If the first book felt like Michelle Diener was just dipping her toes into fairy tale retelling, The Golden Apple was much more solid and wonderful.

Kayla ans Rane were a great pairing; both had their strengths or course, but again it was Kayla who totally saved everyone's arse. It felt like men were just stumbling under her feet and generally made themselves a nuisance!

Kayla is a princess, whose father declares that whoever reaches her on the glass hill made by a sorcerer and plucks a golden apple from her hand, will marry her and inherit his kingdom. Pissed off with her father's bizarre choice, angry and feeling like she is slowly suffocating, Kayla decides to choose at least her first lover if not a husband and seduces a sweet funny guy she meets at a feast before the tournament.

Only the guy is one of the participants, and his trick ensures that Kayla would choose to help him to reach her above everyone else.

As per synopsis, Rayne is forced to participate to save his brother's life, and he will have to use every trick in the book to win the golden apple. Only when he and Kayla ensure his victory they find out that they both had been played and now need to complete a sorcerer's quest otherwise the golden apple will drive them mad.

Their quest leads them through a dark forest full of wild magic, which Kayla discovers she can use to survive, save Rayne and his brother and defeat the sorcerer. She is a fighter and strategist and she would have done much better if Rane didn't keep her in the dark and try to do everything himself.

This is a dark, fast adventure with a great chemistry between the main characters, which I enjoyed very much. I would recommend it to any fairy tale fantasy fan for a tasty bookish snack. ( )

Fairytale re-telling in a trite, generic YA kind of way. Nothing grabbed me. ( )

As soon as I began reading this book, my mind was taken back to the fractured fairy tales of my childhood. Ah, those cartoon adaptations of the stories we all know and love are some of the greatest out there. This one specifically brought me to one particular story, of a woman trying haphazardly to stay atop quite a slippery sloped mountain of glass. I still chuckle at the thought. So it was with wondrous pleasure that I found this book was indeed based on the story that particular fractured tale was founded from.

Now, if some of you follow my reviews, you will recall that I have read the second book already, The Silver Pear, so I know what happens as the story progresses. And I must say that, unsurprisingly, I did, in fact, like that book better than this first one. I say unsurprisingly because, to me, first books are a bit awkward. In a series, I always say, the first book is a mere introduction of characters and situations, preparing the reader for what is surely to come. Therefore, unlike some movie series, the first book is not as likely to gain as much favoritism as the following ones. However, that does not mean that it cannot happen. I have encountered a few series where the first book held a special place in my heart, and I will likely encounter more in future. Therefore, I always keep an open mind about any first book, allowing them a chance to prove themselves to me.

In The Golden Apple, we are introduced to the characters which will play a leading part in ridding the land of great evil in the second book. We have Kayla, a princess placed on a literal pedestal for her hand in marriage; Rane, a man trying to save his brother from the clutches of a powerful sorcerer; and Soren, though he comes quite a bit later in the story than the other two, Rane's brother, who seeks retribution against all sorcerers for what happened to his father. We are also introduced to the main antagonists of the story: Nuen, the sorcerer who captured Siren; and Eric, the man behind the journey which will ultimately unite Kayla and Rane at first unwillingly, and then gradually closer and closer until they cannot bear harm to happen to each other.

While a lot of the scenes were beautifully written, and, I must admit, of even better quality than the second book, marginally so since some of those scenes were just as good, I felt like something was missing. Maybe it was the fact that I did read the second book first, time crunch issues with doing a review for a blog, but I do not understand why a couple of the lesser characters were not revisited in the second book. This series feels a bit incomplete and Just slightly anticlamactic and probably could have done with a bit more "meat" to the story. Other than that, though, and since this is a review for the first book only, I loved it. Especially the fact that I feel a bit of a kinship toward the main character due to our names being similar. It allows me to immerse myself even more into a story when something like that is factored in. ( )

This is a fairy tale re-telling loosely based on the Norwegian folk tale of the Princess on the Glass Hill. I love a good fairy tale re-telling and this one was great! A very un-typical princess, magic, witches, some romance and a quest round out this tale.

We meet Princess Kayla of Gaynor, she sits atop a magical glass mountain with a strange golden apple in her hand by the order of her father, the King, the first man who can reach the top of the mountain and retrieve the apple from the princess would become her betrothed and inherit half the kingdom. Kayla does not approve of this idea at all, but when Rane shows up, everything changes. Rane needs the apple to save his imprisoned brother, he could care less about the kingdom and the princess. There is an enchantment on the apple, however, placed there by Eric the Bold, a sorcerer. Now Kayla and her reluctantly betrothed, Rane must complete a quest together in order to break the enchantment.

I loved Kayla as a character, as she states "It was time to stop being a princess." Kayla strives to take control of her own life and along her quest with Rane, she finds her own strength and her magical powers. Kayla and Rane's relationship also progressed nicely, they weren't just thrown together and magically in love, but came to grow upon one another and see each other for their strengths and weaknesses as they completed their quest. The Dark Forest was a wonderfully magical setting, turning from dark and fearful, to protecting and welcoming. I seem to be on a witch kick lately, and this fed it wonderfully. I'd love to find out more about Kayla's powers and the earth magic as well. A lot of cliffhangers were left at the end, luckily the next installment of The Silver Pear will continue Kayla and Rane's story.

The Golden Apple was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )

Shines!

Witches, kings with secrets, a princess with a hidden talent, dark magic, wild magic, evil sorcerers, giant cats--the list goes on and the telling of these happenings enrich every page.
Princess Kayla of Gaynor is placed by her father in a gilded chair atop a glass mountain. Whomever reaches her and 'plucks' the golden apple from her lap will have won her hand in marriage and become heir to the kingdom.
...'if [Kayla] had been clamped naked into the stocks she could not have felt more exposed, more vulnerable. more disrespected.'
The Princess however has not submitted to this indignity entirely. She has taken some matters into her own hands prior to this mortifying contest.
She makes further choices now. Her father wore gloves when he placed the apple into her lap with instructions not to touch the apple. Kayla decides otherwise!
She recognizes that what the contenders want is power. What she wants is not considered.
Rane is battling for his brother's life. He cannot count the cost to the Princess or himself. Jasper is holding his brother Soren captive. Jasper wants the apple in exchange for Soren's life.
But Dark sorcery is at work and Rane and the Princess Kayla are ensorcelled. They must enter the Great Forest and fulfill a task before they can be freed. A task fraught with dangers and uncertainty. The Great Forest is a place alive with wild magic--primeval and unpredictable. And yet these surroundings will force the discovery of a hidden talent within Kayla
I loved the cover design. The colours, the astounding purple tones of the dress, the way the golden colours of the apple clasped in the figure's hand focuses our attention. The line of the dress against the figure's back is entrancing. All are set against a forest background, portraying an atmosphere that is at once both gorgeous and mysterious.
I am drawn back to the cover, it's colours and this view of Kayla when I read Rane's thoughts as he walks behind her.
'Having her in front of him all day...he can see the delicate nape of her neck, a hint of the smoothness of her back, [this] aroused him far more than seeing any woman naked.'
We see Rane seeing Kayla, not just in the poetic imagery of Diener's words but through the visual imagery of Laura Morrigan's wonderfully appropriate cover.
I am enthralled by both.
A sparkling story loosely based on a Norwegian fairy tale, the Princess on the Glass Hill. Diener once more demonstrates her storytelling talents with The Golden Apple.

A NetGalley ARC ( )