Quick Thoughts: “Maelyn”

“Maelyn (The Nine Princesses Novellas #1)” by Anita Valle

Genre: Middle Grade/Young Adult Fiction

Source: Kindle Freebie

Summary from Goodreads:

Months later, the king returned home and presented his astonished queen with not one, but nine baby girls. “One from each kingdom I visited,” said the king. “They are orphans.” The queen wept joyously at the row of cradles, each bearing a sleeping infant. After bestowing a kiss on each child’s forehead she said, “Now they are princesses.”

Book 1: Maelyn was not born a princess. The king found her as a child, the lone survivor of a poor village slaughtered by the Red Fever. Suddenly she became a princess of Runa Realm, the first of nine orphans adopted by the king.

By her eighteenth year, Maelyn rules over Runa and a family of nine sisters. But some call the princesses frauds and imposters, a handful of urchins raised into royalty. Even Uncle Jarrod, the High King of Grunwold, seems determined to prove that Maelyn no longer deserves to be a princess. With a family losing faith in her, and a kingdom growing dangerously hostile, even Maelyn begins to wonder if she is truly a real princess. And if her riches will turn to rags once again….

This is a perfect short read. It was short enough to move the story along so you don’t get bored but you are left wanting a bit more. The story has just enough royal drama to make it interesting but not make you feel overwhelmed. I love royal drama in my stories but I can feel overwhelmed by trying to remember who everyone is and what their motives are. This was just the right amount of drama and you could follow the motives of the Uncle’s actions. The story really straddled that line of Young Adult and Middle Grade. I could see both audiences liking it.

The bottom line? Cute! Definitely for fans of Jessica Day George or Shannon Hale.