Title: Dancing and Doughnuts
Series: Once Upon a Western (Book #2)
Year: 2018
Author: Rachel Kovaciny
Summary: Twelve Dancing Princesses… reimagined.
Fifty dollars just for asking a few questions? Jedediah Jones figures it must be his lucky day. What dancing and doughnuts have to do with anything, he neither knows nor cares. He’s only interested in earning that money so he can finally eat something other than the apples he's been living off for days. Once his stomach and his pockets are filled again, he plans to move on.
But answering the advertisement plunges him into a forest of painted trees, twelve pretty sisters, trouble, and more trouble. And, yes, doughnuts.
So many doughnuts.
Can Jedediah Jones solve the mystery and earn that fifty dollars when the whole town has failed? Or will the twelve sisters lose their family's business no matter what he does?
Fifty dollars just for asking a few questions? Jedediah Jones figures it must be his lucky day. What dancing and doughnuts have to do with anything, he neither knows nor cares. He’s only interested in earning that money so he can finally eat something other than the apples he's been living off for days. Once his stomach and his pockets are filled again, he plans to move on.
But answering the advertisement plunges him into a forest of painted trees, twelve pretty sisters, trouble, and more trouble. And, yes, doughnuts.
So many doughnuts.
Can Jedediah Jones solve the mystery and earn that fifty dollars when the whole town has failed? Or will the twelve sisters lose their family's business no matter what he does?
Main Characters:
~ Jedediah Jones
~ Alice
~ Cooper
~ Clara
~ Jedediah Jones
~ Alice
~ Cooper
~ Clara
Review: Have you ever wanted that basically perfect fairytale retelling that just crackled with originality and spunk? Well, this is it. This book absolutely blew me away. I loved it sooooo much.
Jedediah Jones is new in town -- and he intends to make it a quick stay. He's running from awful memories of the Civil War, and he doesn't want to stay in one spot long enough to allow the memories to catch up. The problem is, he's short of money so he needs to pick up an odd job or two to keep his pockets full until the next town.
And what an odd job he finds. A family of twelve girls offering a $50 reward to anyone who can solve the mystery of the spiked apple cider. A mystery that's threatening to close down the family dance hall and doughnut business.
Rachel doesn't give you anytime to get bored in this book. It's fast-paced and intriguing. I read the whole thing in one sitting. I will admit I figured out the spiking culprit pretty early on, but I was completely hooked on trying to figure out how my conclusion would play out. The book began with a very strong flavor of the original twelve dancing princesses tale. Now, in my experience, when a retelling begins that way, the elements of the original tale kinda fade away and get lost in the author trying to be original, but Rachel kept the fairytale vibe strong until the end.
And all the two thumbs up for including the original fairy tale elements. I was wondering how Rachel was going to get the silver and gold forest in here -- but she did and amazed me at doing so in the process. There's lots of dancing, some worn out shoes (even though Jones's love interest has the impeccable and lovable tendency to go barefoot), a proper mystery, an inquisitive ex-soldier, and plenty of fun. I loved getting a glimpse at more than one sister; twelve dancing princesses retellings tend to only focus on the eldest sister, but with this one we got a close-up of at least three. I'd love to see some spin-offs on some of the other girls' adventures.
My biggest problem with this book was the amount of food discussed. Particularly the homemade doughnuts. I was so hungry when I finished, and there were no doughnuts at hand to snack on. Very disappointing.
It's not every day you get an epic fairytale retelling like this, and if you're any kind of fairytale retelling enthusiast (or a fan of a fun, western read), this book HAS to be on your list PRONTO. You will not regret it. I want to read everything this author has written.
Jedediah Jones is new in town -- and he intends to make it a quick stay. He's running from awful memories of the Civil War, and he doesn't want to stay in one spot long enough to allow the memories to catch up. The problem is, he's short of money so he needs to pick up an odd job or two to keep his pockets full until the next town.
And what an odd job he finds. A family of twelve girls offering a $50 reward to anyone who can solve the mystery of the spiked apple cider. A mystery that's threatening to close down the family dance hall and doughnut business.
Rachel doesn't give you anytime to get bored in this book. It's fast-paced and intriguing. I read the whole thing in one sitting. I will admit I figured out the spiking culprit pretty early on, but I was completely hooked on trying to figure out how my conclusion would play out. The book began with a very strong flavor of the original twelve dancing princesses tale. Now, in my experience, when a retelling begins that way, the elements of the original tale kinda fade away and get lost in the author trying to be original, but Rachel kept the fairytale vibe strong until the end.
And all the two thumbs up for including the original fairy tale elements. I was wondering how Rachel was going to get the silver and gold forest in here -- but she did and amazed me at doing so in the process. There's lots of dancing, some worn out shoes (even though Jones's love interest has the impeccable and lovable tendency to go barefoot), a proper mystery, an inquisitive ex-soldier, and plenty of fun. I loved getting a glimpse at more than one sister; twelve dancing princesses retellings tend to only focus on the eldest sister, but with this one we got a close-up of at least three. I'd love to see some spin-offs on some of the other girls' adventures.
My biggest problem with this book was the amount of food discussed. Particularly the homemade doughnuts. I was so hungry when I finished, and there were no doughnuts at hand to snack on. Very disappointing.
It's not every day you get an epic fairytale retelling like this, and if you're any kind of fairytale retelling enthusiast (or a fan of a fun, western read), this book HAS to be on your list PRONTO. You will not regret it. I want to read everything this author has written.
Advisory: Really nothing. This is probably one of the cleanest reads I've had ever. A few characters suggest that the spiked cider may present problems with the girls being "improper" but that's all that's ever mentioned. And obviously, some consumption of and discussion of alcohol, but I would have no worries handing this book to my nine-year-old sister.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
*Please note: I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
Squeee! So happy you liked it, Kiri Liz!
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