Kenley Davidson

I loved this book even more than the first one, if possible. Kenley Davidson took all the essential elements of Rumpelstiltskin and wrote a completely original tale that was beautiful and wonderful and everything I want in a fairy tale.

Elaine is orphaned, abandoned by her fiancé, and left near destitute. She is also desperately shy and unused to making her own decisions. But she is deeply loved by the few who know her, and she is a talented artist, talented being a vast understatement.

And so, she is asked to paint a portrait of a dying woman, only not as the woman currently is but as her husband remembers her. Spinning straw into gold would be easier. Instead, she paints gold.

This was about as close to a perfect book as I've read in some time, which unfortunately, causes me to fall into a reading funk as nothing else can compare. But why was it so perfect? The characters. Kenley wrote beautiful, unique, and compelling characters. I loved every one of them. Elaine was so kind and forgiving. Will was willing to sacrifice everything to do what he believed was right. Blaise was beautiful and brave. And while the three of them made an unlikely group of friends, it was perfection in every way. The side characters and the crazed villains were also wonderful, but you'll have to read the book to find that out for yourself.

It was also low stakes. There was no world-saving, world-domination backstory. Just a girl who wanted to repay her family's debt. A boy wanting to earn his name. While, I anticipate this connecting into the larger world of Andari at a later point, I was perfectly happy with the book as a standalone. And everyone, whether good or bad, received their perfect ending. I was content in every way.… (altro)