Once Upon a Marigold (Upon a Marigold, #1)

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Once Upon a Marigold (Upon a Marigold #1)

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 11,261 ratings · 1,026 reviews

Christian is gaga for Princess Marigold. But he's just a commoner, and no match for royalty. Heck, he lives in a cave with a troll! And now he's discovered another reason to put his love-soggy heart on ice: Queen Olympia is scheming to take over the kingdom--and she'll bump off her own daughter to do it. Can Christian foil her diabolical plans?

Paperback, 271 pages

Published June 1st 2004 by Harcourt (first published October 1st 2002)

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Feb 23, 2010 Sara ♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, challenge-winter-2009, humor, romance, young-adult, fantasy, fairy-tale, books-i-own

OH. MY. CUTENESS.

This book was awesome! And, okay, I DO happen to have a thing for cheesy young-adult romance fairy-tales, but still, it was really clever and totally adorable! And CLEAN. I wouldn't hesitate to read this book to an 8-year-old (or younger, if they were interested). It was predictable (I guessed who Christian was in the first chapter, but whatever... the goal of the book wasn't to be cryptic), but it was just so sweet and innocent and SO funny!

Okay, so it's about this 6-year-old b...more OH. MY. CUTENESS.

This book was awesome! And, okay, I DO happen to have a thing for cheesy young-adult romance fairy-tales, but still, it was really clever and totally adorable! And CLEAN. I wouldn't hesitate to read this book to an 8-year-old (or younger, if they were interested). It was predictable (I guessed who Christian was in the first chapter, but whatever... the goal of the book wasn't to be cryptic), but it was just so sweet and innocent and SO funny!

Okay, so it's about this 6-year-old boy, Christian, who runs away from home and ends up living with and being raised by a Troll, Edric (Ed) in a cave. The kid turns out to be quite nice and resourceful (i.e. he's an inventor). Ed realizes he's gotta raise the kid right, so he gets a book of etiquette, and teaches the kid out of that. But the best part is that Ed has like ZERO grasp of clichés, and is CONSTANTLY mixing them up (like, "I can see I'm beating my head against a dead horse" and "After all, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the eager beaver.") Oh boy, those were great...

So 13 years later, Christian (sometimes Chris) is a strapping guy... haha... And he has this telescope, and has been (very innocently) admiring the pretty little brunette princess (Marigold, 17) whose balcony happens to face the cave... ;) In fact, he's so taken with her that he starts sending her messages via carrier pigeon. Heehee... But the pigeons can only hold a piece of paper big enough to hold 3 lines of text (and later 3 per side, I think), so they have these TINY conversations... It's REALLY cute. They become best friends, even though they've never met.

Then Christian and Ed decide he needs to go out on his own and experience the world, so he gets a job at the castle, and all sorts of craziness ensues... Marigold's mom is trying to hook her up with any eligible bachelor who will have her, and Christian is REALLY jealous... *cute!!* And it's really fun...

Anyway, it goes on from there, but I don't want to give TOO much away. I'm REALLY looking forward to Twice Upon a Marigold... It looks really great, too!(less)

8 likes · like · see review

Feb 19, 2008 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

I totally judged a book by its cover on this one. The font the words are printed in reminded me of the font from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (easy read, I knew), and it proclaimed itself to be “part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink; happily-ever-after turned upside down, inside out, and completely over the top!” Well, I don’t know about all that, but it was an entertaining read — a fairy tale with a modern, fun, whimsical feel to it.

I must admit I liked the fir...more

11 likes · like · see review

Aug 28, 2007 Shelley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, youth, chicklitromance

This is the cutest book in the entire world. You kind of just want to hug it and squeeze it and call it George, because it's just that damned cute.

The subtitle is "part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen sink," and that's pretty accurate. I got a bit of a Princess Bride type of vibe from it. I just kept giggling throughout - totally mixed up fairy tale, just slightly surreal and a bit mocking. So much fun!

(Okay, there were some parts where the author was clearly trying too...more

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May 17, 2009 Violet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Wonderful and orginal fairy tale! And one that is not like any other fariy tale out there.

***

This is my second read. It's just one of those books that you can't seem to put down, but not the kind that you can't stop thinking about. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful book. But.....it's just a good story. It's not something you can't get off your mind.

There were some cheesy parts, but that's part of the charm of the book. It's silly, crazy, touching and cheesy. That's basically the novel in a n...more

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Dec 09, 2010 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction, read-it-in-2010, book-talk

My name is Christian- I don’t know what my last name is, because when I was five years old, I decided I’d had enough with boring lessons about how to sip tea properly and wearing silly uncomfortable clothes all day. So I ran away- and that’s how I met Ed. Ed’s my dad. He found me hiding in the woods and tried to take me back to my parents, but I decided I liked Ed way more than them, so I tricked him into adopting me. Oh, yeah, Ed’s also a troll, and he pretends to be all grumpy and troll like m...more My name is Christian- I don’t know what my last name is, because when I was five years old, I decided I’d had enough with boring lessons about how to sip tea properly and wearing silly uncomfortable clothes all day. So I ran away- and that’s how I met Ed. Ed’s my dad. He found me hiding in the woods and tried to take me back to my parents, but I decided I liked Ed way more than them, so I tricked him into adopting me. Oh, yeah, Ed’s also a troll, and he pretends to be all grumpy and troll like most of the time, but I know he’s really just worried about being a good father to me. We live in this cave in the forest, that’s actually really comfortable, and Ed lets me do all the things I really care about. Like inventing things.

I’ve invented all sorts of useful things, like an elevator to bring water from the stream up to our sink. Man, I do not know how people live without indoor plumbing. Not even the people in the castle across the river have a flushing toilet like we do. I can see that castle from my cave, I even came up with an invention, a kind of glass in a tube, that lets me see things up close that are far away. I call it a tube glass. Which brings me to another invention I came up with. It’s called p-mail. What’s that, you ask? Well, it’s short for pidgeon mail. I trained this fat little pigeon who lives in our cave to carry messages back and forth from the castle, because in that castle, there’s this girl. She’s smart and funny, and loves to read books, just like me. We p-mail all day long, and I can talk to her about anything and everything. Unfortunately for me, she’s also the princess. And a really unhappy princess at that. Her three sisters all came out perfect and pretty and blond. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but Marigold, that’s my princess’s name, is quiet and bookish and cursed. You see, whenever she touches someone, she can see into their minds and know what they’re thinking. Which means that no one ever hugs her or even wants to be anywhere near her because they are afraid she’ll know what’s going on in their heads. The end result is, she’s got no friends, except for me, and I’m pretty sure that her own mother the queen hates her.

That mean old queen is a piece of work. She’s throwing this ball, and basically selling off her own daughter to any prince who’ll take her. And those princes and knights just want to marry Marigold for her money, they don’t care that she’s got a great smile, when she does smile, which isn’t very often, or that her hair is the prettiest shade of brown, like rich mahogany. Believe me, I’ve been spying on some of these guys, and they’re just a bunch of greedy Neanderthals.
And that’s what brings us to why I’m packing up all my worldly possessions and heading to the castle to find a job. I’m the only friend Marigold’s got in the world, and if there is anything I can do to save her, then I’ve gotta try.

This book was a bunny rabbit. Cute, fluffy and made me want to snuggle.(less)

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Feb 08, 2008 Trina rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: pre-teen girls

Shelves: 2008-reads, ya-chicklit, fantasy, fairy-tales

This book is just as cute as a pile of puppies and kittens licking each other's ears on a glittery pink blanket. Surrounded by cupcakes.

That is to say, there's a certain audience for this kind of thing and everyone else should keep their cute-sickness bags handy. (I am saying this as a fan of Cute Overload with a very high tolerance for cuteness.)

It's the light and fluffy side of a fairy tale without the darkness.

But it isn't bad. Ed and Christian are relatively enlightened buddies. While Princ...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Kirsten rated it 5 of 5 stars

What do you get when you mix an evil mother, a not so typical princess, a grumpy troll and a lost boy? You get “everything but the kitchen sink”. Once upon a Marigold is a book that follows a young boy falling in love with a princess across the river who exchanges little notes with him using p-mail (pigeon mail) creating a beautiful distant relationship. That’s when Christian decides it’s time for him to pursue his dreams and decides to leave his father troll, who has raised him since he found C...more

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Sep 29, 2011 ~Isabella S. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Do you enjoy books with a dash of romance, a sprinkling of fantasy and chapters chock-full of fiction? Then, Once Upon a Marigold, by Jean Ferris, is right for you, if you don’t enjoy fiction stay far away from this book, because it has everything from trolls to tooth fairies, in it. When Ed, a simple forest troll finds and takes in as he puts it ”an angelic little boy with the heart of a weasel.” named Christian, he doesn’t want him at first but then grows used to him.
As Christian grows up h...more Do you enjoy books with a dash of romance, a sprinkling of fantasy and chapters chock-full of fiction? Then, Once Upon a Marigold, by Jean Ferris, is right for you, if you don’t enjoy fiction stay far away from this book, because it has everything from trolls to tooth fairies, in it. When Ed, a simple forest troll finds and takes in as he puts it ”an angelic little boy with the heart of a weasel.” named Christian, he doesn’t want him at first but then grows used to him.
As Christian grows up he starts to observe King Swithbert’s castle across the river, and one day by innocent p-mail (short for pigeon mail) begins a friendship with Princess Marigold. As Christian and Marigold’s friendship begins to grow, so does Christian’s desire to see the world. He takes a job at the castle in hope of seeing Marigold, and discovers why Marigold is not touched by anyone, except by old King Swithbert, her father.
While on an errand in the castle, Christian discovers Queen Olympia’s plot against Marigold and King Swithbert. Christian is deemed a traitor and locked up in the dungeon, after Rollo, head of the castle guards, sees him sending a p-mail to Ed. Soon enough, soldiers search Ed’s cave and think that there is a plan to invade the castle, because Ed tends to collect things like clothes in the forest on his rambles. Ed joins Christian in the dungeon, along with Marigold. Marigold joins them, because she refuses to marry any of her suitors and Queen Olympia doesn’t want her to run away before the wedding.
I won’t give away the ending, but some people live happily ever after and some don’t. I enjoyed this book a lot because it has a little it of romance, fantasy, adventure,
basically, everything, but the kitchen sink. This book made me laugh as Christian grew up and at the detailed descriptions of his various experiments, some successful, others not so much.
Will Olympia’s evil plot win out? Will Marigold, Christian and Ed, escape the dungeon? If you enjoy adventure, romance and the escapades of a couple (or more) dogs then I highly recommend this book to you.

(less)

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Aug 29, 2011 Echo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-in-11, fantasy, youngadult

Cute story, but at times the story was a little too hard to believe for me. It's not often the writing of a young adult book is too young for my tastes, but this would be one.

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Apr 30, 2011 Eden rated it 4 of 5 stars

Firstly -- look out: omniscient point of view. The first hint of this is when we dip from Edric's head to that of a dog's; definitely disorienting at times. This POV does help make it feel more fairytale-like, though, so I'd say it's a job well-done. The characters of Marigold -- princess who doesn't like princessy things -- and King Swithbert -- old king who's been duped by his queen, but stands up for himself -- are almost stock, except that nothing in this novel is stock exactly, not even Edr...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Crystal rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my new favorite book! It starts out with an old troll named Edric (or Ed as the people call him) and his two dogs Bub and Cate. Ed sees a little boy hiding out in the bushes. He asks the boy what he's doing and the boy's response was that he was running away. Ed grumbles and takes him to his cave. Ed's cave is the most colorful cave ever. each room has a different color crystals. The boy decides to stay there and Ed soon learns his name. Christian. Chris was an inventor even at 6 years o...more

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Jan 05, 2011 KidsFiction Teton County Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairy-tales

A light hearted medival fairy tale with many new twists. the story begins with Edrick, a troll, searching in the forst for some lost items that might be useful. Ed and his two dogs discover a six year old boy, Christian hiding in a bush. Chris has run away from home, Ed takes him to his colorful cave (it has many rooms and crystals hanging from the walls and ceilings) with the promise to find his parents in the morning. Chris agrees to go with Ed, but doesn't want to return home. He can't even r...more

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Aug 26, 2010 Mashal rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Kids mainly, but any teens/adults looking for a quick and fun read

Shelves: series, reviewed, owned

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read this book originally as a 4th grader and when I saw it again recently while I was cleaning my book shelf, I thought that I might reread it because I very nearly forgot everything in the story.

First, a little recap on the story. There was this boy named Christian who ran away from home when he was a wee lad. He ended up being raised and cared for in a cave by a gruff but loving troll named Ed. And then there was Marigold, who was a princess that Christian often saw across the river on her...more I read this book originally as a 4th grader and when I saw it again recently while I was cleaning my book shelf, I thought that I might reread it because I very nearly forgot everything in the story.

First, a little recap on the story. There was this boy named Christian who ran away from home when he was a wee lad. He ended up being raised and cared for in a cave by a gruff but loving troll named Ed. And then there was Marigold, who was a princess that Christian often saw across the river on her terrace. To him, Marigold had seemed lonely and in a great need of a friend, so one day he decided to use the P-mail (pigeon mail) to strike up a conversation with her, starting with a simple message, "What are you reading?" And from then on, Marigold and Christian become best friends, all the while never having actually met each other, by sending messages to each other through p-mail. Then came the day when Ed deemed Christian fit and old enough to go off into the world to become a man. And where does Christian go first? None other than the castle, where he uncovers a most troubling plan, and faces his growing feelings toward the princess, all the while attempting to keep his identity from Marigold. And as for the rest of the story, it's a sweet and funny read all the way home.

Now, as for the actual story, I thought it was pretty entertaining and quirky. There were times when I was annoyed at Christian for his actions, but it was what made him so cute and innocent. The writing itself was nicely done, though the style is not as heavy as I'm used to. It's a nice read to lighten up the the mood, and it makes you chuckle at a lot of the corny parts. The reason why I gave this 3 stars instead of 4 was because there were a lot of parts, especially toward the end, where it was just too unrealistic. The characters reacted to certain things in a matter that I'm sure no one would do in their right mind. Including the part where Marigold's mother "dies" and the only thing that she, her sisters and father say is essentially "good riddance"- and I'm pretty sure none of them truly hated her enough to say that.

Overall, this book was quite enjoyable. It had the fairy-tale element in it, as well as a fun twist that the author successfully captured. I'm looking forward for another light and fun read from the squeal, Twice Upon A Marigold :)(less)

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Sep 16, 2010 Marsha rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very fun and well written romance geared towards young teens. It tells the story of Christian, who, at six years old, has run away from his family. He forces Ed, a very nice, good troll who is full of cock-eyed proverbs, to take him in. They live in a cave made of colorful crystals with two devoted dogs. Ed does his best to raise Christian, teaching him etiquette and other things that might be important. As Christian grows up across the river from the palace, he sometimes watches the princesse...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Anel rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you are looking for entertainment Once Upon a Marigold is a book to look for. This book is said to be what it is “Part comedy, part love story, and part every-thing-but-the-kitchen-sink.” This fairy tale is a story about a boy named Christian is raise by a troll and later on falls in love with a princess named Marigold. The Princess Marigold is curse with a spell of knowing the thought of people by touching them. Christian watched the princess across the river where she was very lonely and sa...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads

This book was like re-visiting my childhood. I first read this book in 6th grade, and I fell in love with it. Almost 6 years later, I decided to go out and buy the book and re-read it again. To my suprise, there was a sequal! Before skipping ahead to the second book, I decided to re-read this one so I remember exactly how the story was set up.

Pros: The characters are SO loveable. I found myself constantly going "Awww!" at Christian's innocence and the cute yet innocent love between Marigold and...more

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Nov 05, 2009 Kolleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

This book was recommended to me by a 12 year-old (with good taste), and I do love fairy tales, so I decided to give it a shot. The first chapter was a little dull, I got a little worried that this was a bad choice, but it definately was NOT!

This book has all the workings of a fairy tale, with a little comedy mixed in. There are trolls, tooth fairies, castles, princesses, giants; the whole nine yards. There were even fairy tale comittess, such as the LEFT (Leprechauns, Elves, Fairies, and Trol

...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Matea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 13-25

AUTHOR. LOVE. "Once Upon A Marigold" by Jean Ferris is a happy, bright, typical princess romance novel. A boy who ran away from home at an early age grows up inventing and learning from Ed the cave troll. One day he aspies the princess in the faraway castle reading a book, and he sends her a message asking "What are you reading?" That starts a correspondence resulting in a bulwark, a decision to leave the cave and explore the world, and the discovery of a plot to take over the kingdom by someone...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: eng356-1-12

This is the story of Christian, a peasant boy who lives in a cave with a troll and his true love Princess Marigold. Their relationship is (shockingly) everything but usual. Their love story begins with Christian sending a message to Marigold via pigeon after spying her through his telescope. Marigold responds and they fall almost instantly in love. They are, however, so sad to realize that a relationship between a peasant boy who lives in a cave with a troll and a princess - who incidentally is...more

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Apr 25, 2010 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mg-and-ya-modern-folk-tales-fairy-t

Awards and Recognitions: ALA Notable Books for Children – 2003

Christian, while looking through his telescope, notices a princess reading a book. Curiosity gets the better of him, so he sends her a “p-mail” with one of his foster-father’s pigeons to ask her what book it is. He and Princess Marigold strike up a correspondence through the pigeons; they share book discussions, bad jokes, and a promise of friendship. As in many fairy tales, this princess has a curse –she can sense the thoughts of any...more

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Feb 07, 2010 Trent rated it 2 of 5 stars

The city librarian came to my classroom and told my students about a bunch of popular books. This was one of them. I've also seen a lot of my students reading this, so I thought I would check it out. It's one of those typical "not-your-typical" fairytales. I have read and enjoyed some of those types of books, but this is definitely not one that I enjoyed. The writing seemed sloppy, and the whole book was silly, in my opinion. I can see how this kind of book might appeal to some younger readers,...more

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Sep 26, 2009 JG (The Introverted Reader) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to JG (The Introverted Reader) by: Natalie

Shelves: author_american, childrens, fantasy, fiction, just_plain_fun, humor, modern_fairy_tale, read_in_2009, reviewed, titles_i_like, 4_stars

My seven-year-old cousin and fellow lover-of-all-things-fairy, Natalie, convinced me to read this by reciting the cover blurb to me: "Part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink." What fairy tale fan could resist that? Not this one!

I loved that the defining characteristics of the characters weren't their beauty or lack thereof. Chris is intelligent, kind, and loyal. He's also an inventor. He's the first in the kingdom to use p-mail (pigeon mail). Princess Marigold is a rea...more My seven-year-old cousin and fellow lover-of-all-things-fairy, Natalie, convinced me to read this by reciting the cover blurb to me: "Part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink." What fairy tale fan could resist that? Not this one!

I loved that the defining characteristics of the characters weren't their beauty or lack thereof. Chris is intelligent, kind, and loyal. He's also an inventor. He's the first in the kingdom to use p-mail (pigeon mail). Princess Marigold is a reader, also intelligent and kind, and very concerned with making sure that she becomes a good strong ruler of her kingdom. She even asks commoners' opinions on the qualities that a good ruler should have! Even the minor characters are generally defined by their personalities, good or bad. Looks really didn't come into play at all. I found that a little refreshing.

The story was a little predictable. We first meet Chris when he's a six-year-old runaway living in the woods. As he grows older, he starts to notice Princess Marigold, who he can watch as she reads on her terrace in the castle. He wants to be her friend, and he wants to know why she frequently looks unhappy. You can probably guess the general outline of the story, beginning to end, just from that. But there were still several surprises along the way that kept the story fresh.

Ed the troll might have been my favorite character. Oh, I really liked Chris and Marigold, but Ed made me laugh. He loves to use common sayings, but he can never get them right. Here's one: "But now that you have your act on the ball, you can do better...All you have to do is keep your shoulder to the grindstone and your nose to the wheel." Too funny! And he's working hard to break a certain fairy creature's monopoly. I won't say who, but that whole little subplot was really cute.

I'm not sure exactly what set the villain off at this point in time. That's probably the biggest thing that knocked this down a star. He or she (I won't say who!) has had years to act. Why now?

If you read the epilogue, there's a huge cliffhanger. I'll be picking up the next one. As Natalie would quote at me, "Part comedy, part tragedy, part two!" Again, who could resist?(less)

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Sep 06, 2011 Kimberly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids

When I started this book Megan came by and said something about it being a kids book. I replied that I thought it could be a cute junior high book and she gave me a funny look. When I got to the last 50 pages I decided she was right. It really was for 4th or 5th grade ages because it's ending was just so thrown together. I was a little disappointed. The story was cute and even though it was predictable the end could have been considered cute too if it were well written. Sadly it was not. So then...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Clare G rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the kind of book perfect for a dreary, boring winter week (or day, depending on how fast you read) when there's no snow on the ground and you need some sunshine. Lucky I found this book at such a time.
Once Upon a Marigold is a charming love story/comedy/fairy tale that centers on a boy named Christian and the princess he has watched grow up from just across the river. But soon he discovers that his beloved "best friend and bulwark" may be in danger of being bumped off by her own mother....more

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May 06, 2011 Johanna Freivalds rated it 4 of 5 stars

As an adult reader of this book for teens, I must say I enjoyed it a LOT. The "fairy tale" nature of the story was fun and well done. I especially liked and was amused by the use (misuse) of common idioms. I'm not so sure that all my middle school readers would "get" the humor and some readers might instead, be a bit confused or be oblivious to the subtlety,(but what a great way to show kids playing with language can be fun). Book would make an AWESOME read-aloud even for students in younger gra...more

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Sep 11, 2008 Sherylcarlin rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Tween/Early Teens & Parents

Recommended to Sherylcarlin by: Once Upon A Time

This is a great book for tweens and early teens. It is a clever story that communicates that true love is based on friendship, partnership, and being someone's "bulwark." My daughter, (11) and I have truly enjoyed reading it together and she cannot wait to start the next in the series, "Twice Upon A Marigold"

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Jul 25, 2011 Tori added it

2004- As someone who enjoys original fairy tales, I had some pretty high hopes for this book. It didn't meet them. Ed, a troll who lives in the woods comes across a young boy who has run away named Christian. Unable to find his family, Ed adopts him. Christian grows and soon tires of his non-existent social life. He yearns to go to the castle across the river, partly because of the excitement, partly because he has a crush on the young Princess Marigold, who he has been spying on with his telesc...more

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May 13, 2010 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a super cute book. It's silly and fun, and not to be taken too seriously. I loved it.

Ed the troll comes across a 6-year old boy when out scavenging one day. The boy, named Christian, has run away from home and refuses to go back. Ed reluctantly takes him in and raises him. Fast forward 12 years and Christian is a curious young man, who loves to build and cook but has few friends. He begins a correspondence via carrier pigeons with the young princess across the river from the cave he shar...more

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Feb 01, 2010 Lisa (Bookworm Lisa) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I found this cute book very entertaining.

Christian runs away from his parents in a forest. He is found by the troll Ed. Ed tries to talk Christian into finding his parents, but Christian doesn't like the rules of his home, that his parents don't want him to be an inventor and that he has to wear velvet clothes.

Christian threatens Ed that if he is forced to go back home he will tell everyone that Ed kidnapped him. So, Ed is forced into fatherhood, sharing his jewel encrusted cave with a young boy...more

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Apr 29, 2011 Carolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, fantasy, romance, young-adult, humor, fairy-tale-retold

Lovers of puns and of animals will find an abundance of both in this whimsical love story. Christian is the runaway son of an unknown well-to-do family who is found and raised in a magical cave by a gruff, proverb-mixing ("wet blanket in the mud") troll whose main goal in life is to break the tooth fairy's monopoly. As Christian grows up in virtual isolation with his foster father and their two dogs, he uses a telescope to watch the lonely princess in the castle across the river. They begin exch...more

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About Jean Ferris

This author is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects: living with a deaf parent (Of Sound Mind), facing the consequences of a criminal act (Bad), or questioning one's sexuality (Eight Seconds). But Jean Ferris is also adept at writing comedy, historical fiction, and romance. What's most interesting is that she didn't publish her first novel until she was in her mid-40s. Yet she's never forgotten...more

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Twice Upon a Marigold (Upon a Marigold, #2)

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Quotes from Once Upon a Marigold

“That cup of tea is definately not down your alley” — 47 people liked it

“Nobody ever gets enough appreciation when they're behaving themselves, but there's no end to hearing about it when they're not. ” — 31 people liked it

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Once Upon a Marigold (Upon a Marigold #1)

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