So, Measha has come out with her latest Ever After book. These are adult retellings of fairy tales. Very adult. And with a name like Red, you know that the latest one is all about Pinocchio. OK, you got me, it’s all about Red Riding Hood.
In this story, our Little Red Riding Hood is Melinda. Melinda lost her parents when she was a child, and then went to live with her grandparents. Now, she only has her grandmother left, so when it’s time to go to dinner at her grandmother’s house, she’s always happy to go. She always looks forward to her grandmother’s cooking. But today is different. When she opens the door, there are strangers in her grandmother’s house. Strangers who say that they now own her. Apparently, her grandfather had a gambling problem, and when he hit rock bottom, he put up his granddaughter as collateral, and now they are here to collect.
Erik’s uncle was criminally stupid in a lot of ways. When he died, his will was written in such a way that Erik and his two younger brothers had to collect the 3 women he “owned” and finish the contract so that they could get the inheritance he left them. Erik needs that so that he can open his casino. Melinda is the last woman on the list, so as soon as he figures out what to do with her, he can finish the conditions on his uncle’s will, finding a wife.
Melinda isn’t going to go easily. She’s going to fight with everything she has because she wants to get back to her grandmother. If that means that she’s going to break a window to see what’s outside or mouth off to Erik and his brothers, that’s exactly what she’s going to do.
I mostly liked Melinda. I love the fire and spirit that she shows, and her stubbornness has gotten her through a lot. I do think, however, that if she had learned to bend a little earlier, things might have been easier on her. I get why she had to stand firm like she was. She didn’t want to lose who she was or herself, and it would be really easy for that to happen with Erik.
Erik is a good man, but more than once he’s a total fucking idiot. There are some times when he needs to get smacked upside the head because he loses track of what’s important and what isn’t. He’s so focused on what he wants that he misses big things that happen right in front of him.
I understand why Erik did what he felt he had to for Melinda, but the fact is that he was doing exactly what he said everyone else had done to her. He never asked her anything or bothered to see what she wanted, he just was positive that he knew best. That made me so mad on her behalf. He was so very, very blind, and she should’ve just smacked him hard.
OK, that’s all for this one! Go check out all of Measha’s fairy tales! Happy reading!
In Between the Pages 