Princess Giselle is traveling with a delegation to Eliam to strengthen diplomatic ties and maybe even make a match with Prince Percy. Her plans and hopes are derailed when her ship hits a storm and starts to take on water. The crew decides to let her ashore with her immediate staff and her magic talking horse, Arvin, while they go for repairs. She has barely lost her sea legs, when the group is under attack, and she narrowly escapes with her maid Sierra and Arvin. Sierra convinces her to trade places, "for her own safety" and pretend to be the maid, while Sierra takes the role of princess. Of course, it is a trick, and Giselle finds herself relegated to serving as a goose girl while her maid pretends to be her. A magic spell keeps her from telling her true identity, but nothing can stop her from trying to save both the kingdom of Eliam and her own kingdom's reputation by putting a stop to Sierra's plan. With the help of the handsome and mysterious Philip and her ever faithful Arvin, she hopes to earn her place as a real princess.
After reading the much heavier Speak novel, I was ready for something light, so I chose this title, thinking it was the next in the Four Kingdoms saga. It turns out I missed a whole intermediate series, (Beyond the Four Kingdoms) so I was a bit lost with the backstory on this one. It didn't ruin the book. It is still a good story with likeable characters and a decently complex plot. It is classic Cellier. Her heroines and heroes are all pretty similar, but it had been long enough since I read one of her books that I was able to enjoy one again. I read Shannon Hale's Goose Girl recently enough that it was fun to compare how they treated the original fairytale. Hale's was probably the better book overall, but I was happy about a few of the changes Cellier made. It was just about at the right level of teen fantasy fluff to sooth my mind and soul after the heartrending Speak. (370 p. 2020)
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