Veil of Winter (Dericott Tales #3)
Melanie Dickerson
Thomas Nelson
Published June 14, 2022

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About Veil of Winter

Princess Elyce is on the verge of marrying the nephew of the unscrupulous King Conrad of a neighboring kingdom when she discovers that Conrad will use her marriage to force her people to work in his mines. In order to fake her own death and escape him, she takes a sleeping potion, planning to awaken on the third day and then travel to Prague to seek help from King Wenceslaus, who rules the Holy Roman Empire. But her plan goes awry: the third day comes without her waking up.

Sir Gerard is convinced by Delia, his sister and Elyce’s best friend, to go help the sleeping princess, still slumbering and held captive by King Conrad’s guards. He manages to wake her with a kiss, but the princess is not pleased at this rude awakening. Still, he is her only hope of escape. Thus begins their journey to Prague in the dead of winter, hounded on all sides by elements and enemies. The greatest threat may come from within, though, as they desperately fight against their growing feelings for one another.

My Review

My daughter loves another series by this author, so I often try to check out her latest books with my girl in mind. I think the sweetness of the romance and the Christian storytelling both appeal to her. She likes lots of different kinds of books, but the Hagenheim series hold a special place in her heart.

VEIL OF WINTER is the third book in the Dericott Tales, which is a new series for me. It took me a while to get into the story. I think I expected the story to be about Elyce’s taking the sleeping potion and for the story to be more centered around that. But all that happens in the first few chapters of the story. There was also a big deal about Sir Gerard “kissing” the princess to wake her up, when actually he’d been about to perform CPR for her, thinking she needed to be revived.

Once the story got going and Elyce and her allies were on their way, I felt like I invested more in the characters. I felt like Elyce’s struggle to understand whether it was bad to have emotions or better to stifle them was an internal conflict that I could really identify with. I think I would have liked to see her grow more in self-confidence through the story. She stays pretty passive and sweet, which make her an unusual heroine. I liked that she’s different, but I think I still wanted to see her have the confidence to make her own decisions in a few situations.

On the whole, I think fans of Dickerson’s stories will love this addition to their shelves. It’s a very sweet historical romance with lots of emphasis on prayer.

Content Notes

Elyce’s father is emotionally and physically abusive.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Both main characters (and others) are Christians and pray to God throughout the story, especially anytime they need to make a decision.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some battle scenes (not graphically described). Elyce’s father is emotionally and physically abusive.

Drug Content
Wine served with dinners.

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