Rosaline's Curse by Katharine Campbell

Campbell has provided readers with another engaging modern fairy tale loosely in the style of Sleeping Beauty. Mark, studying forensic anthropology, is called to the scene of an old castle and what appears to be a perfectly preserved body. When he touches the body, Rosaline is awakened from a nearly 800 year sleep. Adventure ensues.

We'd like to think magical beings don't exist but Rosaline knows otherwise. She was once engaged to a man in 1227 she thought she loved but turned out to be horrible. Then her life got worse when she was cursed to a centuries long sleep. Perhaps most disconcerting was the fact that, when she awoke in 2017, her evil ex was alive and present too. Rosaline thinks she knows how to end the curse of bad things happening in her life. With Mark by her side, they journey off to right a wrong.

What a fun tale. Rosaline is a great heroine. She is fearless in her efforts, starting with learning English. She is also a bit reckless, living life to the fullest extent, often to the dismay of her sidekick, Mark. He's a good hero with a suitable calmness to Rosaline's intensity. The evil fairies are, well, evil and not behaving as fairies should.

The plot is entertaining but what I liked most about the novel is Campbell's writing style. She is a witty and clever writer. The dialogue is fun. The setting and action are described well. While the action went back and forth from 2017 to 1227 at times, the narrative flowed well. The historical scenes worked well to help us understand the current situation. This is the second tale by Campbell I have read. While I did not find as many interesting theological allusions in this novel as I did in the first one, I still enjoyed it, wondering if in the end true love would win.

You can read my review of the earlier tale from Campbell, Love, Treachery, and Other Terrors.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Katharine Campbell is a humor lover and writer of fairy tales. She is a homeschool graduate from New Jersey and published her first book, a children's novel, at age nineteen. She studied entertainment media at John Paul the Great University in San Diego, where she met her husband. She returned with him to his home state of Washington. You can find out more about her and her work at https://katysfables.com/. 

Katy's Fables, 264 pages.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the author. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)