NEWLY RELEASED: The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson



Isn't the cover so beautifully stunning!
You can see The Sleeping Beauty theme from
the Tower setting.



This week, The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickinson has been released! It is a YA historical romance fairy tale retelling of Sleeping Beauty with a Christian theme and I'm very excited about reading it. As my followers will know, I'm a huge fan of historical fiction and read a lot of the YA section of it because they are generally clean reads whilst adult historical fiction is not. As a Christian girl, I'm so glad that there is finally a Christian YA historical romance author- that has to be my dream genre!

Summary of The Healer's Apprentice:

Two Hearts. One Hope.Rose has been appointed as a healer's apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter's daughter like her. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging bachelor her mother has chosen for her---a bloated, disgusting merchant who makes Rose feel ill.When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she's never felt before and wonders if he feels the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. As Rose's life spins toward confusion, she must take the first steps on a journey to discover her own destiny.

I have never read a fairy tale retelling before (maybe once a long time ago...?) but I've always been intrigued by them so I like the fact that The Healer's Apprentice is loosely based on Sleeping Beauty. Set in Germany 1386 it seems to have everything I could wish for in a book including love and faith.

In the days before its release I read many interviews and guest articles on other blogs and I was interested to read about the struggles that Melanie Dickinson went through to get her book published because of being told that there was no market for it but she prayed lots and persisted... I'm so glad that she did!

A short review of The Healer's Apprentice from IE Mummy

"Loved this book! The Healer's Apprentice is a wonderfully written tale of love, romance, intrigue, deception and loyalty. The characters are enchanting. ...Every nuance and twist led to a special love story that will remain in my memory and conscience for a long time. The Healer's Apprentice will remain on my bookshelf even longer."

If you want to take a look at some interviews/posts with or about Melanie, have a look at the links to different blogs here:

Writing For Christ:
A Break From The Norm
Novel Teen
Words Seasoned With Salt- including excerpt
A Christian Writer's World- including excerpt

You can find Melanie on her website here, she also has a Facebook page.

Book Trailer

There is also a book trailer made by Zondervan, which is AMAZING, by far the best I have ever seen. Zondervan have really done a fantastic job of it, it's almost like a mini movie.

If you like the sound of this debut novel, spread the word- I can't wait to read it!