Princess of the Midnight Ball -- Jessica Day George

I've always been a fan of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" as a story.  The written version, sure, but also that episode of Faerie Tale Theatre* -- it was one of my ultra-faves (which is really saying something). 

I always loved that the hero was actually resourceful (rather than just accidentally saving the day or simply following directions or whatever), and Jessica Day George's Galen Werner in Princess of the Midnight Ball is resourceful as resourceful can be:

He had been working with the soldiers since his eighth birthday:  fetching powder and shot, reloading rifles and pistols, carrying messages from the generals to the field marshals.  He could shoot a rifle or pistol, use a bayonet, peel potatoes, splint a brokenleg, shine boots, wash shirts, and knit his own socks.  He could also spit six feet with great accuracy, swear like the best of the sergeants, and scream insults at the Analousians in their own tongue.  His father had been very proud.

So the war ends and Galen eventually gets a job as a gardener in the royal gardens.  Where he promptly falls in love with the eldest of the twelve princesses.  Now, normally, a soldier-turned-gardener wouldn't have a chance to win the hand of a princess.  But this situation, as those of you who are familiar with the story know, is not at all normal.

I really enjoyed this one.  Not just because it was a retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales, but because I genuinely liked the hero and the heroines, because the eleven younger sisters didn't all blend together (though I will admit that most of them had a "thing" that made them stand apart from the others, but they were still all likable), because Jessica Day George threw in some unexpected twists while still staying true to the basics of the source material and because there were parts that were genuinely creepy -- the girls aren't sneaking off to dance because they want to -- they are sneaking off to dance because they're cursed.  And those creepy scenes are offset really nicely by Galen and Rose's blooming romance. 

So, yeah.  Not super deep or difficult or ground-breaking -- just nice and comfortable with some dark undertones and shivers.  Recommended to the fairy-tale-re-write/fantasy-that-feels-like-historical-fiction crowd.

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*Peter Weller!  With a ridiculous moustache!  And that lady from Poltergeist!

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Booklists/pairings: Fiber arts save the day.

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Previously:

Wildwood Dancing (different author, but another retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses)