Title: The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest
Author: Melanie Dickerson
Series: Medieval Fairytale Romance #1
Genre: Fairytale retelling
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Source: publisher
"Swan Lake" meets Robin Hood when the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant by day becomes the region's most notorious poacher by night, and falls in love with the forester.
Jorgen is the forester for the wealthy margrave, and must find and capture the poacher who has been killing and stealing the margrave's game. When he meets the lovely and refined Odette at the festival and shares a connection during a dance, he has no idea she is the one who has been poaching the margrave's game.
Odette justifies her crime of poaching because she thinks the game is going to feed the poor, who are all but starving, both in the city and just outside its walls. But will the discovery of a local poaching ring reveal a terrible secret? Has the meat she thought she was providing for the poor actually been sold on the black market, profiting no one except the ring of black market sellers?
The one person Odette knows can help her could also find out her own secret and turn her over to the margrave, but she has no choice. Jorgen and Odette will band together to stop the dangerous poaching ring . . . and fall in love. But what will the margrave do when he discovers his forester is protecting a notorious poacher?
Jorgen is the forester for the wealthy margrave, and must find and capture the poacher who has been killing and stealing the margrave's game. When he meets the lovely and refined Odette at the festival and shares a connection during a dance, he has no idea she is the one who has been poaching the margrave's game.
Odette justifies her crime of poaching because she thinks the game is going to feed the poor, who are all but starving, both in the city and just outside its walls. But will the discovery of a local poaching ring reveal a terrible secret? Has the meat she thought she was providing for the poor actually been sold on the black market, profiting no one except the ring of black market sellers?
The one person Odette knows can help her could also find out her own secret and turn her over to the margrave, but she has no choice. Jorgen and Odette will band together to stop the dangerous poaching ring . . . and fall in love. But what will the margrave do when he discovers his forester is protecting a notorious poacher?
Odette lives with her wealthy merchant uncle. By day, she teaches the poor children how to read and write, and lacks for nothing. But by night, she goes out into the forest and poaches deer. She justifies this to herself because she is feeding the poor. But when the new forester arrives, and Odette starts to fall for him, she wonders if she is doing the right thing after all.
I liked Odette. She may have been rich, but she came from a poor background, so she wasn't arrogant or pretentious. She only wanted to help the poor. This did at times cause her to use poor judgment, as her one-track mind could only focus on what she thought best, and not think of other options, but she genuinely did want to help the poor. Jorgen was sort of your typical fairytale hero character, but that wasn't a bad thing. He, too, only wanted to do his job well and help the poor, and he and Odette made a good match.
Was this your typical romance story? Yes. Was this fairly predictable? Yes. The relationship moves pretty fast (especially that ending), and while there was a sense of mystery and intrigue surrounding the story, most of it was guessed early on. However, this story was still very well-written, and enjoyable. Although the characters are adults, this reads more like a YA story, so I think it would work well for both age groups. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a little romance and fairytales.
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