| $@%&! level: Low “Bedroom” level: Low Violence level: Low Back Cover: “After a bitter betrayal, a king vows never to be deceived again. But the king's plan to protect himself will endanger all of the realm's young women, unless one of them volunteers to surrender her life to marry the king. To everyone's relief and horror, Shahrazad, the daughter of a legendary storyteller, steps forward. On her wedding night, Shahrazad begins to weave a tale for the king. Fascinated, the king lets her live night after night. Just when Shahrazad dares to believe that she has found a way to keep her life—and has discovered an unexpected love—a treacherous plot disrupts her plan. Now Shahrazad must hope that love is strong enough to save her.” |
I do get just a little bored with the way these novels start. The whole “I know you think you know this story, but just wait 'til you hear the real version” is clever once or twice, but gets old after a while. This story also contains the Cameron Dokey staple of looking into people's hearts and seeing what they hold there. That's another thing she tends to overuse, and is frequently the solution to everything (as it sort of us in this).
Other than those two small irritations, however, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like a story that can tell other stories within itself without losing the original plot. This one has several short stories included, and one that comes in installments throughout. Most of them have a moral that is appropriate to the situation in which they're told, and moreover the style of telling blends so well with the main story that it's easy to jump from one to the other without any serious mental bruising. Another thing I especially enjoyed was the rescue at the climax. Although the love story was central, and enjoyable, I'll always like stories about brothers, and that's what the rescue is all about. It actually took me a bit by surprise as well, which is always an added bonus.
It may not be marvelously deep, which is about what I normally expect from this kind of book in any case (although some of these have surprised me), but I found it a pleasant read for a lazy Sunday afternoon.