I’ve heard it said that there is one true love for every one, one soulmate. This is the story of what happens when that soulmate is taken from us.

It tells the tale of a poor girl shunned, ignored, treated like dirt on someone’s shoe, and betrayed.

Dark Destiny shows how little power women wield with the wrong man and how much power they can possess with the right one.

Elsbeth’s life is tumultuous to say the least until her dear Jethart enters her life and gives her the strength to say no. Their life is idyllic, perfect, trouble free until petty jealousies and revenge tear them apart and Elsbeth is forced to bear their son alone.

A mother protecting her young is one of the most powerful forces on the face of the earth and the Dark Queen Elsbeth is no different. Taking the dark path Elsbeth does what she deems necessary to protect her son, and his future.

I could not put this book down. I would love to see adapted for the ‘big screen’.

Reviewed on 08/21/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Tina Evans

Dark Destiny: The Sleeping Beauty Story Your Mother Never Told You

BY: Kym Hackenberger & Melody Lowe

PUBLISHED BY: Wicked Witch Productions, LLC

PUBLISHED IN: 2008

ISBN: 978-1440412417

Pages: 158

Ages: Teen & Up

Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Do you remember the evil stepmothers and queens from the classic Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales? Did you every wonder how they became evil? Authors Kym Hackenberger & Melody Lowe gives us the dark and twisted tale of how an innocent young woman became the Queen of the Dark Realm.

Elspeth, the oldest princess of Rookskrieg, is soon to marry Malcolm, the prince of Talonsbay. It’s an arrange marriage set up by their fathers. Neither Elspeth or Malcolm want to get married. Malcolm is womanizer and Elspeth just doesn’t love him. She wants to fall in love like her newly married younger sister, Isabelle, did.

On the night of her sister’s wedding, she is embarrassed by Malcolm but is rescued by a dark and mysterious stranger, Jethart. She instantly falls in love him. They sneak around, but can only visit each other at night. Jethart isn’t like Malcolm or any normal man. He can turn himself into an owl and can cast magical spells.

During Elspeth’s wedding to Malcolm, Jethart appears and steals the bride-to-be. They elope, and, afterwards, Jethart takes Elspeth to his castle, Dubh Rathgart, aka the Black Fortress. She soon bares a son named Ossian.

Full of rage and lust for revenge, Malcolm starts a war with the Dubh Rathgart. He starts the chain of events that could destroy the kingdoms, and causes Elspeth to become the Queen of the Dark Realm.

Under 160 pages, this book is short and sweet, but at times the story feels rushed. Some of the dialogue feels a little flat. The characters are not developed enough. There was not one character I felt anything for. I did like that the chapters were short and kept your interest until the very end. Fans of fairy tales and pre-teens will enjoy reading this retelling.

?

Reviewed on 08/20/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Billy Burgess

Reviewed on 08/17/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Angela Simmons

<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE"> <title></title> <meta content="OpenOffice.org 3.1 (Win32)" name="GENERATOR"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style>

Have you ever wondered how the Evil Queen, Evil King, Wicked Stepmother, etc become evil or what they were like when they were young? That's the road “Dark Destiny” takes in the story about the Queen of Darkness in Sleeping Beauty.

Princess Elspeth of Rookskrieg, is betrothed to Prince Malcolm of Talonsbay. However, Malcolm wants nothing to do with Elspeth. He finds her ugly and sullen. She wants nothing to do with Malcolm either. She would rather join her sister, Lillith, training in magic with the fairies in Elfhame. However, her “destiny” is to marry Malcolm and join the realms of Rookskrieg and Talonsbay.

On the night of Elspeth's sister Isabelle's wedding to Byron, Malcolm humiliates Elspeth in front of the kingdom and she is rescued by a stranger, Jethart, who is actually the Dark King.

Jethart visits Elspeth nightly and they fall in love, however she is betrothed. On the day of her wedding Jethart rescues her from being united with Malcolm and finds happiness with Jethart at Dubh Rathgart, or the Black Fortress. He teaches her the magic she has longed for and become powerful together. Meanwhile, Malcolm is growing in his hatred and ends up battling Jethart and kills him. Leaving Elspeth to brew her anger as she is alone with their son, Ossian.

Basically, the anger at having all her happiness being taken away from her grows Elspeth into the infamous Dark Queen. Who wants to destroy Malcolm and his happiness.

I thought the story was ok. I felt it was hurried and many other areas could be built upon. I feel that the author touched on the aspects of magic, darkness, battle, love and beauty. All things important to fairy tales, fantasy and the like. I was hoping for a little more dialogue, character building, and more action. However, with this being a short read, it was written well enough to get the point of the story across and created enough of a visual to make this an enjoyable. I certainly felt Elspeth's anger and pain from losing her love and enjoyed watching Ossian grow into a powerful magician. Also Prince Roderick's (King Malcom's son) also is a character to watch out for is the author decides to continue this story. I imagine him growing into a wonderful king, unlike his evil father. I am saddened by Ossian.

I definitely recommend this book to preteens and teens. This was my first experience with reading a retelling of a fairy tale and definitely won't be my last!

Reviewed on 07/24/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Jaime Huff