The Princess and the Lumberjack

Kingdom of Daes Duo #1

by H.L. Muller

From the outside, Princess Gertrude’s life was perfect. She was betrothed to marry Prince Charming and had everything every woman dreamed of at her fingertips. When suddenly the carpet was pulled out from underneath her, everything she had been raised for disappeared within a glass slipper. Princess Gertrude decided it was up to her to ensure her own happiness. Armed with a plan of action, Princess Gertrude found herself lost and alone. Not everything goes to plan, and Princess Gertrude learns sometimes you need to be lost to find yourself.

A spin-off retelling of Cinderella.
** Mature content, 18 and over only, please! **

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2020

About the author

Heidi grew up in south west Sydney, Australia, and now lives in Queensland with her marvelous Husband, Hayden and their Daughter, Artemis. Heidi is 29 and is also a dog mum to beautiful loving Labrador, Daisy.

Heidi is a self-published best selling author, with 5 years since her first book was published, and a total of 8 published books so far, Heidi writes all kinds of Romance. She fell in love with happy endings as a child, and has chased them ever since. Having dyslexia, Heidi had difficulties learning and maintaining the standard literacy and numeracy requirements in school, until she found her love for reading. It all started with a cringe worthy obsession over a certain Edward Cullen (no regrets), which has fuelled Heidi to go on to reading 200+ books a year. With a passion for reading, Heidi began writing short stories, which led to her writing her first book in 2019.

She has been an attending author at several book signings, including BABE 2025, Books-in-Sight 2025 Melbourne, Newcastle Book Boyfriend Event 2024, and Love on the Beach 2024; with more book signings coming up in the future! Check it out on the Events page!

Reviews

[Karen Nastasio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful take on an old classic book cinderella, Princess Gertrude Daes has grown up being trained to be the Queen to Prince Charming when she comes of age and at his birthday party ball they will announce there engagement but when a mysterious woman shows up a the ball the Prince is quite taken with her and forgets about Gertrude and everything else but her and then she leaves suddenly he must find her. So that leaves Gertrude at a loss at what to do and soon the the two families are at war because there union is no more. Gertrude has had enough of her family trying to wed her off and goes to town on her own but on her way back gets lost in the silent forest but finds herself at a cabin in the woods and meets the most gorgeous man with beautiful green eyes she has ever seen and the attraction between is of the charts. With his help he takes her home to the palace but on the way he tells her the story about Prince Charming and the commoner named Cinderella he married 4 yrs ago but to her all this happened yesterday but she doesn’t let him know that she is the Princess and not someone named Trudy. How will this all end with twists and turns and betrayal coming at them can they find a HEA together.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Nicole Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms Muller is a new Author and Wow has she written a brilliant break out book. The story is about a princess who has been raised to be a queen as she has been betrothed to a prince since birth. At a young age she informs her nanny she likes someone and the results are disastrous. The book moves on to the time she is supposed to be engaged but again things don’t go as planned. Feeling the need for escape and wanting to know more about her home she goes for a horse ride. Now this is where things get real interesting. And I’ll leave you there I will say the book does have a HEA.
I want to say that the book once started did what a good book should do it grabbed my attention and held me captive. There are very sneaky hints throughout the book that will be about the next story I’m sure. The characters are really well developed, the story flows smoothly and has a the back story and world it is built around covered perfectly. I would basically call this book a clean read because the one scene that gets a little steamy is brief. Ms Muller has set herself a high standard to follow up with and I have full confidence that she can do it. Overall I absolutely loved this book.

[Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this Cinderella backstory, but the writing and editing both need some work. There was way too much "telling", especially in Gertrude's monologues, and not enough "showing". Also she seems a little too perfect in her head, as if she isn't actually a "real" person at all. Additionally, nobody mentioned anything about a bushman or that Gertrude was even with him, so how did Evalyn come to that conclusion? The author did a great job of suggesting that Harrison might have feelings for Ambrose. More of that and less of the explanatory, sometimes repetitive mental monologues, please.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting fairytale.
What an interesting look at a fairytale. You have the story of the young woman who was to be Charming queen before Cinderella took her place. I liked Trudy and the poor character had no one she could trust until she met her lumberjack. What I found really interesting were the wonderful twists. I liked this tale a great deal and I am looking forward to the next book. I am rather hoping certain characters get it between the eyes they were just rotten. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

[Brenda Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book with strong characters and an entertaining story line. The author does a great job developing the story and moving it quickly and smoothly. It's a sweet romance with a HEA.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great fantasy romance! I loved it. It is sweet and magical, and really quite enchanting...

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Anonymous Bibliobibuli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is an amazing twist on a classic story. I was hooked from the moment I started reading and was unable to put it down. Cannot recommend this book enough.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am thinking that this author isn't for me... but I am glad that so many others truly enjoyed this story! :D

[Brittany Schulz | Fiction & Friction · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one took me awhile and although it wasn’t really for me if you like retellings give it a go!