A Midwinter's Wedding: A Retelling of the Frog Prince by Melanie Cellier Review

When I finished listening to the Princess Pact on audiobook, I debated whether or not I should listen to A Midwinters Wedding since I have previously read it earlier this year. For a while I thought of skipping over it but in the end but I figured I would write a better review if it was fresh in my head and so I reread it. It also helped that it was a novella and wouldn't take as much time to read as a full novel would. As it turned out I enjoyed it more than I did the first time.

Before beginning I should mention this review has a couple of major spoilers from The Princess Pact. If you plan to read this series in order and don't want any spoilers, then wait a while before reading this review.

Cordelia is one of the many royal siblings from the kingdom of Lanover who are famed for their beauty. However, despite her good looks Cordelia feels unimportant and longs to stand out. She gets her chance when she alone is picked to attend her brother Rafe's wedding to Princess Marie. Feeling that this is her chance to stand out and maybe find true love Cordelia eagerly sets out. Before leaving her cursed sister Celeste give her a golden ball to give to Marie as a wedding gift. Knowing that Celeste's curse makes her foolish Cordelia doesn't pay much attention to the gift even though its supposedly made by a fairy. Upon arriving at Northhelm's palace she overhears a strange conversation and begins to fear that there is danger brewing. However, without solid information no one not even Rafe takes her claims seriously. Well, no one but the strangely frog looking nobleman Ferdinand. With both the Arcadian and Rangmere royals' attending the wedding Cordelia and Ferdinand must uncover this evil plot before it brings disaster to all three kingdoms. 

Out of all three Four Kingdom series novellas this one is probably my favorite. It was more similar to the Frog Prince than Happily Ever Afters was to its original source but still had a lot of changes. For example, Ferdinand is still human man but instead of being cursed to be a frog he is given froggish features like bend legs and bulging eyes. While he does retrieve Cordelia's golden ball from the pond, she accidentally dropped it in he doesn't ask for anything in return. Both build their relationship in a much healthier and believable way than the princess does in the origin story. Ferdinand doesn't demand promises from Cordelia and she in turn doesn't purposely break those promises and throw him against the wall like the original story. They both become friends very easily early on and though she originally thinks his strange looks mean she couldn't be attracted to him she later realizes she is wrong. It is honestly a sweet love story with the message of don't judge a book by its cover at the forefront. 

Cordelia is a good main character who although not selfish like the princess she is based on is a bit attention seeker. But this comes from a part of her wanting to stick out from her more attractive siblings. She feels overshadowed when she is around them and just wants a chance to be stand out from the crowd. I am sure many real-life younger siblings can relate to this feeling all too well. Her and Ferdinands romance reminded me a bit more of Beauty and the Beast then it did the Frog Prince. An example of this could be when Ferdinand saved Cordelia's life (although it wasn't from wolves) just like the beast saved Belle in the Disney movie. But overall, at the end of the day it was a frog prince story at its heart. Ferdinand was such a wonderful character that there were times I wanted to give Ferdinand a pat on the back. He believed Cordelia when she told him of the suspicious conversations, she had been overhearing and looked into them which helped save the day when no one else did. And it was a good thing he did for while the villain's plan is pretty simple it was an effective one. It can be safe to say that no one would be any wiser if his plan fell through. 

Overall, this last Four Kingdoms series novella was well written. It's a shame Melanie Cellier hasn't written any other novellas for they are quick easy reads to enjoy in-between the longer books. I give this story 4.5 out of 5 stars. Some might consider this too high a rating for such a short retelling, but I honestly enjoyed this book very much and stand by my rating. Until next time. E.V.A.