The Queen's Curse

One of the best Charmed collection books I've ever read. There were several unsuspected plot twists, quite the coup for any reader bored with clear, follow-through endings. After finishing, it was interesting to reflect that the title has a double meaning... This Charming book focuses on Paige, and even if she's not your favorite sister, you'll find yourself twisting and turning along with Paige, and come away with a new admiration for her strength of character as The Charmed Ones take on a curse of fairy tale proportions.

paige is having romantic woes, wondering if she will ever meet mr. right and how will she hide her powers. out of nowhere she meets colin, who is just too perfect. after a few dates he asks her to marry him and is interrupted by none other than his fiance. of course paige is majorlly ticked off. but colin explains that he is from tarsina, which is in another dimension and that if he does not marry a pure magical being by his birthday, all of the mortals of his kingdom will die. of course good hearted paige agrees to at least see the kingdom and bring leo and her sisters along for the ride. there they find a fairytale of a kingdom, with bad guys in some of the most unlikliest of places. the story is well written, it takes you back to childhood where every little girls dream was to meet prince charming. it starts out a little slow and will almost make you not read the rest. but hang in there.

Just when Paige thinks her personal life is in the dumps, she meets a handsome prince. Literally. She does not know at first but soon learns he is the prince of a magic kingdom. Unfortunately she learns this when his fiance finds them together. But he is sincere. His kingdom is in trouble and it could be saved by marrying Paige. Meanwhile Leo learns that there is a possible change in the balance that could put Evil in the lead. Seems it is related to the fate of the magic kingdom. The kingdom was originally occupied by "pure magical beings" but mundanes (mortals) have found their way in. A past Queen wanted to restore things and created a curse that would kill off all of the mortals if the Prince did not marry a magic being. Enter Paige. Palace and city intrigue come together as the Charmed ones learn that the old Queen was not the only one who wanted to eliminate the mortals. A large following of Loyalists are in the shadows trying to ensure the curse goes as planned. This was an interesting story but it had a feel of having been written for other characters and adapted to the Charmed universe. It could have made a good paranormal romance novel. The powers of the Charmed ones are not used (except to prove they have them). Even Leo doesn't use his except after he succeeds by not using them (for instance only orbing after already escaping in other ways). But still it worked nicely. My only problem was the ending seemed a little too pat. What happened to the Loyalists? Surely they and their hatred are still around. But despite that it was one of the better Charmed books.

Would you marry a man who was in love with someone else in order to save a kingdom? Would you leave your home and your old life and sacrifice your chance to find true love if it meant saving thousands of lives? These are the questions Paige faces in The Queen's Curse. If Colin, prince of the magical kingdom Tarsina, doesn't marry a magical being by his rapidly approaching twenty fifth birthday, all non-magic people in his kingdom will die. So, although Colin is in love with the mortal Corinne, he proposes to Paige for the sake of his people. Knowing that so many lives are at stake, Paige feels obligated to accept his proposal-- yet she can't ignore Colin and Corinne's devotion to each other. While Paige races against the clock to find a way to reverse the curse, allowing Colin and Corinne to marry, Piper, Phoebe, and Leo must battle a group of mortal-hating witches who want the curse to be fulfilled--and are planning to murder Paige before the wedding. The Queen's Curse is a compelling read. The kingdom of Tarsina is an intriguing place to visit: a beautiful fairy tale world hiding dark secrets. It's also fun to see Paige reluctantly enjoying the life of a princess, and Leo and Phoebe infiltrating the bad guys' hangout. The Queen's Curse is the one curse that you'll want to get.

I can't really add anything more than what Elizabeth Scully's said about this book so I'll second her recommendation. I will add this bit though: I really loved this book. The story is well thought-out and keeps you on the edge of your toes and really pulls you in. I'm not sure if I would've been able to what Paige was willing to do though. ANyway, go out now and pick up this book, I promise you won't regret it :).