Goldilocks by Patria L. Dunn

Hannah Adler had wished for more attention from her father, but not at the cost of leaving everything she loved behind. The mountains of Hinsdale, Colorado was not where she’d imagined spending her senior year, but with her father accepting the inspector position at the Golden Wonder gold mine, she had no choice but to make the best of it. It’s not as if the friends, she didn’t have, would miss her. Life had been lonely since losing her mother almost five years ago, and now was her chance to start letting her heart heal once and for all.

Jake Bear had his nickname for a reason, but it wasn’t one that Hannah would have ever suspected. There was a secret buried in those sable colored eyes, and with something lurking in the woods behind her new home, Hannah was almost sure he knew more than he let on.

He only wanted to protect her, but from what…?

Let's get right down to it.  This is a great re-telling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  It's been updated and made current.  Some wonderful darkness has been added, both in the characters and the settings.  This is a dark and action-packed story that you'll enjoy.  The characters are well-layered and likable.

 Personally, I had a wonderful time just sitting back and reading this.  It was relaxing, without going too slowly or too quickly.  There was just the right amount of detail to the scene settings to keep me from being bored.  The ancestral stories are almost Native American in feel.  You'll love their ancient and spiritual feel.

For those of you who enjoy retold Fairy Tales, you'll really enjoy this one.  It isn't quite to Gregory Maguire standards, but there's definite promise there.  Dunn has a flair for story-telling and drama that could serve her well in the book world.

Another note, if you write a review for Goldilocks on Amazon, and then e-mail her that you've done so (address is on the last page of Goldilocks), Dunn will send you another of her e-books at no cost.  Honestly,  I love when authors are willing to spoil their fans a little!

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  Shawn