Middle Grades Pick: Rose and the Lost Princess

Rose and the Lost Princess
by Holly Webb
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
2014
272 pages
ISBN: 9781402285844



Magical, mysterious, glorious, gutsy, and mesmerizing, readers will love the magical plot and masterful storytelling. Rose is a character who is quirky and winsome; an orphan with moxie and spirit who will steal your heart!

From the captivating cover to the poetic and pitch perfect prose, Rose and the Lost Princess is a gem. Rose is a maid in the magical home of Aloysius Fountain, a master magician. He has agreed to tutor her in the magical arts along with housemate Freddie. Gus the cat is a constant curmudgeonly companion and Rose loves his sassy, purrfect (pun intended) demeanor. The other servants are either afraid of Rose thinking she might be some sort of witch or they are jealous of her new status in the household. Rose considers running away but is talked out of it by Mr. Fountain.

Winter comes early to London and with a vengeance; gossips believe it unnatural, perhaps even an evil spell. They begin blaming magicians and Parliament considers locking up all magical folk.  The King is worried about the safety of his daughter, the princess. His guards can't seem to keep her safe, so the King asks Mr. Fountain for Rose's services. Rose will pose as the princess's personal maid but secretly be a spy for the king and a magical bodyguard for the princess.  Princess Jane plays along at first, but tells Rose that she knows she knows that Rose is not just a normal maid.

There is magic afoot, but it's not of Rose's doing and the Princess is in real danger. Will Mr. Fountain and Freddie be able to uncover the dark forces? Can they recover the lost princess? Will Rose be found out as the imposter that she is? Can magic save the kingdom after all?

Readers who love a magical mystery will love Rose and the Lost Princess.

Highly, highly recommended grade 4-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the arc from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Book Giveaway and Blog Tour: Rose and the Lost Princess

Rose and the Lost Princess
by Holly Webb
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
2014

I have ONE copy of this fab new read by Holly Webb. For your chance to win, post a comment on this blog. Please include first name, city, state and email contact. The winner will be chosen randomly by Randomizer. Deadline for posts is Tuesday, April 15 at noon MST. The winner will be notified on that date; please check your email shortly after noon MST on April 15. The winner has 24 hours to contact me. The publisher will ship to Canada and U.S. addresses. Good luck and start posting! Book giveaway now OPEN.

Join the blog tour:

Tu April 1 Bonnie Wagner A Backwards Story http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/
Wed April 2 Heidi Grange Geo Librarian http://geolibrarian.blogspot.com/
Th April 3 Suzanne Costner The Fairview Review http://fveslibrary.blogspot.com
Fri April 4 Pamela Thompson YA Books - What We're Reading Now booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com
Sat April 5 Kristen Harvey The Book Monsters www.thebookmonsters.com
Sun April 6 Jessica Nottingham Hopeless Bibliophile www.hopelessbibliophile.com

Mon April 7 Stephanie Turner Cover 2 Cover Blog www.cover2coverblog.blogspot.com
Tues April 8 Sharon Schmidt Tyler Sharon the Librarian http://sstwriting.blogspot.com/
Wed April 9 Dena Batch of Books www.batchofbooks.com
Th April 10 Aeicha Word Spelunking http://wordspelunking.blogspot.com/
Fri April 11 Kelly Hager Kelly Vision http://kellyvision.wordpress.com/
Sat April 12 Karen Nelson Central MN Mom http://centralmnmom.com/
Sun April 13 Sarit Coffe & Books & Art http://sarityahalomi.blogspot.com/

Mon April 14 Sara Grochowski The Hiding Spot http://thehidingspot.blogspot.com
Tues April 15 Deborah Debz Bookshelf http://debzbookshelf.blogspot.com/
Wed April 16 Tiffany Erickson Miss Tiff Reads www.misstiffreads.blogspot.com
Th April 17 Teri Crosby Snarky Mamma http://snarkymamma.blogspot.com/
Fri April 18 Lory Widmer Emerald City Book Review http://emeraldcitybookreview.blogspot.com/
Sat April 19 Debbie Alvarez The Styling Librarian http://thestylinglibrarian.com/
Sun April 20 Erin Al-Mehairi Hook of a Book http://hookofabook.wordpress.com/

Mon April 21 Orsayor Young-Simmons Book Referees http://bookreferees.blogspot.com/
Tues April 22 Megan T Inspired by Fiction http://inspiredbyfiction.blogspot.com/
Wed April 23 Kyra Morris Blog of a Bookaholic http://blogofabookaholic.blogspot.com/
Th April 24 Jenny Wondrous Reads http://www.wondrousreads.com/
Fri April 25 Tanya Johnson Tanya's Book Nook http://tanyasbooknook.blogspot.com
Sat April 26 Pam Torres Madison and Cooper's Blog http://www.madisonmorgan11.com/madisonmorgan11.com/Home.html
Sun April 27 Allie In Bed With Books http://inbedwithbooks.blogspot.com

Mon April 28 Erin PreFontaine Jump Into Books http://jumpintobooks.blogspot.com/
Tues April 29 Amanda One Momma Saving Money http://www.onemommasavingmoney.com/
Wed April 30 Natalie Literary Rambles http://www.literaryrambles.com/
Th May 1 Hope Clippinger Hope to Read www.hopetoread.com
Fri May 2 Ashley P. Tales of Mommyhood www.talesofmommyhood.com
Saturday May 3 Marcie Turner To Read or Not To Read http://www.toreadornottoread.net
Sunday May 4 Rubina Ramesh The Book Club - Rubina Ramesh http://rubinaramesh.blogspot.com/

Mon May 5 Sheila Ruth Wands and Worlds http://blog1.wandsandworlds.com/

From the Publisher:

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

ISBN: 9781402285844; April 1,2014; $6.99; U.S.; Juvenile Fiction/Independent Reader; Trade Paper

About Rose and the Lost Princess: Rose’s whole life has changed in a matter of weeks. She’s gone from being a lonely orphan to a magician’s apprentice, though she’s learned that power comes at a price. Even Rose’s friends don’t seem to trust her anymore, especially when rumors of dark magic begin to swirl through the city.

Then the country’s beloved princess vanishes, and the king asks Rose for her help. She must find the missing princess and put a stop to the evil magician behind the kidnapping… before all is lost.

About the Author: Holly was born and grew up in southeast London but spent a lot of time on the Suffolk coast. As a child, she had two dogs, a cat, and at one point, nine gerbils (an accident). At about ten, Holly fell in love with stories from Ancient Greek myths, which led to studying university. She worked for five years as a children’s fiction editor before deciding that writing was more fun and easier to do from a sofa. Now living in Reading with her husband, three sons, and two cats, Holly runs a Guide unit. The Rose books stem from a childhood love of historical novels and the wish that animals really could talk.