I adore fairytale retellings and feel that this is one of the better Sleeping Beauty stories. I hope Blackwell will write more.

"Like most quiet folks he liked talkative people when they were willing to do the talking themselves and did not expect him to keep up his end of it."
This quote from Anne of Green Gables describes my feelings perfectly!

Many nights he lay there dreaming awake of secret cafes in Mont Martre, where ivory women delved in romantic mysteries with diplomats and soldiers of fortune, while orchestras played Hungarian waltzes and the air was thick and exotic with intrigue and moonlight and adventure.