A Stolen Kiss has everything you would expect from a Disney princess adventure. There’s romance, darkness, secrets, fantasy creatures, castles, evil, princesses, and lots of magic. It’s not the greatest book of all time, but it is a cute distraction from the daily grind.
AUTHOR: Kelsey Keating
SERIES: Stolen Royals, book 1
PUBLISHER: Swanifide Publishing
PUBLICATION DATE: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 9781943923007
PAGES: 346
SOURCE: NetGalley
GENRE: fantasy, princesses
SETTING: multiple locations in a medieval-esque kingdom
GIVE IT TO: MS
SUMMARY: Princess Maria can’t wait to marry Prince Humphrey; it’s what she’s always wanted. But when he proposes, her decade-old curse gets in the way. So Princess Maria, Prince Humphrey, Maria’s companion Sarah, and Sarah’s brother Derric sneak out of the kingdom’s safety in search of the only person who can remove the curse, the powerful sorceress who cursed Maria in the first place.
REVIEW: Students who like fairytales or Disney movies will love this A Stolen Kiss. It’s cute and fun, and I have no doubt it will be a hit with my middle school fairy tale and fantasy readers. After booktalking it with a couple of sixth and seventh grade classes, I’ve already had requests for it even though we don’t yet have it.
For parents looking for clean reads, this one fits the bill as long as you don’t mind a few chaste kisses.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A Stolen Kiss is a fun adventure that feels like a fairytale.
STATUS IN MY LIBRARY: On order. This is an easy-sell considering the popularity of our Retellings section.
RATING BREAKDOWN
- Overall: 4/5
- Creativity: 3/5
- Characters: 3/5–only one is really interesting
- Engrossing: 4/5–read in 2 days.
- Writing: 4/5
- Appeal to teens: 4/5
- Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5–I was never bored.
MATURE CONTENT
- Language: none
- Sexuality: mild; some kissing
- Violence: mild; fantasy violence, fighting with magic
- Drugs/Alcohol: none