Assistant to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Assistant to the Villain, by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

This was loaned and recommended to me by my oldest daughter, Elizabeth. She really enjoyed it, and she thought I would, too. She was right. 

This is the story of a young woman who is seeking employment so she can take care of her ill father and her young sister, and as she is out walking in the woods, she meets a mysterious man, who has the king's guards chasing him. He ends up hiring her as his assistant, and we discover he is known as The Villain. 

We learn what it's like  being morally gray and working for a villain who hangs the heads of his enemies from the ceiling, and tortures people in his dungeon. We read the story from Evie's perspective, and also from the Villain's perspective, and  eventually learn what made him the way he is, as their lives become intertwined and they discover some twists and turns in their reality while trying to uncover a traitor in their midst. 

This book gives me kind of an Ella Enchanted (the movie) vibe. It's a fun fantasy read and one can really come to love the characters in it. It's easy to read, easy to understand what's going on, but not so simple that it becomes boring. My daughter and I found a lot to discuss about this book and some of the complexities that we discovered in it. 

There's supposed to be a sequel out later this year. I look forward to reading it. This is an enjoyable read and although it's the first book I have read by this author, I like her style and would gladly read more from her.

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2 Thessalonians, Holman Christian Standard Bible

 Another small letter written by Paul to the church of Thessalonica. Chapter 1 sticks out to me when Paul is talking about rewards and judgments, beginning in verse 5:5 It is a clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also are suffering, 6 since it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you 7 and to reward with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels, 8 taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from His glorious strength 10 in that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed. 11 And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

One might jump on this and say that sinners will have what's coming to them in the end. However, that's not what I take from this. Remembering we will all face judgment in the end, we need to remember our calling, live in Christ and under the covering of His blood, and seek to be a light to those who still don't follow Christ. Because do we really want others to face judgment and condemnation and be sent to Hellfire? Absolutely not. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and Christians are an extension of that. We are not to rejoice in someone's downfall ( I think we are all guilty of that behavior on some level) but seek to help lead them to redemption. 

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The Prisoner of Zenda, Anthony Hope

The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope

A few years ago, I read a book by Edgar Rice Burroughs, called The Mad King. It was about a switcheroo between the king and another man, in order to save the kingdom. About a year later, as I was on an elliptical at the gym, there was a black and white movie playing on one of the tvs, and I could have sworn it was The Mad King. I discovered that it was actually The Prisoner of Zenda. I had to look into this and I discovered that Burroughs' book came after Zenda, and was a blatant rip-off of it. 

Last year, I went to a flea  market, and found this beauty on a table, for only $3. It was printed in 1898 and is in good enough condition for me. I put it into Mount TBR and got it read in April. 

I really enjoyed this one. The writing style is old fashioned. as is most writing from the late 19th century, but it was a fun read. It's about a gentleman who lives in England but has distant blood relation to royalty in a far off little country called Ruritania. He ends up visiting the country and the king's men discover he is a dead ringer for the king. The king invites him to visit at his hunting lodge and the king ends up drunk, drugged by his brother, so he will miss his coronation. The king's men decided to switch the king and his distant cousin, just until the king can wake up again. Sounds easy peasy, but while they are away at the coronation, the king gets kidnapped, and so they have to devise a plan to save him.

Very fun, and if you get a chance, watch the movie, too. Then read The Mad King, by Edgar Rice Burroughs and see the similarity.

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