Fate be Changed: what if Merida took the spell instead?

Fate Be Changed by Farrah Rochon is the latest addition to The Twisted Tale series. What if Merida received a different spell? As a princess of Clan DunBroch, Merida knows she has certain requirements and obligations. She begrudgingly follows through each one until the topic of her betrothal is brought up. She finds herself in a battle of wills with her mother, Queen Elinor. Merida follows the wisps to a hidden witch’s cottage. There she is given a spell in the form of a pastry to give to her mother. However, Merida eats the pastry herself and finds herself in the past. To a time when the Clans MacCameron and DunBrich are bitter enemies and teenage Elinor is betrothed to another and has not met Fergus DunBroch. Merida now races against time to bridge the rival clans, get her parents to fall in love and return to her own time. 

Fate Be Changed is a great addition to the Twisted Tale series. Brave (2012) is one of my favorite Pixar movies and I looked forward to reading this twisted tale. From the opening chapter to the closing pages, this story is a wild adventure. As with the movie, in this story, there is more than just the changing of Queen Elinor to see Merida’s point of view. Merida sees her parents as more than just her parents with their rules and regulations. She begins to see her mother as a young girl who fought her own battles for the life she wanted. She also realizes that there’s more to her parents and her family that she did not know. There is the added drama of a plot against the king and Elinor and Merida must expose the plot to save their futures. I enjoyed and highly recommend Fate Be Changed. 

Fate Be Changed is available in hardcover and eBook

The Dream Daughter: what will a mother do to protect her child?

The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain is the story of one mother’s fight to save her unborn daughter. The story opens in 1965 where Caroline “Carly” Grant is an intern at a physical therapy facility where a mysterious man named Hunter Poole insists that she be his physical therapist. This man is strange and seems familiar with information that puzzles Carly. Fast forward to April 1970, Carly is a widowed pregnant woman who is being seen by her doctor. Her husband, Joe, has been killed in Vietnam and she is staying with her older sister, Patti and brother-in-law, Hunter. The doctor reveals that her baby has a serious heart defect and would not survive outside the womb. Soon she will hear a story from Hunter that will blow her mind and possibly give her baby a chance. Hunter is from the future and his idea will send Carly to the future to a time of medical advancements to save her unborn daughter. Will Carly take the chance? Will her baby survive? Will she be able to return home?

I received a copy of The Dream Daughter from NetGalley for my honest review. It took a while for me to be able to sit down and read but once I did, I could not put it down. From the open chapter to the last page, the story of Carly’s journey to save her baby gripped me that I couldn’t wait to see how it ended. It is a beautiful story with twists and turns. It wasn’t the story I was expecting, it was so much more. Just when you think you have it figured out, you found out that you don’t. My favorite line from the book, which sums up the story for me, is “The love of a mother could make a hero out of everyday woman.” I highly recommend The Dream Daughter!

The Dream Daughter

is available in all formats at all major booksellers