Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Rating: 4 1/2 stars
Genre: Fantasy, action, some romance
Pages: 344
     Shut up in a tower by her wicked aunt, Ben (short for Benevolence) discovers an enchanted room and begins her secret trainging in the magical arts. But while Ben is busy cloning herself and walking through walls, a neighboring kingdom is trying to conquer  her beloved home. What's worse, it's looking more and more like their only hope is a pudgy, imperfect princess who can't even do needlework correctly.
     Princess Ben is a page turner. That's all I can say about it. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the word choice. She doesn't just see a castle, she espies a castle. But aside from that, it's a pretty decent book. Not only is there magic, but lots of the fiery tounged court dialouge I love in princess novels.

The Lady Grace Mysteries by Grace Cavendish

 
 

Rating of series as a whole: ****
Genre: Mystery, historical fiction, action
Average number of pages: Around 200
Series: There are currently twelve books, but it's an alphabetical series so there will eventually be twenty-six. Hmm...what will they do for x and z?
     Lady Grace Cavendish is Maid of Honor to Queen Elizabeth I, but she doesn't always act like a proper lady. She has little interest in finding a husband, makes friends with a laundry maid and an acrobat, climbs trees when nobody is looking, and occasionally shoots flaming arrows at pirate ships. It's all part of her job as Lady Pursuivant, aka the queen's personal detective.
     What I like most about these books is Grace's personality. She's not a typical lady or a stereotypical tomboy. She's comfortable living in a world of needlepoint projects, but she would rather be writing in her journal (Oh, yes, the books are written in diary format). And then there's her attitude towards boys. She has a guy friend and is actually engaged in the first book (though it obviously doesn't work out) but she doesn't really care about boys-even the handsome actor she meets in book six.
     The Lady Grace Mysteries are short, captivating books I'd suggest for fans of historical fiction, mystery, action, people who don't like complicated books, and avid readers who want a light read between reading more complex books.