Princess of Secrets: The Frog Prince Retold (Fairy Tale Adventures Book 2)

Princess Carina is from a fierce warrior kingdom and is much smarter than she lets on She goes around in frilly dresses acting like a vapid blonde with no common sense when in truth, she is a spy working for her father, who forces her to keep her true identity a secret, even from the rest of her family. This duel identity that she is forced to live makes her miserable because she can never be her true self in front of anyone. Because of this, it is very difficult to make friends or feel comfortable around anyone. When she met Lina in The Princess and the Pea, she revealed a bit of her true self and earned Lina's trust as a friend. She would have been more than happy to attend Lina's wedding if her father hadn't already sent her regrets behind her back.Prince Stefan, the prince who gets turned into a frog, is Alaric's scheming prankster of a brother with a heart of gold. In the first book, Stefan produced a play that Alaric wrote behind his back, humiliating him, but he did so with the best of intentions. In The Frog Prince, Stefan disguises himself as a sailor to travel to Carina's kingdom to bring her to Alaric and Lina's wedding so that Lina can be a happy bride. Despite his good intentions, he leaves without telling anyone, has an accidental encounter with some mermaids, and ends up getting turned into a frog. A.G. Marshall is very good at blending humor into her stories, so a wise-cracking goofball like Stefan is the perfect candidate for a hilariously entertaining talking frog. His confidence and bluntness is exactly what Carina needs to break through her guarded exterior.Another thing I love about this book is how many obscure elements A.G. Marshall incorporates from the Grimm fairy tale, originally known as "The Frog King" or "Iron Heinrich." Unlike the Disney version, which changed a lot of the story, Marshall's book includes the princess's prized golden ball that the frog recovers for her from the pond, but this time with a twist. Carina's golden ball is far from just a toy. It's an enchanted device that she uses to spy for her father. When she drops it, she could have gotten in a lot of trouble if Stefan hadn't recovered it for her. The story even incorporated the prince's servant, Heinrich, who is excluded from most adaptations of the tale. At the end of the Grimm story, it is revealed that Heinrich had three iron bands around his heart that grew from his sympathy toward the prince's curse. In this version, Heinrich is Stefan's tailor who is cursed with three iron bands around his heart by the mermaids in order to prevent Stefan from telling anyone how to break the spell.The romance in this book was handled so flawlessly that I practically felt myself falling for Stefan through Carina's eyes. In the beginning, Stefan doesn't care for Carina at all because of her vapid facade and only wants to bring her to his brother's wedding to make Lina happy. The more he gets to know her by hiding in her pocket and listening to her private conversations with her father, the more he realizes how much she has to hide from the world and longs to take her away from such a miserable existence. Likewise, Carina has little interest in getting to know a talking frog, but she is intrigued by the potential of using Stefan to prove to her father that magic exists in order to maintain her role as a spy. However, after spending more time with Stefan, she learns what it feels like to be able to talk to someone with no pretenses and starts to develop feelings for him as more than an animal companion. It doesn't hurt that she also loves solving mysteries and is intrigued by his true identity and how he was cursed.I have to say that A.G. Marshall has quickly worked her way into my heart as one of my favorite fairy tale authors. I love how she stays so loyal to the original stories while breathing new life into them with deeply complex characters and worlds. Both of the books I read by her incorporate a certain level of humor and fun into every chapter to never allow the story get too depressing and always bring a smile to my face. She incorporates magic into her stories in a way that is both believable an captivating. I've never imagined how "The Frog Prince" would work if it had mermaids and sea monsters in it, but after reading this version, I can't imagine it without them! If you love fairy tales and princesses, both The Princess and the Pea and The Frog Prince by A.G. Marshall are must-reads.

Princess of Secrets is full of mystery, adventure, love, and loyalties. Stefan is fun. loyal, and creative. Carina is clever, self-sacrificial, and caring. Both of them know how to wield their personalities and hide their intelligence in a way that can lead them to be overlooked, Carina especially. They both are more powerful and more needed by their kingdoms than even they fully realize as a new danger threatens the kingdoms. There are some amazing side characters in this story and plenty of humor as one would expect given the main characters. The quest for the perfect wedding gift is epic, and has a particularly clever and hilarious fulfillment. This was a playful and creative sequel to Princess of Shadows. It reminded me just a little bit of Melanie Cellier's The Princess Game so those who enjoyed that book would also probably have fun with Princess of Secrets. This would be a good read for those who like underestimated characters, creative magic, clean romance, non gory fight scenes, frog prince retellings, strong side characters, lots of humor, mysteries and adventures.

I love a good mystery! This ball of fun drew together some really cool things, I thought.The Frog Prince is a fun story on it's own, a bit strange, but generally a heartwarming tale. Here Marshall has taken the classic elements of The Frog Prince and sewn them seamlessly into her world. I was actually really, really excited to see how she addressed classic points in the original tale--such as the spoiled princess, the gold ball, the well, the frog's barter, etc.--and thought they were very cleverly handled. It was one of the best parts of the book for me. I loved seeing why the golden trinket was so important to the princess, what prompted the frog to seek companionship the way he did, and especially a good reason for why the princess up and ran away as soon as the frog retrieved her treasure. Each element had such a natural explanation, but even more so than that, it held a meaning to the story that ran deeper than simply a nod to the classic. Marshall created a story and she wove the elements into it as if it had been hers all along.Furthermore, I really enjoyed the story Marshall spun. I liked Carina before, but getting to know her like this was a treat. Same for Stefan, honestly. I'd liked him in book one--I'd really liked the relationship between him and Alaric, which appropriately drove Stefan to this adventure--but getting to know him as the lead was a lot of fun. I loved how they depended on each other, how they each needed something from the other, but they wouldn't or couldn't trust one another, especially right off the bat. Seeing Carina's home and family gave me a much deeper appreciation for her. I do hope we get to see more of Seraphina, and maybe even of their mother, at some point. I keenly felt the loss that weighted Carina down and the expectation that pressed into her. Her family dynamic really brought life to the characters here. Similarly, it was really cool to see Stefan's true colors shine when Heinrich tagged along. I think the story would have been quite a bit different without the dutiful tailor. Oh, and sidenote, Stefan's gift there at the end was priceless!! Absolutely excellent. Loved that!!We kind of got to see the world Marshall had built in book one open up and expand in this book. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a sucker for mermaids. So, in part, I started this series just to get to book three and see The Little Mermaid. But truthfully? I don't know how it's going to beat this one or book one. First of all, I did not expect to see mermaids in the Frog Prince story, but they were an essential element and that alone makes this one of the best retellings ever! But more than that, the world is clearly one world, a world where every part works alongside the rest. The story's aren't so easily separated and pulled apart, which is really neat! First we had a goblin fighting shadow warrior, which is epic, and then we moved to a underestimated spy vying for her position and love and just trying to save her family and country. These two heroines are not your typical gals. They aren't afraid of climbing walls and diving head first into danger. They stand between those they love and the threat of dark forces. These girls are the perfect balance of real, raw fears and courageous, adventurous spirits. I loved seeing the world crafted in such a way to make these characters and plots come to life and propel one another forward.This book had it all: adventure, mystery and intrigue, a dash of danger, a slow-boiled romance, and the suspense that drives your curiosity and wins your heart. Clean story with no language, clean romance, and mild violence at the hands of a crafty monster. I'd highly recommend it (after book one of course) and happily so to preteens and up.

Book 2 in the Fairytale Adventure series showed that taking a few elements from a well-known tale and tossing in some writing talent makes an old story seem brand new and shiny gold.Frog Prince has never been my favorite fairytale because there are just too many questions and oddities, and suspension of disbelief can only go so far. Why does she play with a gold ball? Why does she run away after making the agreement? Why does she agree to some of his seemingly crazy terms? I have read some good retellings that answer these quite well--and thoroughly enjoyed them--but I think this one is my favorite and has me re-examining my perspective on the poor Frog Prince. In Princess of Secrets, A.G. Marshall hits on all the major elements that make up the Frog Prince tale, weaving them beautifully into her world while giving believable explanations to all the questions. Plus she adds in some of the more obscure references from the original tale, making the retelling even stronger.We first meet our main characters in book 1, Princess of Secrets. (I'd highly recommend reading it first. Though this is stand-alone, it's definitely improved with the prior knowledge from book 1.) Both leading lady and leading gent in this tale seem to have added just the right amount of humor and lightheartedness in book 1, making them already likable. In their own story, though, both the princess and the prince show there's much more to them, particularly Princess Corina.Overall Princess of Secrets is a fun adventure on land and sea and under the sea, too, as we meet mermaids, and I thank A.G. Marshall for this new view of the Frog Prince.

What a delightful book this is!To be honest, I wasn't sure that I liked Prince Stefan at first. He seemed flaky and irresponsible, not exactly heroic. But he grew as a character, and he grew on me. Princess Carina is a smart, tough cookie, and the two of them make an adorable couple.I really enjoy A.G. Marshall's retellings! They are unique, funny, and imaginative, not to mention filled with magical action, mystery, and adventure. This frog prince story was excellent--Prince Stefan managed to be both appealing and heroic in amphibian form.Highly recommended to readers like me, who enjoy books filled with adventure and laughter along with the fairy-tale romance.

This is a clever retelling of the Princess and the Frog! Both Carina and Stefan were introduced in the Princess of Shadows (a Princess and the Pea retelling), and it was fun to read their story in Princess of Secrets.I don’t think I’ve read many Princess and the Frog retellings; I enjoyed seeing which parts I recognized from the fairytale! Stefan is a great character, and I have to say I have never enjoyed reading from the POV of a frog so much before. It was great! His perspective once he was a frog was really well-written! I really liked Carina, though I felt bad for her that she was basically forced to be a spy and that her family and other people around her thought that she was childish and simple. Her character arc was a great one!The story was very interesting, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book about mermaids in the series! This was only my second book by AG Marshall, but I can’t wait to read more by her!

What a fun story! I can’t decide if I like this one or the first best. I laughed so many times while reading this book. Prince Stefan and Princess Carina made such a good couple, and I really enjoyed their development. I’m glad Carina got her happy ending, despite her awful father.

I was excited to read Carina's story, since I found her hilarious in the first book, and I was not disappointed. I loved that she was clever and skilled, and that her supposed stupidity was all an act. And her struggle to be taken seriously despite the machinations around her was so real and so well-written. Stefan was a fabulous character, and I loved to watch their bond strengthen and grow. Everything about this book was perfection, and I could definitely see myself rereading this again in the future just to relive the fun.

I loved how this book picked up where the first left off. Carina captured my imagination in Princess of Shadows, so I was thrilled that Marshall chose to tell her story next. With lots of twists and laugh out loud moments, Princess of Secrets will keep you reading waaaaaay past when you should have gone for your beauty sleep.Princess Carina’s family has long since cast her aside as being flighty and irresponsible. Only her father knows her true mission and even he has been disappointed in her of late. He’s given her one last mission, and if she fails that, he’s sending her off to marry a king she doesn’t like.Prince Stefan thinks he’s found the perfect wedding gift for his sister-in-law-to-be. But his plans go astray when a spiteful mermaid turns him into a frog only days before the wedding.They each need the other’s help, but their different purposes might just pull them apart.Once again, Marshall has created a world that pulls you in and makes you feel like part of the adventure. I absolutely love the way she puts her own twist on well-loved fairytales, teasing out tiny details. The mysteries that need to be solved are meaningful and the resolutions perfect.

I'll keep it straight and simple, this one could have a movie made on it ♥️♥️♥️💙💙💙

Princess Carina's only problem with being a secret spy is that everyone believes she is the ditzy princess she pretends to be. Not good when no one else believes in magic or is aware of the danger. Prince Stefan got turned into a frog and while he does rescue the princess' ball, this story is so much more than a frog prince retelling. Great characters and world building, can't wait to read the next book.

The Princess of Secrets follows on from The Princess of Shadows. After enjoying the first book in the series so much, it was a no-brainer that I would read this book. It did not disappoint. The characters, humour, romance, and exciting adventure were as good as the first book. Many of the same characters are in this story, but the focus has shifted from Alaric and Lina to Stephan and Carina. Another brilliant retelling!