The Stepsister Scheme (Princess, Book 1) - Jim C. Hines I'd been meaning to get around to reading this author, ever since I saw him taking on female character poses from science fiction and fantasy book covers. This guy is really cool, and I felt I was missing out.

The story was pretty original, and often humorous. The book stars Cinderella (Danielle), Sleeping Beauty (Talia), and Snow White. It uses some of the darker details from the fairy tales, which I really appreciated. I found the main characters really likable, and appreciated hearing the darker aspects of their back stories when they got to it.

Initially, I did have trouble getting into it, because the action and the crisis starts off pretty quickly. That may work for a lot of people, but I find it harder to care, when I haven't been given a little bit of time beforehand to get to know the characters. In particular, I would have liked to see something of Armand before the main plot began, in which he was kidnapped. As the story went, more was revealed about all of the characters, and I was able to feel more of an attachment to everyone. This may not be an issue for everyone, and I definitely found it to be worth reading.