I recently finished:

A CURSE DARK AS GOLD
By Elizabeth C. Bunce
Arthur A. Levine Books, 2008

Five reasons to read it:

1. The descriptions of the mill are so specific and sensuous that I felt like I was there.  The setting of this novel is its own character.

2. Bunce not only succeeds in reinventing Rumplestiltskin but finds a way to make that crazy fairy tale plausible – and emotionally arresting – which is an incredibly difficult thing to have done.

3. It’s nice to see a romance that doesn’t hinge on a love triangle.  Not that I can’t enjoy a love triangle, but there’s a realness to the romance in this book that still manages to gleam with a silvery fairy-tale lining. 

4. I also appreciate it when romance isn’t the point of a heroine’s journey.

5. The last six chapters are hair-raising – especially for mothers, I would think – and the secret reason for all the trouble at the mill is truly devastating.