Image of the book cover found on the internet.

I was perusing the online bookstore looking for things to read (preferably free) when I came across ~. I opened the digital book and scanned the first few pages posted online. I like this aspect of online book stores. You can get a lot of information from the first few pages of the book, though sometimes they can be deceiving. This time they struck a cord and I decided I really wanted to read this story. Only it wasn’t free. So I dithered over spending a whole $1.28 on the purchase. Since I am writing this review, I obviously did buy the book.

A Stolen Kiss by Kelsey Keating was exactly what the opening pages promised. It was a fairy-tale. Only, it didn’t stick just two one specific story. Instead it took elements of witches and wizards, of dark forests and magical creatures, of spells and curses and wove everything together into something new with a comfortable familiar feeling.

In this story we had a swan princesses and a newly wakened sorcerer. The story focuses on Princess Maria and apparent stable hand Daniel (also known as Derric, the son of the evil sorceress Gilda). They travel on a quest to free Maria of her swan-transformation curse with Prince Humphrey and Sarah. Humphrey is Maria’s betrothed. He is the younger prince of another kingdom with dreams of becoming an actor and marrying the girl he loves (who is not Maria). Sarah is Maria’s lady’s maid and Derric’s younger sister.

Only, as things are never quite what they seem, it turns out that Derric is not at all related to Sarah. Further, Sarah’s mother is not her biological parent (though her father really is her father). Yes, it is complicated, but the very best part is the strength of the relationship between the siblings. Even when they discover the truth of their bloodlines, Sarah states quite clearly that family is more than just blood, it is the people you love. And that doesn’t change. They are still siblings at the end of the story, fond of each other as close siblings can be.

I was also fond of Humphrey and his mysterious girlfriend. Who, in a surprising twist, was with them all the time. Well, sort of. Actually, for all the twists and reveals that came at the climatic end, it worked. Everything had been appropriately foreshadowed throughout the story so that nothing came from nowhere, even though much of it was a surprise.

A Stolen Kiss was a well written youth novel. I like the fairy-tale elements, which in the end support the strength of all the characters. For all the princess starts as the quintessential damsel in distress, she ends the story as her own strength and power. She returns to her kingdom, not to be married off to another prince who will then rule, but to rule herself. In fact, the author does a rather good job of marrying classic fairy-tale elements with modern ideals of equality.

The only drawback is the intended audience. This is clearly a young person story for ages 12 – 16 years old. Everything is spelled out neatly (and rather blatantly). But it is well done as a story. It is clean, crisp and engaging. While I might prefer a mode adult version, this is a good book and one I could easily recommend.