
Not every fairy tale begins with a prince or a princess…
When Miss Philippa Damson runs away from home to Pomeroy Castle, she is far from a princess…she’s an extraordinary beauty with ordinary dreams – to live a quiet life as a nursemaid.
Jonas Berwick, rakish son of a grand duke, has vowed never to wed.
He offers Philippa everything – except his hand in marriage.
Philippa has stormed the castle, but now she faces an impossible challenge: to win the love of a prince, she may have to risk everything that makes her a lady.
Will the sacrifice of her honour be too high a price to pay?

Title: | Storming the Castle |
Author: | Eloisa James |
Series: | Fairytales Series (Book 1.5) |
Pages: | 158 |
Category / Genre(s): | Historical |
Trope(s): | Fairytales |
Point of View: | |
Location: | Little Ha’penny, Lancashire, England |
Setting: | Early 1800s ish (Regency) |
HEA: | ✔️ |
Release Date: | 21st December, 2010 |


A fun but short romantic story

This short story is a sequel from James‘ A Kiss At Midnight which is the first in the Fairytales series. The series is set in Fairytale time with a dusting of the Regency – so the books aren’t as strict when it comes to historical detail and accuracy. You probably want to have read A Kiss… before reading this one but I don’t suppose it’s 100% necessary.
I’m really glad that Wick got his own story and from the start I thought Phillipa a great match for him. She’s that perfect blend of smart and strong but with a vulnerability in her that makes her likeable and relatable. Wick was also a good hero being proud and strong but truly in need of the love of a good woman. The pair had good chemistry and I was rooting for them throughout.
“The pair had good chemistry and I was rooting for them throughout.”
I debated between giving this 3 or 4 stars but decided in the end to be generous. My reason for this indecision was that due to its short nature the declarations of love came a little too abruptly for me. The conflict was also surrounding whether Wick and Phillipa could be together due to their different statuses but when the book concluded this was apparently a forgotten problem.
Overall this is a fun, quick read with characters I’m glad got their happily ever after. It’s not the best I’ve ever read but it’s a good read to pass an hour or so.
Have fun storming the castle!




New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa’s very first book that she “found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar”; later People Magazine raved that “romance writing does not get much better than this.” Her novels have repeatedly received starred reviews from Publishers’ Weekly and Library Journal and regularly appear on the best-seller lists.

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