I think if I hadn't read the first few books of Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdom series, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. Unfortunately, for me, the latest installment in her series was quite disappointing. I'll start out with what I did like: the combination of the tales "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Beauty and the Beast", the reappearance of Godmother Elena (from the first book), and the plucky but slightly manipulative Bella. Here's what I didn't like: the fact that the villain was apparent from the beginning, yet supposedly neither Bella (who is supposedly very intelligent) nor the Godmother was able to figure it out until the ending, the uninspired characterization of Sebastian (he was so dull), and the lackluster romance that developed between Sebastian and Bella (it was probably the most boring romance that I've read in a while). Overall, a 2.5 rating.