The Countess and the Frog by Kenley Davidson
Fairytale Retelling. 82 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
A tale of romance in unexpected places… When independent and opinionated Lizbet discovers she has an unwelcome suitor, will she be too distracted by her royal nephew’s antics to look past what she thinks she wants and find true love?
My Review:
A quick novella prequel to Davidson’s Andari Chronicles. This series has been on my TBR for what feels like an eternity. I’ve been slowly making my way through some of the other authors in her indie fairytale group and am finally getting around to some of Davidson’s work now. I decided to start with the prequel cause it was short and I was on a plane, plus I like going in order.
This one had a unique twist on the Frog Prince, which I appreciated. In absence of a world of magic, this story follows the idea of the fairytale with nods to the character dynamics. Rather than a talking frog who turns into a prince and a spoiled girl who refuses to befriend him, we have a count whose a little bit older than a somewhat shy and busy girl. He still aids her by saving her golden ball (a cute way to bring the ball into the story, too!) and she still seemingly brushes off his association, but it’s a cute little story of how their friendship forms and how that friendship develops into something more despite their initial appearances.
I appreciated the realistic romance in this story and how they both began as friends and then learned to love one another for something deeper than appearances—and really depth and appearances is thematically what the Frog Prince is all about, so it worked out perfectly!
Having not read any of the Andari Chronicles, I didn’t know any of the characters prior and did find it somewhat difficult to keep up with all the names and characters dumped on us in the beginning. But I got the hang of it for the most part (the two princes confused me a little with their names, but they were easier to tell apart with their behavior).
The mystery was simple, but fun. And now having read the first book I almost wish I’d read it before this to better grasp these characters, but it was still sweet and provided some cool insight for the next book for sure.
Content: a few mild swear words, a clean romance, no violence. Probably hovering between a 3 and 4 star read for me, but I’d say it could be given to readers 14+ maybe?
More:
Book 1 in the Andari Chronicles is Traitor’s Masque (4 Stars)
Book 2 is Goldheart
Book 3 is Pirouette
Book 4 is Shadow and Thorn
Book 5 is Daughter of Lies
Book 6 is Path of Secrets
I haven’t finished the series, but you can learn more using the Goodreads links above! For the most part, these seem like standalones, but I would guess they should be read in order to avoid spoilers for previous books.
On GraceBought
See my thoughts on the next book in the series here!
Traitor’s Masque