The Healer's Apprentice [Kindle Edition]

I have to say that I wasn't expecting a Christian story. If it alluded to that on the description I didn't notice. Some will say "thats a Christian publishing house"...well I don't know all the publishing houses and what the publish. I assume most others won't know that either. I also want to state the fact that I am not anti-Christian at all. I believe in God and the Bible and the commandments although my church attendance fluctuates. I have read all the Left Behind books so I am not against a religiously themed fiction tale.

And I really love a good fairy tale. This was a good fairy tale and its based (loosely) on the Sleeping Beauty tale. It is the story of a poor woodcutter's daughter who is now an apprentice to the court's healer woman. Rose gains the interest of two brothers. The eldest, Lord Hamlin, is next in line to the throne. He is kind and has a great love of God and his people. Rupert, the younger brother, is a cad with a horrible reputation of loving and leaving the ladies. Although Rose loves Hamlin, she knows he is betrothed to marry a quality woman who is in hiding from a wicked man who threatened her with a curse. Lord Hamlin also fights his attraction to Rose.

In the meantime, Rose tries to convince herself Rupert is the one for her. Because he isn't in line for the throne, it is feasible that he may ask her to marry him. And what girl wouldn't want this catch?

There ends up being a lovely mystery involved, easy to solve, but still quite charming. Rose is a delightful character. She prays throughout the book and I really liked this about her. There were a few nice little twists, or side stories, that kept the book flowing. I didn't want to stop once I had started the tale.

I did find it somewhat annoying at the end of the book at how things were resolved. I thought the book ended up a little too much on the preachy side when the theme of God and his path for your life was perfect through the first portion of the story. It was there but it wasn't too preachy. The end was out there. The last third or fourth of the book was weird. The fabulous characters really didn't take action. Others have said it on their reviews and I hoped they were exhauggerated but nope. They just prayed and prayed and didn't take any kind of action.

I talked about this with my husband and he said it reminded him of the story that tells about a stranded man at sea. He could drown or starve but he has much faith in God to save him. Two or three boats come across the man and ask him if he wants a ride and the man declines saying "Nope, God will save me". So the man drowns. When he reaches Heaven he said "God, why didn't you answer my prayers?" and God says "Well I sent three boats to save you!".

I believe God is a guiding hand in our life, as the book states. However, its ridiculous to not work with God and use our free will to help ourselves.

Even with this complaint I can't give the book less that four stars. I truly found it deightful. And of course its clean and sweet and perfect for your younger teens to enjoy as well.

I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. This looked like a wonderful book, a great historical romance with a bit of fantasy flare to it. It was okay, in fact the beginning of the book was pretty good, but it declined from the middle of the book on. Keep in mind I approached this as a historical fantasy, I was not aware that the publisher was a Christian fiction publisher....so when characters started setting aside action to wait for God to save them and then the Duke of the realm used his divine right as a leader to banish demons I was confused and irritated.

This is the story of Rose. Rose is apprenticed to the Healer of the realm. When the Duke's sons come for a visit; both of them are drawn to her beauty. Rose knows her place in the realm and, as a Healer's Apprentice, does not want the attention of either brother. When one of the brothers, Wilhelm, is injured Rose heals him. Wilhelm and Rose are drawn to each other's personalities, but it cannot be. Wilhelm is betrothed to a Princess whose identity will not be revealed until the evil mage is defeated. Meanwhile Wilhelm's younger brother, a rogue of sorts, has started courting Rose. Wilhelm struggles to keep his feelings for Rose under wraps while trying to hunt down the evil mage that plagues the realm.

This book started out pretty good. It had a lot of a fairy tale feel to it, with a definite German tone. You can't help but love the characters in the beginning they are all so sweet, pure, and innocent. Rose is determined to be good and to have a life as a healer. Rose can get to be a little much at points; she is pure to the point of not exposing her arms, not touching a man's hand, or wearing makeup. But that seemed to be mostly cultural, so went well with the story. The writing is fairly well done and engaging; there are beautiful descriptions but the dialogue between characters is a bit stilted. I was really enjoying this as a sweet historical romance with a bit of a fantasy flare to it...then we get to the second half of the book.

Keep in mind I did not know this book was released by a christian fiction publisher, so readers beware. As the book continues God is mentioned a lot (I mean a lot a lot) and scripture is quoted. Wilhelm is especially religious; all of which I don't have a problem with. The problem comes in when the characters decide to stop taking action and sit on their bums praying for God to save them. I was like "what is going on here?"..."Why are these wonderful characters waiting around for God to do their work for them rather than taking positive action themselves?"

Then suddenly things get even stranger; Rose is haunted by demons and speaking in tongues. Wilhelm enters to save the day by using his power as a Duke to cast the evil forces out of his realm in God's name. It all got very weird, was very predictable, and made me very uncomfortable. I couldn't figure out why the author would drop such a sweet positive story and turn it into some weird parable of religious text.

Overall I loved the beginning of this book. The characters are positive, sweet, and likable. The romance between Rose and Wilhelm is well-founded and they have great chemistry together. I hated the ending of the book, I thought the overpowering use of God as a solution to the characters problems and Wilhelm's sudden ability to make use of divine intervention were strange and distasteful. So just be warned; this is a Christian fantasy and gets very preachy towards the end of the book. If that's not your thing pick up a different book with sweet characters and wonderful romance; I recommend Crown Duel (Crown Duel / Court Duel) by Sherwood Smith or The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. This book is appropriate for all young adults and older.

I am not a huge fan of historical fiction but I had agreed to read and write a review on this book. Imagine my surprise when I read the first line and realized the book was set in 1386. But I boldly went forth and began to read the book. Two hours later, I'd read approximately one-third of the book and the only reason I put it down was to sleep. This book went with me everywhere for the next two days (if I had not had to work, I would have finished in one day). I have just finished "The Healer's Apprentice" by Melanie Dickerson. Spell-binding. Page-turning. Can't-put-it-down. I am now hooked on early historical romance fiction.

Although this book is considered YA, adults will enjoy reading it, too. I give this book my highest recommendation.