A Crown of Snow and Ice

Melanie Cellier's third Beyond the Four Kingdoms novel retells The Snow Queen with a bold, snarky heroine named Celine who arrives in the frozen kingdom of Eldon armed with a fire gift and a sharp tongue. The romance with Crown Prince Oliver develops naturally alongside a genuine friendship with Giselle, and Cellier keeps the Snow Queen as a proper villain rather than softening her into a sympathetic figure. Pacing is brisk — some readers find the resolution arrives quickly — and the villain could use more texture, but those are minor complaints in a book this charming. Clean romance, no objectionable content, and strong enough to stand alone even if you haven't read the earlier books.