I got this somewhat-battered ex-library softcover from an online seller, after enjoying Princeless: Save Yourself. (I've tried to patch it up; hope it can last for another few readings.)

This is another entertaining installment in the series, though I admit that the format here threw me off; not only does the storyline switch back and forth between Adrienne-and-co. and her father, without any helpful captions for readers who aren't familiar with the previous volumes, but every few pages there's a block of advertising featuring the cover-pages of several different comics. So I did quite a lot of paging back and forth just to keep track of where I was in the story!

The main story here involves Adrienne, Belinda, and Sparky the dragon as they venture into the swamp to try and rescue Adrienne's sister Angoisse - who lives in a gothic-esque tower with her very attractive boyfriend, who happens to be a vampire. She's unwilling to be "rescued" at all, but it turns out that her perfect boyfriend has ulterior motives; things get dicey for a while!

Meanwhile, King Ashe, father of all the princesses (and of his not-at-all-warrior-like son, whom he tends to disregard) is on the trail of his wife, who went missing while on a trip to visit her family. (Savvy readers will have guessed that she's not missing so much as on a mission of her own, but the comics - while hinting strongly at all this - haven't revealed it directly. yet.) As part of this, the king sends his son - with the werewolf-clan's daughter as his guardian - on a quest to find the queen. (And, yes, he's attempting some match-making as well; if he can't find suitable husbands for his daughters, maybe joining his son to the werewolf clan will work...) There's a hilarious scene here where preparations for the quest get stalled: it seems the horses are all terrified of werewolf-girl, who doesn't want to ride one anyway but has been told she has to. So - after a panel showing a herd of terrified horses huddling at the far end of the pasture - she winds up with the only non-scared horse, who looks rather... derp-ish. This will go splendidly, I'm sure!

There are goblins and swamp monsters (which aren't quite what they seem) and swamp-zombies and more, plus lots of action (and pratfalls). I look forward to finding the next volume in this series.

[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some interesting tidbits.]

I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

Released for:

** 2024 May Royalty challenge **