Beholden (The Fairest Maidens Book 1) Kindle Edition

In the Kingdom of Warwick, beauty is a curse to its maidens.In her newest series, Jody Hedlund puts her own, unique spin on a few well-loved fairy tales, with Beholden giving a fresh take on the Cinderella story. Lady Gabriella lost her father, her home, and her freedom to the whims of a cruel queen. Now she and two loyal servants waste away in Queen Margery’s failing gem mine. Prince Vilmar of Scania wants to prove he deserves his father’s throne more than his brothers. In order to secure his position, he submits to an ancient testing. He willingly enters the mines under a false identity, unsure of the cryptic instructions given to him.When I learned Jody Hedlund had a new Medieval YA series planned I was thrilled. She has such a way with knights, ladies, and devious monarchs! Beholden is packed with romance, more than enough action and hints of a mystery that will have you longing for the rest of the series. Gabriella struggles with vengeance and the price she’ll have to pay for it. Meanwhile, Vilmar must decide to do what he knows is right even though it goes against what he believes is expected of him. The ending promises to tie into the rest of series and I cannot wait to meet back up with Gabriella and Vilmar, hopefully in Beguiled. I also can’t wait to see if my theory about a certain huntsman is correct! If you enjoy fairytale retellings, then you’ll definitely want to check out The Fairest Maidens. I would recommend this book for fans of Melanie Cellier and Melanie Dickerson.I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

First off, this story has Christian undertones. Apparently this author is known for writing Christian fiction. Religion isn't overly stated in this story, but it is present throughout. With that being said, the book is romantically clean with nothing more than kissing between willing partners.This story is quite violent. There are giant rats that attack people, tunnel colapses that cause injuries, a "monster" that violently kills people and animals, and there is a queen who wants the heart of the fairest maiden to use in evil ritual.Though this is the first book in a trilogy, I wasn't pulled into this story enough to want to read the other two books.

I've heard about this book and series, but never picked up until recently. Now I wished I'd read it sooner.This is an enchanting story about love, honor, friendship, loyalty, and justice. It's also a story about righting wrongs and conquering evil.An author who can create a wonderful world that captures your mind and takes you on a journey into the unknown is an author I will read more from. Jody Headline is such an author.This story had wonderful word pictures and left me with tons of feelings.I'm now going to have to pick up the next books in the series, to find out the whole story!If you like fairytales, stories with kings, queens, princes, and princesses, then you will like this story.Oh, and if you like stories where good versus evil, then this is also a book for you.I highly recommend you pick it up!

It took me way too long to read this book, since I had wanted to read it last year when it came out. But I’m so glad I finally read it and now I can’t wait to read the other books in this series! I love Jody Hedlund’s historical fiction, but she is also a master with fairytale inspired novels!This book is adventurous, romantic, and has Cinderella elements to it. I loved Vilmar and Gabriella, and I had a hard time putting the book down because I wanted to know what was going to happen to them! Each book in this series follows a different brother as they undergo a test to see who is the most worthy to be king of their country. Each prince has a different challenge, which keeps things interesting! I’m looking forward to reading the next brother’s story!

I can always depend on this author to provide me with an exciting tale of danger and romance. I love her prince/princess/nobility books. This series is a spin off of her last series which I really enjoyed. These books provide that escape I'm looking for. What can be better than a woman who uses kindness as her primary motivator and a strong, brave, kind prince to fight beside her? Not much. 😍 This is a great start to this new series and I cannot wait to read the next book!

3.5 stars"Slay your enemies with the greatest weapon of all: kindness."It seems that Lady Gabriella has heeded the words of her dear father, even as she slaves her life away deep within queen's gem mines. Her kindness and compassion are well known through-out the Warwick colony; her courage further demonstrated when she runs to prevent a newcomer from falling to his death off a swinging bridge.That very act of selflessness catches the eye of another new arrival, Prince Vilmar of Scania, who has come to work the mines as part of his "testing", having left his true identity behind while he seeks to earn the rule of his own kingdom by learning to "be slave of all". But is becoming a future king worth ignoring the sacrifice that the beautiful Gabriella seems determined to make?"If not for you, I wouldn't have learned how to be a better man."A really sweet story filled with multiple twists and turns, both expected and unexpected. . . . leaving the door open for continuation, and closing the door on what mattered the most.

Although it was a little slow getting started I soon became entranced by the plight of both Vilmar and Gabrielle, not to mention their responses to it. Even though it’s obviously a fairy tale it feels like historical fiction and that makes it both fun and poignantly real. Obstacles are overcome, love blooms, slaves are freed, but the evil Queen is...well...VERY evil and powerful. I know we haven’t seen the last of her yet. Hopefully Vilmar and Gabrielle will return in one of the sequels. I’d like to know the “rest” of the story.

I loved this book it was so exciting I couldn’t put it down but it didn’t end, I don’t know what happens to prince Vilmar and Gabriella or Ty and I am not good with a book not ending so I hope and pray their story continues in the next book as I just have to know who becomes King please Jody May their story continue. I have a hunch it will so can’t wait.