"The Nutcracker Prince needs a little help from the Elf Song"

As an archer in the elf militia, Melfouise "Melle" Fairnight had battled the Mouse King's forces. The Battle left her family shattered and her husband dead. Melle left her home and all its memories to start a new life. She now works as assistant cook and maid at the Sugar Plum Fairy's castle. The Nutcracker Prince Branagh comes to the castle every year to visit to his aunt. Melle decides to sneak into the prince's room before he gets to the castle. After looking around, she lies down on his bed and falls asleep.

The Nutcracker Prince was known for being a mysterious man, both secretive and silent. It was said that he had been terribly wounded in his fight with the Mouse King. Although he won the battle it was said that he had lost the will to live. Prince Branagh had learned to use glamour magic to cover his severe injuries. He always had mixed feeling when he arrived at the castle. He finds an elf sleeping in his bed. Thinking she was a gift from aunt, he kisses her.

Branagh and Melle find something in each other that was missing. She sees him without his glamour and thinks he's handsome. When they make love Melle is able to sing her Elf Song, the song she lost after the death of her husband. The lovers have a problem -- elves and fairies can't marry, as an elf has never sat on the throne of Hivernia. What will they do?

ELF SONG is a twist on the Nutcracker story. It gives you an idea of what could have happened at the end of the Nutcracker. I would love to see a longer version of this story with some of the secondary characters. I love the fact that the story let people know that you don't have to be perfect to find love. Even with his battle scars, Melle only saw honor when she looks at Branagh. A very heartwarming Christmas quickie. Good work Ms. Winston. This is Book 11 of the Ellora's Cave Twelve Quickies of Christmas.

Reviewed by Patricia McGrew
Courtesy Sensual Romance Reviews
Posted January 2, 2004

Summary

Though he is in great demand at the court, Branagh, the Nutcracker Prince, has sought no mate and found no one to fill his needs.

Melflouise Fairnight, once an archer in the elf militia, now a kitchen maid in the palace of the Sugar Plum Fairy wanted only to catch a glimpse of the secretive Nutcracker Prince. She never dreamed he'd desire her, or that his loving could free the elf song she'd kept caged since her husband's death.

Their unexpected passion forces Branagh to make a terrible choice, between his kingdom and his woman.