Favorite Book #1--The Tales of Goldstone Wood

Have you ever discovered a book that fit perfectly with your idea of a perfect book? Sounds pretty impossible, doesn't it? But I found a series that completely stole my heart.

The Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl is an incredible series where the plot twists and turns, the writing flows with beauty and prose, the vivid characters stagger under real life turmoil, and brilliant messages of undeserved grace burst forth. I love the themes of true love, self-sacrifice, and redemption. While these themes often twine through the pages of literature, Anne Elisabeth Stengl causes them to leap off the page and into your heart.

Once you've read these novels, I encourage you to read them all again. I think you'll be surprised by how much is referenced and foreshadowed.

These thought-proving fairytales of epic proportion are also amazingly clean. There is no language, no overt sexual content, and the violence is mild, and yet the stories jar you with intensity and move you with love. I really can't do them justice. Sigh. I wish I could.

Princess Una has come of age and dreams of marrying a handsome prince. But her first suitor, a Prince Aethelbald of Farthesthore falls far short of her romantic dreams, and she shuns him and his warning of an approaching danger. All too soon, disaster descends on Una and her people, and who can possibly save her from the threat she ignored?

Of course, the cover was what caught me eye. It was so beautiful and yet dramatic. The summary sounding interesting enough--girl learns to appreciate guy even though he's not dashing. What's on the inside is what counts. That's what I thought the book would be about. In a way it is. But sometimes what's inside of us is more dangerous  and terrifying then we could ever imagine...

This book was incredible. So, I decided to get the following two in the series.




Rose Red has hidden away all her young life in the mountains of Southlands, disguising her terrible secret with veils. But when Leo, a privileged young boy, discovers her, the two became fast friends. As the years pass by, their different worlds began to pull them apart, and the danger they used to seek as children has now come to destroy them and everything they love.

This story follows events before and during Heartless through the perspective of a character we barely met previously and through a character we thought we knew very well indeed.

I enjoyed it thoroughly and was so glad that I had the third novel to pick up, because this one is a bit of a cliff hanger!




Prince Lionheart is a failure in everyone's eyes. In a desperate bid to win back the trust of his people he banshies his faithful, mysterious friend, Rose Red, into the dangerous Wilderlands. This act not only leaves Lionheart without hope, but puts Rose Red in unexpected danger as her long unknown father lays claim to her...as the sacrifice to reawaken the dragons.


Moonblood shimmered in mystery and peril from page one. The dangerous past of Rose Red was brought into terrible clarity. Furthermore, it is in this novel that Eanrin, seen in the first two books, took a primary role, quickly stealing my heart.

Imagination staggers as goblins don illusions of beauty, faeries split into two,  worlds twist and turn, and deadly unicorns hunt.
And can redemption truly be earned?



The faerie Eanrin, chief poet of Rudiobus, wants nothing less then the best. So when the fair and revered Lady Gleamdren is kidnapped by an ancient terror, he boldly sets forth to rescue her. Along the way, he is obliged to rescue an enchanted maid named Starflower...and suddenly finds himself caught between forces of terrible power. Can he save both Gleamdren and Starflower? Can he possibly outrun the truth that pursues him?

This...this was the best one yet. As a prequel, it takes place some 1,600 years before the previous books, and it focuses on the stories of two well-known characters--Eanrin and Imraldera. Here at last do we see the story in which they met, the choices they made, and the journey they began...

Book 5, Dragonwitch, Comes Out

This July!!!

All these lovely cover images were taken from the author's blog, which you really need to check out. Learn more about the books and upcoming events at The Tales of Goldstone Wood blog.

To find out more about the author's doings and musings, check out her author Facebook page.