Book Review: Fairytale Beginnings
4 stars for Fairytale Beginnings by Holly Martin
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- The Book Depository
I read Holly's Tied Up With Love at the beginning of this year and it has been one of my favourite 2014 reads, so it's no surprise that I was very excited to read Fairytale Beginnings.
God knows Holly Martin is one of my favourite people on twitter. She's such a delightful person I just want to squish her!
One of Holly Martin's strengths is creating absolutely delightful characters who you can't help but route for. I was in both Milly's and Cameron's corner from the start, cheering them on, or screaming at them when they were being stupid.
We first meet Milly as she's on her way to Clover Castle and her car, brilliantly named as Dick, breaks down. It's far from an idealistic start for Milly as she comes face to face with some odd villagers. Luckily that's all forgotten the moment she comes face to chest with the beautiful castle owner, Cameron.
Milly works for a company named Castle Heritage that takes on castles to renovate to their former glory. Milly's job exists out of finding out whether Clover Castle is up to Castle Heritage's standards. What she didn't expect was to find herself in a Disney style castle completely with turrets and hidden passages.
With a Disney castle and a Lord in her life, could Milly find a happy ending?
Cameron has unexpectedly inherited a castle and a title of Lord, but what do you do with all of that? Loaded with debts he asks for the help of Castle Heritage, hoping they can save him from an enormous pile of unpaid bills. But what he didn't expect was Milly to arive.
Cameron is intrigued by the girl with the pink tipped hair and almost puppy-like approach to life. In Milly's world everything, like her hair, seems pink tinted. He finds himself dragged into Milly's excitement about the castle and pulled towards this beautiful stranger.
With his own castle growing on him and Milly as a breath of fresh air, could Cameron find a happy ending?
But when you both have had bad experiences how much are you willing to risk?
I was absolutely in love with the setting of this story. A Disney castle with secret passages, ghosts and an entire bloodline worth of stories...it doesn't get any more magical than this. But not just the castle, also the village was great! Even if that meant having to deal with 'Oogie' chanting villagers. The setting was as much a character in this book as Milly and Cameron.
However, it took me a while to take to their relationship. As much as I was routing for both characters individually, their instant relationship couldn't woo me just yet. In many ways I agree with what Ana said in her review. They seemed to jump into something way too quickly. Several times their personal mantras 'I was hurt too many times before, no more this time' kept being repeated over and over again. But every time it seemed to fall void as they threw it overboard within a split second after thinking it.
I couldn't feel their connection, it felt slightly too sudden for them to be so in love already. I didn't have any trouble in believing there to be an immediate sexual/physical attraction but it felt like there wasn't any difference between physical and emotional attraction. It was too easily considered as an equal sort of emotion. We are told repeatedly that they both have emotional baggage and have a bad history when it comes to their previous love affairs, so when they fall almost head over heels in love with each other after a handful of encounters, I couldn't relate to it, it felt too sudden and a little unreasonable.
I needed a little bit more of foreplay before I could relate to their relationship.
But eventually it slowed down a little and then I found my key moment (the moment that I needed for it to feel real to me) and from then on I started to feel a fluttering in my heart. I was officially routing for them to be together!
Fairytale Beginnings is an absolute fairytale, which means that it does skim across a few cliché topics but in a way it only adds to the vibe of story. It had an incredibly big Disney vibe (which I absolutely loved, as I have an infinite love for anything Disney), so it's almost a must to have a nemesis or a character that brings doom and despair.
Cue Olivia, Cameron's PA, who wants to protect Cameron from further heart ache. She might seem innocent and sweet and Cameron might trust her, but don't let that deceive you, because this woman's on a mission. She wants her boss and friend to be careful in this new relationship and doesn't want him to repeat previous mistakes, or is there more to it than that? Why is she so two-faced in Milly's presence? And why is she not giving Cameron all the information he needs when it comes to the castle?
Oh, Olivia made my blood boil, I disliked her a lot
but she's exactly that what makes her the character this story needed to balance it out. She was the catalyst to get this story rolling and make it reach its climax.
Holly has a great knowledge of how a story is build up and what belongs where. She's a brilliant author with a great feeling for romance stories and steamy male protagonists. Fairytale Beginnings was a lovely story with a strong Disney feel to it that will leave you with a soaring heart.
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- The Book Depository
Fairytale Beginnings: A heartwarming romantic comedy
Love is an open door…except when it keeps slamming in your face.
Hopeless romantic Milly Rose has had her fair share of heartbreak. Obsessed with all things Disney, she refuses to give up on finding her Prince Charming – he’s out there somewhere, isn’t he?
When Milly is given a job to investigate the origins of an historical building in the village of Clovers Rest, she’s not sure what to expect. What she discovers takes her breath away - a beautiful real life Cinderella castle, complete with turrets, a magnificent drawbridge AND a very handsome owner…Cameron Heartstone.
As Milly and Cameron begin to unearth the secrets of Clover Castle, they can’t ignore the intense chemistry building between them. But they’ve both been hurt badly before. Can they take a big leap of faith and find their own happily-ever-after?
Source: Goodreads
I read Holly's Tied Up With Love at the beginning of this year and it has been one of my favourite 2014 reads, so it's no surprise that I was very excited to read Fairytale Beginnings.
God knows Holly Martin is one of my favourite people on twitter. She's such a delightful person I just want to squish her!
One of Holly Martin's strengths is creating absolutely delightful characters who you can't help but route for. I was in both Milly's and Cameron's corner from the start, cheering them on, or screaming at them when they were being stupid.
We first meet Milly as she's on her way to Clover Castle and her car, brilliantly named as Dick, breaks down. It's far from an idealistic start for Milly as she comes face to face with some odd villagers. Luckily that's all forgotten the moment she comes face to chest with the beautiful castle owner, Cameron.
Milly works for a company named Castle Heritage that takes on castles to renovate to their former glory. Milly's job exists out of finding out whether Clover Castle is up to Castle Heritage's standards. What she didn't expect was to find herself in a Disney style castle completely with turrets and hidden passages.
With a Disney castle and a Lord in her life, could Milly find a happy ending?
Cameron has unexpectedly inherited a castle and a title of Lord, but what do you do with all of that? Loaded with debts he asks for the help of Castle Heritage, hoping they can save him from an enormous pile of unpaid bills. But what he didn't expect was Milly to arive.
Cameron is intrigued by the girl with the pink tipped hair and almost puppy-like approach to life. In Milly's world everything, like her hair, seems pink tinted. He finds himself dragged into Milly's excitement about the castle and pulled towards this beautiful stranger.
With his own castle growing on him and Milly as a breath of fresh air, could Cameron find a happy ending?
But when you both have had bad experiences how much are you willing to risk?
I was absolutely in love with the setting of this story. A Disney castle with secret passages, ghosts and an entire bloodline worth of stories...it doesn't get any more magical than this. But not just the castle, also the village was great! Even if that meant having to deal with 'Oogie' chanting villagers. The setting was as much a character in this book as Milly and Cameron.
However, it took me a while to take to their relationship. As much as I was routing for both characters individually, their instant relationship couldn't woo me just yet. In many ways I agree with what Ana said in her review. They seemed to jump into something way too quickly. Several times their personal mantras 'I was hurt too many times before, no more this time' kept being repeated over and over again. But every time it seemed to fall void as they threw it overboard within a split second after thinking it.
I couldn't feel their connection, it felt slightly too sudden for them to be so in love already. I didn't have any trouble in believing there to be an immediate sexual/physical attraction but it felt like there wasn't any difference between physical and emotional attraction. It was too easily considered as an equal sort of emotion. We are told repeatedly that they both have emotional baggage and have a bad history when it comes to their previous love affairs, so when they fall almost head over heels in love with each other after a handful of encounters, I couldn't relate to it, it felt too sudden and a little unreasonable.
I needed a little bit more of foreplay before I could relate to their relationship.
But eventually it slowed down a little and then I found my key moment (the moment that I needed for it to feel real to me) and from then on I started to feel a fluttering in my heart. I was officially routing for them to be together!
Fairytale Beginnings is an absolute fairytale, which means that it does skim across a few cliché topics but in a way it only adds to the vibe of story. It had an incredibly big Disney vibe (which I absolutely loved, as I have an infinite love for anything Disney), so it's almost a must to have a nemesis or a character that brings doom and despair.
Cue Olivia, Cameron's PA, who wants to protect Cameron from further heart ache. She might seem innocent and sweet and Cameron might trust her, but don't let that deceive you, because this woman's on a mission. She wants her boss and friend to be careful in this new relationship and doesn't want him to repeat previous mistakes, or is there more to it than that? Why is she so two-faced in Milly's presence? And why is she not giving Cameron all the information he needs when it comes to the castle?
Oh, Olivia made my blood boil, I disliked her a lot
but she's exactly that what makes her the character this story needed to balance it out. She was the catalyst to get this story rolling and make it reach its climax.
Holly has a great knowledge of how a story is build up and what belongs where. She's a brilliant author with a great feeling for romance stories and steamy male protagonists. Fairytale Beginnings was a lovely story with a strong Disney feel to it that will leave you with a soaring heart.
An absolute charmer that put a smile on my face and left me with a heart filled of love upon finishing.
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