Water Song: A Retelling of "The Frog Prince" (Once upon a Time Series) »

Suzanne Weyn is a New York Times bestselling author with more than 50 titles to her credit, including The Bar Code Tattoo and novelizations of the Scooby-Doo movies and Ice Princess.

"ONCE UPON A TIME"

IS TIMELESS

Young, beautiful, and wealthy, Emma Pennington is accustomed to a very comfortable life. Although war rages abroad, she hardly feels its effect. She and her mother travel from their home in Britain to the family estate in Belgium, never imagining that the war could reach them there. But it does.

Soon Emma finds herself stranded in a war-torn country, utterly alone. Enemy troops fight to take over her estate, leaving her with no way to reach her family, and no way out.

With all of her attention focused on survival and escape, Emma hardly expects to find love. But the war will teach her that life is unpredictable, people aren't always what they seem, and magic is lurking everywhere.

KLIATT

British-born Emma Winthrop is stranded at her family's ancestral estate in Belgium at the outbreak of World War I. Her mother was killed during an attack on Ypres, and Emma is alone with the servants who only speak Flemish—a language Emma does not know. Back in England, rumors have circulated that the real reason Emma and her mother have not returned is that Emma's mother has run away with a secret lover. As a result, Emma's society-conscious beau, Lloyd Pennington, has called off their relationship. In a fit of rage, Emma tosses the gold ball-shaped locket that contains Lloyd's picture into a well. She soon regrets her rash actions (her mother's photo is also in the locket), and she climbs down to retrieve the jewelry. She is shocked to discover in the well a badly wounded American soldier who descended into the well to soothe his skin when it was scorched by German chlorine gas. She pulls him from the water only to discover that German soldiers have taken over her estate to use as a military base. Emma lies and tells the soldiers that the wounded man, Jack, is her husband. As the two spend more and more time together Emma begins to see beyond the exasperatingly randy American, who repeatedly asks her for a kiss. When their lives are threatened, Jack must call upon his affinity with water to save them both. He learned this magic from his mother, who was a wise woman and healer in New Orleans. Although wartime drama is present, combat is not the major element of this novel. Instead, the battles and the espionage are plot devices that force Jack and Emma together. Even the violence in the novel is light and is only deadly in the case of Emma's mother. Other characters that are"killed" are miraculously rescued from near death. This book could be used for a comparison exercise and read in conjunction with the original fairytale, "The Frog Prince." However, it would mostly be a great choice for teen girls who are looking for a light romance.