such a scrappy, enjoyable character. The historical aspects were well done. The author described this as Little House on the Prairie meets Nancy Drew, and while I get that, to me it was more Little House on the Prairie meets Perry Mason or Agatha Christie. Even though Kaya is 10, she deals with some serious issues and adults around her that make unstable, sometimes scary, and often selfish choices. This would be great for a junior high history or social studies class. I don't know that it would be okay for most 10-year-olds.

The Firethorn Crown, by Lea Doue

I've read lots of versions of the 12 dancing princesses. This one stood out to me for two reasons.

1. The underground prince was very well done, being moody and handsome and mysterious, but a fully developed character that made you at times sympathetic towards him and at other times mad at him.

2. Finally, someone added a much needed detail: A mother of 12 daughters who's a little bit off her rocker for never having a son. He died at birth.

Retelling this fairy tale has its obvious challenges. How do you distinguish between 12 daughters so the reader knows who is who? This book was above average on that.

The main character, Princess Lily, is the oldest and is strongly encouraged to make up her mind and marry already. The scheming around that is a fun element of the book. Sometimes you want her to be a little smarter with her choices. Her love interest is a great character and I enjoyed the friendship and backstory that unfolded with that.

The beginning of the book was a little confusing. It took me about half a chapter to figure out what was going on. Give it time. It's a good read.

Very clean and romantic. I borrowed this with my Kindle, or 2.99 to buy.

All the Way to Heaven, by Becky Doughty

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

All the Way to Heaven is a about college student Anica Tomlin who learns the hard way not to date her college professor. She runs away to Italy for a much needed getaway.

I really loved this book. The side characters all felt real and were well rounded. Everything about Italy made me feel like I was right there and was described and woven in with the plot so I wasn't skipping past descriptions or getting bored. The romance was very satisfying. I'm normally leery of love triangles, but this was well done and added to the fun. This was clean, but aimed at adults. I didn't realize that it was part of a series until I looked it up on Amazon. It felt like a stand-alone to me. 3.99 for Kindle.

Love at the Fall Festival, by Belle Willows

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Brynn gets more than she bargained for when she's hired as the event planner for a Fall Festival in the small town of Sugar Maple. She comes up against Jack Oakley, the owner's son who's decided it's going to be a failure before they even begin.

I really liked the premise for this and the building up of town characters, since this is going to be one of many books taking place in this fictional town. However, this book moved a little slow for me and Jack came off not so much brooding as mopey. I was also hoping for more event planning details since the book is all about Brynn's job. There is no mention of anything for the fall festival besides selling pumpkins until about 75% of the way through the book. Not a bad read. It was squeaky clean and free of grammatical errors. 2.99 or free to borrow through Kindle Unlimited.

My Fairly Dangerous Godmother, by Janette Rallison

Having read My Fair Godmother previously, I kinda knew what to expect going into this. Crazy teenage Godmother, check. Teen who gets more (or less) than she asked for, check. Cute romance that (almost) makes you want to be a teen again, check. Lots of humor, check. Janette Rallison is the perfect author for a mom and daughter who want to be able to share books. Nothing offensive, but it never feels sanitized either. In this version, Sadie Ramirez has a horrible brush with fame, and suddenly qualifies for a pitiful damsel in distress program. With Miss Everstar as her Godmother, that basically means she has to endure being The Little Mermaid and one of the 12 Dancing Princesses. Enjoyable throughout. I saved this for my monthly Prime book choice to borrow. Or it's 4.99 to buy from Amazon.

Love Unfeigned, by Nadine C. Keels

I received a free copy of Love Unfeigned in exchange for an honest review.

Lorraine is pulled out of traffic by a familiar face...
I have to admit that the first section before the flashback was confusing, especially as I was not yet acclimated to the writer's style, but I soon found myself amazed and did not want to put this down. The author did such an good job of developing her characters and moving through time, from elementary school to adulthood. If the author left out a detail, you soon realized it was a clue that came up later and took you by surprise as it unfolded. Her style of writing is so unique and descriptive and felt so realistic. The novella reads almost like memoir. Totally unforgettable. Loved it. As for content, this is a romantic, clean read, but with high school gossip about sex and a bit of violence. In my opinion, appropriate for 16+. 99 cents for Kindle and well worth it.

Beggar Magic, by H.L. Burke

Beggar Magic is a YA fantasy novel that I received for free in return for an honest review. The main character, Leilani, is a feisty common girl with big dreams. She befriends a highborn named Zebedy and gets pulled into her aristocratic, educated world. Together they must save the Strains, the musical magic that brings them together, but also separates them into classes. Zebedy can understand the Strains and use them more fully, while Leilani can only do Beggar Magic. There is some light romance and evil characters. Appropriate for any teen and up. I thought it started slow. Time was passing with not much going on, but the book picked up once the girls reached age 17. Great characters with interesting relationships. 2.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited.