The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson

When destiny sleeps, it can only be awakened by true love’s kiss.

In this historical romance loosely based on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, a woodcutter's daughter becomes the town healer's apprentice. Rose's job is to care for the sick and injured

in Hagenheim Castle.

But she gets sick at the sight of blood and is more suited to making up stories than sewing up wounds. She is determined to overcome her weakness and prove herself a competent healer, or she faces marrying a disgusting old merchant her mother has picked out for her.

Lord Hamlin, the future ruler of the region, is injured and Rose must overcome her squeamishness to save him. He is everything that is noble and good, but loving him is forbidden. He is already betrothed to a mysterious woman in hiding.

With two noble-born brothers vying for her affections, Rose learns that the people of Hagenheim are not always who they seem.

When they say loosely based on Sleeping Beauty, they really mean loosely. Like, so loose I barely saw it.

I'm not a big of historical romances, but I thought I'd give it a shot and read it. The beginning had SO much potential. Dickerson could have taken the story in many directions. It starts out with Rose at the market with her best friend Hildy, a romantic at heart. I applauded Rose for keeping her feet on the ground and not swooning at the sight of the noble-born brothers.

Then it all went downhill. (*Spoiler Alert!*) Rose fell for the flirty brother.

Yeah. Disappointing.

But it was written well and Hildy and Gunther were my favorite characters by far. Halfway through the book I realized Frau Geruscha had barely spoken more than three sentences - which was also disappointing because I really wanted to see more of her in the book. Again, so much potential that wasn't tapped into.

I think Dickerson captured the time period quite well. If she had taken the story in a different direction, it would have been shelved among my favorite books.

Melanie Dickerson is an award-winning author who earned her bachelor’s degree in special education from The University of Alabama. She has taught in Georgia, Tennessee, Germany and the Eastern European country of Ukraine. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA), she now spends her time writing and taking care of her husband and two daughters near Huntsville, Alabama.

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