Christian has been mailing Princess Marigold by pigeon, and he finally decides it's time to leave the troll he adopted as his foster dad and make a try for a new life at the castle. Marigold is engaged to an awful suitor, her mother is determined to force the wedding, kill her and the king, and take over the kingdom. Christian has to stop them somehow, but he and Marigold both end up in the dungeon. It takes everyone together to come up with a plan to outwit the queen. ( )

no awards but wonderful reviews ( )

In this humorous fairy tale, true love wins out, in the end. The dog-loving, bookworm of a princess, who always had a mind of her own, is finally appreciated for her true (inner) beauty. The benevolent ruler outsmarts the evil queen. The princely pauper and his guardian troll are exhalted. Happy endings all around! The character of Edric the troll is essential. His expressions are hilarious, and his relationship with Christian is touching - as is Christian's awkwardness around Princess Marigold (He was, after all, raised in a cave!). A delightful, if somewhat predictable story (but aren't most fairy tales?) ( )

Christian ran away from home when he was six. Living with his foster father in the forest for eleven years, Chris doesn't regret it for a minute - he has a happy (if isolated) life with his two dogs and distantly watches Princess Marigold through a telescope from outside his house. But now it's time for him to leave the life he's known and seek his fortune.

Though I enjoyed several aspects of this story, Once Upon a Marigold was clearly written for readers younger than me. The seventeen-year-old protagonists often seemed a bit young in their thoughts and actions and the narrator had a habit of making pronouncements in a way that irritated me. The direction of the plot was clear early on, though it was entertaining to see how it all came together. Edric the troll was a great character, and I enjoyed his merged sayings that seem to almost make sense. A quick, fun read that I would've enjoyed more fifteen years ago. ( )

Once upon a Marigold there lived a cursed princess, an evil queen, an eccentric troll, and a handsome foster son of the troll. Subtitled “Part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink,” Once Upon a Marigold is all parts a light-hearted, fun read. Princess Marigold has an independent spirit and refuses to tolerate the unwelcome suitors her evil queen mother sends her way. Instead, Marigold wishes to marry for love and to take an active part in ruling her kingdom.

Speaking of love, Marigold’s plight does not go unnoticed by Christian, the young man living across the river with his foster father the troll Edric (Ed for short). Christian’s past is mysterious (albeit somewhat predictable), since he ran away from home and was adopted by Ed when he was but a young lad of six. Christian and Marigold begin with p-mail (pigeon mail) and their seemingly improbable commoner-princess relationship blossoms into full-fledged love.

Just to be near Marigold, Christian finds menial work at the castle. At first he doesn’t tell Marigold that he is her p-mail pal, but he changes his mind when he overhears her evil mother discussing yet another evil plot. Through a series of misfortunes and adventures and the use of his inventor’s prowess, he wins the princess and defeats the evil stepmother.

Replete with awful jokes, a humorous plot, magical creatures (including a single-minded troll bent on breaking up the monopoly of the overworked, ineffectual tooth fairy), a smattering of Greek mythology, and many a time-tested fairy tale convention, Once Upon a Marigold holds its own in the realm of comedic fairy tale lore and will particularly appeal to young girls who dream that someday their prince will come (and possibly to young boys who don’t mind the romance thrown in with the troll-talk and invention action).

The end is apparent from the beginning, and I personally found the tale to be a little too predictable. Still, readers (myself included) will likely continue to turn pages just to make sure Marigold and Christian do indeed find true love and that Ed commences his part of the tooth fairy enterprise (and also so as not to miss out on any awful jokes) . ( )