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Title: Once upon a Rose by Nora Roberts, Jill Gregory, Ruth Langan, Marianne Willman ISBN: 0-515-13166-0 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: 03 October, 2001 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.44 (16 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Well written and enchanting
Comment: Okay, I admit it. I'm a sucker for a good fairy tale. We all grew up hearing the stories of the prince who comes and rescues the beautiful princess from the evil queen. Now that I'm older, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm still attracted to those kind of stories. And that's why I absolutely loved Nora Roberts' "Once Upon A Rose". She, along with authors Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan and Marianne Willman weave four enchanting tales of wicked queens, handsome princes and magical creatures.
The first story, "Winter Rose" is written by Nora Roberts. It's the tale of Prince Kylar of Myrdon who wonders into a mythical land cursed with eternal winter. The prince has been injured in battle and is on the brink of death when he is rescued by Deidre, Queen of the Isle of Winter, who because of the curse cannot love. Kylar falls in love with Deidre and vows to find a way to break the curse.
The second story, "The Rose and the Sword" by Jill Gregory revolves around Brittany, the long lost princess of Palladrin, thought to have been murdered along with her family by Darius, the evil wizard. Hidden by a kind wizard and by Queen Elysia, Brittany has grown up knowing nothing of her family and that she is the rightful heir to Palladrin. Two days before her 20th birthday, Queen Elysia tells Brittany, really Britta, that a spell was cast when she was a child to protect her from Darius. The spell though, only lasts until her 20th birthday and that after then Darius will be able to see her and will try to kill her. To prevent this, Brittany must seek out and marry her betrothed Prince Lucius of Marric, who holds the Jeweled Sword. She also has to find the Rose Scepter. Together, the Jeweled Sword and the Rose Scepter can defeat Darius and reunite the kingdom of Palladrin.
The third story, "The Rose of Glenross" is by Ruth Ryan Langan It's set in war-torn Ballycrue, Scotland. Duncan McKay, a warrior has just saved Alexa MacCallum from the same fate as her family when he is wounded. When he wakes, he's in the care of kind nuns of the Abbey of Glenross. Also there Alexa, the young woman he saved. She speaks to no-one and tends to the rose gardens day in and day out. The only "person" she ever speaks to is Lady Anne, the ghost who haunts the Abbey waiting for her true love to return to her. Can Duncan heal Alexa's wounds as well as his own. And will Lady Anne's love ever return? I'm not telling. :)
The fourth and final story in the book is my favorite. "The Fairest Rose" by Marianne Willman begins with the fair Deidre, nine months pregnant awaiting the arrival of her love, Prince Gilmore of Airan, recently victorious in battle and appointed new King of Airan. Deidre knows that when he returns her and Gilmore will marry and will become a family. On his return though, Deidre discovers that a spell's been cast on him to forget her by his new wife, Queen Bryn. Deidre has been cursed by Bryn as well and gives birth to a girl, Rosaleen, before she dies. To protect the child from Queen Bryn, Deidre asks Elva, the village wisewoman, to cast a spell on Rosaleen so that those who would do her harm forget her. The spell can only be broken by her true love. As it so happens, years later, Tor,a warrior of royal blood, travels to Airan in hopes of winning the hand of the King's daughter, Prince Camaris as well as half of the King's land. The only way he can do this is to bring back the egg of the legendary Phoenix. And the only person who can help him is young Rosaleen, who is madly in love with him.
I thouroughly enjoyed this novel and would suggest it to anyone who loves a good fairy tale or love story in general.
Gennie Bailey-Rogers
Rating: 3
Summary: ehh...ok
Comment: It started out well enough with "Winter Rose", but, as many other reviewers have said, it had a lot of eery parallels to "Beauty and the Beast". Also, towards the end, I was confused at how the turnaround came so fast, without reason. How did summer all of a sudden come to the island?
"The Sword and the Rose" I liked, except for the fact that it ended way too fast. I thought that they would have spent more time finding the Rose staff or whatever it's called. And the climax was very short and the story cut off right after. It made me think that they thought they were in love because they went through an ordeal. I wasn't at all sure of their feelings for each other.
"The Roses of Glenross"...wow...that majorly sucked. I really hate to be this blunt, but the storyline could have been much better. First of all, I don't believe that they would have everlasting love from seeing each other for one second on the battlefield. And making love before they're married in a convent?! That was misplaced in my opinion. It just seemed that the concept of roses was too forcefully tied into the main storyline.
"The Fairest Rose" is ok. However, I didn't like the fact that Deirdre died and that Rosaleen didn't get to live like a princess. At least not in the story as written. The bit about them going for the phoenix was too mythological. It weirded me out. I don't get why the King doesn't feel more sad for finding out that the Queen killed his love. That was disappointing. He just stated that Rosaleen was his daughter and that Deirdre's death had something to do with the Queen, but dammit!! There was no punishment, no anger, no expressing his lasting love for Deirdre. And I still wasn't sure if the guy really loved Rosaleen because he seemed VERY infatuated with the princess. But all of a sudden, he finds Rosaleen irresistable. Who knows if he'll decide that that's an infatuation too?
Confusing, a bit flat, but overall enjoyable.
Rating: 2
Summary: Contrived and rushed
Comment: I love romantic anthologies, and while some are naturally better than others, I'm generally not disappointed. Until now, that is. I had no preconceived notions about the "Rose" stories, except that they would all feature roses, obviously. I was a bit taken aback at the "magic and mythology" involved-- not just in one story, but in ALL of them. As one other reviewer noted, the Nora Roberts story is almost a rip-off of the Beauty & the Beast story. (I also remember another fairy tale about a kingdom, complete with beautiful princess,hidden by an impenetrable forest of roses; very similar to the concept of the "ice island" hidden from the rest of the world in Roberts' story... can't remember the name of it, tho.) "The Sword and the Rose" and also the "ROse of Glenross" both started slowly and then suddenly were at a climactic moment (no pun intended). I'm not sure why these stories should be so awkward and contrived.... other anthology stories I've read have no problem being well-paced and balanced. Perhaps these well-known authors didn't put in the amount of time necessary to produce a quality story, but instead just wanted to "get it done"-??
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Title: Once Upon a Kiss by Nora Roberts, Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan, Marianne Willman ISBN: 0515133868 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Once upon a Midnight by Nora Roberts, Ruth Ryan Langan, Marianne Willman, Jill Gregory ISBN: 0515136190 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Little Magic by Nora Roberts ISBN: 0425183181 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: From the Heart by Nora Roberts ISBN: 0515119652 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: November, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Key of Knowledge by Nora Roberts ISBN: 0515136379 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: 25 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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