The Golden Braid

Book info
About the book:
The Golden Braid 

The one who needs rescuing isn't always the one in the tower...
Rapunzel can throw a knife better than any man. She paints beautiful flowering vines on the walls of her plaster houses. She sings so sweetly she can coax even a beast to sleep. But there are two things she is afraid her mother might never allow her to do: learn to read and marry.
Fiercely devoted to Rapunzel, her mother is suspicious of every man who so much as looks at her daughter and warns her that no man can be trusted. After a young village farmer asks for Rapunzel's hand in marriage, Mother decides to move them once again---this time, to the large city of Hagenheim.
The journey proves treacherous, and after being rescued by a knight---Sir Gerek---Rapunzel, in turn, rescues him farther down the road. As a result, Sir Gerek agrees to repay his debt to Rapunzel by teaching her to read. Could there be more to him than his arrogance and desire to marry for riches and position?
As Rapunzel acclimates to life in a new city, she uncovers a mystery that will forever change her life. In this Rapunzel story unlike any other, a world of secrets and treachery are about to be revealed after seventeen years. How will Rapunzel finally take control of her own destiny? And who will prove faithful to a lowly peasant girl with no one to turn to?
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About the author:
Melanie Dickerson is the author of The Healer's Apprentice, a Christy Award finalist and winner of the National Reader's Choice Award for Best First Book. Melanie earned a bachelor's degree in special education from the University of Alabama and has been a teacher and a missionary. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Huntsville, Alabama.
Connect with Melanie: website, Twitter,Facebook, YouTube

What I thought:

I'm a fairy tale girl always ready to escape into a fairy tale romance novel. If it happens to be historically accurate, all the better. The Golden Braid was right up my alley. History, romance, action, and a heroic female character. Rapunzel is a girl who is living a life controlled by her mother. They move often to keep Rapunzel under her mother's control. Her mother is always spouting how men can not be trusted and not allowing Rapunzel her own path. She even works to keep her from learning to read. All that changes on one fateful day while they are once again running from the possibility of change. They are attacked on the road by men, nearly proving to Rapunzel that her mother was right all along. Instead they are rescued by a knight with lofty expectations in life. The two of them are then thrust into a relationship neither of them expected. In a new city Rapunzel sets about trying to find her way in life while uncovering her own past.
The Golden Braid is a magically woven story that keeps you enthralled the entire time. A wonderful retelling of a classic with the authors own creative take on the story. This book is a great read for a young adult or another fairy tale love such as myself.
Did I mention this is book 5 in her fairy tale series? That means there are 4 more I have to find! Find out more here!