Four volumes into the Frog Princess series the principals finally get hitched, though not before encounters with deadly werewolves and cockatrices, a genteel banshee, a baby dragon, vampires and a host of other magical creatures—capped by an army of invulnerable trolls led by a four-headed queen with a yen for matrimony herself. Complicated by Princess Emeralda’s attempts to please her magic-hating mother and stepmother-to-be by sticking to mundane methods rather than using spells, the plot winds its leisurely way through adventures and misadventures toward a goopily romantic “I do,” followed immediately by a wild battle as the aforementioned trolls attack. As before, hunky Prince Eadric’s dedicated focus on food and fighting is leavened by just enough good sense to keep him from becoming a complete caricature, and capable Emeralda repeatedly snatches the fat from the fire thanks to quick wit and strong magic—not to mention a pair of cute/obnoxious talking-animal sidekicks. Another amiable, though, at this point, decidedly formulaic, episode. (Fantasy. 11-13)
