A Royal Masquerade (The Tales of Ambia, #2) in Ask Allison Tebo Anything

Feb 14, 2018 Allison Tebo added it · (Review from the author)

Shelves: fairy-tales-retellings, books-i-have-written

And that's a wrap! A Royal Masquerade is now officially on AUDIBLE!

I'm so thrilled to finally see my books turning into audiobooks. If you've been looking for a fun, magical listen, this might be for you. And, psst, Audible offers some nice deals for first time listeners!

https://www.audible.com/pd/B0CP8MFK77... ...more

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Oct 19, 2018 Katie Hanna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Greetings, lords, ladies, peasants, and assorted jesters!

*sweeping bow whilst scattering fairy dust*

(Okay, okay, none of you are ACTUALLY peasants. That would be very rude of me. Of course I'm not suggesting anything of the sort. ;-) )

Here's my review of the latest installment in Allison Tebo's The Tales of Ambia series: A Royal Masquerade.

First off, I'll give you Alli's official synopsis, since she explains things far better than I could:

"Burndee can barely tolerate the mischievous Prince C ...more

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Dec 05, 2018 Kellyn Roth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-for-adults, books-for-children, books-for-teens, magical

I've accepted that I shall not review this until some day when I reread, so for now:

ARG IT WAS SO GOOD I LOVED IT SO MUCH IT WAS SO FUNNY AND I LOVED COLIN COLIN WAS THE BEST AND BURNDEE AND BURNDEE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ELLA IS PRETTY MUCH #GOALS AND I REALLY DIDN'T SEE THE PLOT TWIST COMING (like probably 'cause I forgot the plot of the goose girl but whatever) AND LIKE WOW IT WAS SO GOOD POPPY IS SO SWEET AND CYNTHIA IS SUCH A ROCK AND I LOVE ALL THE DESCRIPTIONS!!! Miss Tebo made me laugh SO h ...more

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Mar 16, 2019 E.F. Buckles rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, books-i-ll-read-again, favorites, humor, fairy-tale-retellings, indie-authors, signed-by-author

This is officially my new favorite retelling of The Goose Girl fairytale. I didn't have a favorite before now because the few other Goose Girl retellings I've read before didn't do much for me. Even the original tale is low on my list of fairytales that I like because it's just so...simple I guess? Or maybe it's because the switching identifies thing has been done so many times that, for me at least, it can feel a little stale. A Royal Masquerade, however, gives the story of the Goose Girl fresh This is officially my new favorite retelling of The Goose Girl fairytale. I didn't have a favorite before now because the few other Goose Girl retellings I've read before didn't do much for me. Even the original tale is low on my list of fairytales that I like because it's just so...simple I guess? Or maybe it's because the switching identifies thing has been done so many times that, for me at least, it can feel a little stale. A Royal Masquerade, however, gives the story of the Goose Girl fresh new life.

It helped that this story did more than just retell The Goose Girl. First and foremost it's a continuation of the Tales of Ambia series, more specifically, a continuation of Burndee's (the main character of The Reluctant Godfather) story. The author herself said it perfectly in the note at the beginning of the story: "I chose to flip the plot and the subplot, focusing on the subplot while the main plot is skirted around, barely glimpsed. I flirt with the main story line but we aren't in a long-term relationship."

This approach was definitely the best choice. It balanced the old and new in a way that made even the retelling part feel new, rather than stale. It let me see the characters I already knew and loved and enjoy their highjinks (Burndee and Colin are the best! <3) so I was then able to be excited when I started picking up hints at the Goose Girl retelling that was going on in the background. It was fun to see when and how the main characters would figure out what was going on, and how they'd solve the problem. I also enjoyed the personalities that the author gave the Goose Girl characters and how she made them and their story fit inside the world she's created.

I can't give details about the epilogue because MASSIVE SPOILERS, but WOW. What a way to hint that this was all just a small part of a bigger picture! To quote Syndrome from "The Incredibles", I'M STILL GEEKING OUT ABOUT IT! *flailing intensifies* I was already excited for any future books in this series, but that epilogue just added to it!

If you haven't read this book yet, you are missing out on something special. I heartily recommend it!
...more

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Aug 07, 2020 Christine Smith rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, fairy-tales, owned-ebooks, retellings, 2020-reads, the-goose-girl-retellings

A Royal Masquerade is a sequel to the The Reluctant Godfather (one of my FAVORITE stories ever), continuing the madcap adventures of Burndee, the reluctant godfather himself. And this story is just as delightful as its predecessor. Seriously, I don’t even know which one I like better. I think I love them equally!

Should you read The Reluctant Godfather first? I mean, yes, that’s how it’s intended. BUT this one actually stands on its own pretty well. You wouldn’t be too lost if you jumped straight ...more

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Nov 15, 2018 Angela R. Watts rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, indie-authors

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received a free ecopy of this book. A positive review was not required. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.

A Royal Masquerade is like a giant cake—sweet, beautiful, and full of delicious surprises!

The writing style and setting were delightfully vivid and entertaining. Just like watching a play or being right there with the character! I could just imagine the garden and palace settings, as well as smell the baked goods. The writing style and setting snagged me in and I lo ...more

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Mar 17, 2020 Abbie rated it it was amazing

“It must be dreadfully inconvenient to be nice and polite every day, he thought drearily. And caring what other people think takes up a lot of time.”

BURNDEE AND ELLA ARE BAAAAAACK! Oh my word peeps, what do I say?!

This book went above and beyond everything I expected. With her usual wit and amazing clean humour, Allison Tebo yet again concocted a read that has me absolutely thrilled. I (being the uninformed person I am lol) had thought for one painful moment that though this book was set in Amb ...more

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Aug 17, 2019 Sharla rated it liked it

I give this 3.5 stars, again the characters are absolutely delightful. However, the pacing is a little off at times. For instance, there's so many wonderful descriptions, but sometimes that distracts from the dialogue or main action that's happening.

That said, this is meant to read more like a play that you're watching, versus a typical novel. Which it does, you have characters coming on and off set in a delightfully chaotic and bizarre sequence of events. My favorite part of this story is as w ...more

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Aug 03, 2019 Becca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, priority-2020, to-re-read, fantasy, fairy-tale-retellings, physical-tbr, indie-published

3.5 out of 5 stars

No, this isn't quite as good as A Reluctant Godfather (that one's hard to beat), but I love it anyway. A book simply can't go wrong if it includes this much cake. Not to mention a talking skunk, Burndee, a lemonade pitcher wielded as a weapon, Burndee, a strongman allergic to mice (he eats them anyway), and Burndee! The pacing is rather fast and furious for my taste, and the humor reminds me of The Three Stooges at it's worst -- or it's best depending on your personal preferenc ...more

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