The Runaway Princess

At the Prime Minister's recommendation of the need for economic development, The King and Queen propose to set a contest for the rid of three evils in their kingdom, the reward being their daughter's hand in marriage and half the kingdom. Only, they forgot to tell the princess. Well, Meg isn't too happy about it. So unhappy, in fact, that she is placed in a tower to await the contest results. Pssh. Meg isn't about to wait around, so with the help of her friends, she sets off to rescue the poor witch, dragon, and group of bandits from the terrible contest, and free herself from an unwanted marriage as well.

Kate Coombs does a nice job of telling an intriguing story. Meg is smart, with an interesting perspective on things, life, and other things, and a gift for seeing a person's true character. I loved the other characters as well: Gorba and her frog princes, Prince Bain and his... The story came to a mostly-satisfying conclusion, the unsatisfying part of which was solved in the sequel. I would not be averse to reading more of these characters, beyond the two books.

Blue