Rating: 
Summary: Great anthology
Review: "Winter Rose" by Nora Roberts. Prince Kylar of Mrydon arrives nearly dead when Lady Deirdre finds him and takes him into her keep. She heals his body and he heals her soul and heart freeing her ever-wintry land from its hidden enchantment.
"The Rose and the Sword" by Jill Gregory. Forced to leave her loving home, Princess Brittany must find her betrothed to save her life and regain her lost kingdom. Brittany seeks Prince Lucius even as Darius the Wizard wants her dead. However, Lucius seems incapable of heroism until love enters the equation.
"The Roses of Glenross" by Ruth Ryan Langan. The barbarians are winning the battle in spite of valor from their opponents. Jamie Morgan rescues an intrepid Alexa MacCallum from their mutual enemy and takes her to an abbey. She tends a haunted rose garden until he returns to offer love as a healer for both of them.
"The Fairest Rose" by Marianne Willman. Evil sorceress Lady Bryn has captured the "heart" of King Gilmore through a spell. Tor arrives and begins to rescue the people and the King from the evil Bryn and her associates, but it is Gilmore's daughter Mouse who casts a spell of love between them.
All four tales are exciting romantic fantasies that are so well written readers will feel they received a dozen long stem roses. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Slow, slow, slow!
Review: ... I thought it was great. "Once Upon a Rose" contains four lovely tales of mythical lands and happily ever afters. The first tale, "Winter Rose" by Nora Roberts, is fantastic. Prince Kylar of Myrdon has been injured in battle, and wanders into a land cursed with eternal winter. He is saved and nursed back to health by Deirdre, Queen of the Isle of Winter. Deirdre is a healer and a hard-working queen, but the curse that has frozen her land has also frozen her heart, so she cannot love. Kylar is fascinated by this dedicated and selfless queen, and vows to find a way to break the spell and win her heart. This tale will delight readers! "The Rose and the Sword" by Jill Gregory introduces Brittany, the long lost princess of Palladrin, who has been protected from the evil wizard Darius, who murdered her family many years ago, by a spell that will end on her 20th birthday. Now, only a few days before that fateful day, Brittany's only chance is to seek out and marry her betrothed, Prince Lucius of Marric. Lucius has a special jewelled sword, which raised with the hidden Rose Sceptre, can defeat Darius. Lucius and Brittany must journey to find the Rose Sceptre together, or all will be lost. When Brittany finds Lucius, he is in a sorry state of self-pity, and seems incapable of heroism. But after only a short time in Brittany's company, love blooms in Lucius' heart and changes everything! Ruth Ryan Langan's "The Roses of Glenross" is the weakest story in this anthology, although it is still an enjoyable read. It is set in a war-torn Scotland, and begins with the courageous Jamie Morgan rescuing Alexa MacCallum from the barbarians who have just murdered her family. Jamie and Alexa end up recuperating at the same abbey, but they both have huge emotional scars that will be hard to overcome. Alexa speaks to no one at the abbey except for Lady Anne, the beautiful ghost who haunts the garden. Alexa spends her days working tirelessly restoring the rose garden to its former splendour, and Jamie finds himself fascinated by her. Jamie is determined to get Alexa to befriend him, and these two soon find that the power of love heals all wounds. "The Fairest Rose" by Marianne Willman is fabulous. It is by far the longest of these four tales and is tied with "Winter Rose" as my favourite. The evil sorceress Lady Bryn has captured the heart of newly appointed King Gilmore of Airan with a spell. As a result, Gilmore forgets his true love, Deirdre, and years later has no idea that he has an 18 year old daughter, Rosaleen. Rosaleen, called Mouse by all who know her, has been protected since birth by a spell cast by the village wisewoman, Elva, that all who would do her harm shall forget her. Mouse works as a weaver in the castle, and has no idea of her royal heritage. Tor, a great warrior, travels to Airan castle in hopes of winning the hand of the King's other daughter, Princess Camaris. To do this, Tor must bring the egg of the legendary phoenix to the King, and only Mouse, who is madly in love with him, can help him on this quest. But Tor can't stop thinking about Mouse, and his heart and his head are pulling him in opposite directions, which will he choose? This is a wonderful tale that I guarantee all readers will love. I truly enjoyed all the stories in this anthology, especially "Winter Rose" and "The Fairest Rose." However, with a book such as this, certain stories will appeal to different individuals more than others. I do not believe that this book deserves a one or two star review, as all of the stories are well written with intriguing characters. I absolutely recommend this anthology - it is fun, fanciful, and utterly enchanting!
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Anthology!
Review: ... I thought it was great. "Once Upon a Rose" contains four lovely tales of mythical lands and happily ever afters. The first tale, "Winter Rose" by Nora Roberts, is fantastic. Prince Kylar of Myrdon has been injured in battle, and wanders into a land cursed with eternal winter. He is saved and nursed back to health by Deirdre, Queen of the Isle of Winter. Deirdre is a healer and a hard-working queen, but the curse that has frozen her land has also frozen her heart, so she cannot love. Kylar is fascinated by this dedicated and selfless queen, and vows to find a way to break the spell and win her heart. This tale will delight readers! "The Rose and the Sword" by Jill Gregory introduces Brittany, the long lost princess of Palladrin, who has been protected from the evil wizard Darius, who murdered her family many years ago, by a spell that will end on her 20th birthday. Now, only a few days before that fateful day, Brittany's only chance is to seek out and marry her betrothed, Prince Lucius of Marric. Lucius has a special jewelled sword, which raised with the hidden Rose Sceptre, can defeat Darius. Lucius and Brittany must journey to find the Rose Sceptre together, or all will be lost. When Brittany finds Lucius, he is in a sorry state of self-pity, and seems incapable of heroism. But after only a short time in Brittany's company, love blooms in Lucius' heart and changes everything! Ruth Ryan Langan's "The Roses of Glenross" is the weakest story in this anthology, although it is still an enjoyable read. It is set in a war-torn Scotland, and begins with the courageous Jamie Morgan rescuing Alexa MacCallum from the barbarians who have just murdered her family. Jamie and Alexa end up recuperating at the same abbey, but they both have huge emotional scars that will be hard to overcome. Alexa speaks to no one at the abbey except for Lady Anne, the beautiful ghost who haunts the garden. Alexa spends her days working tirelessly restoring the rose garden to its former splendour, and Jamie finds himself fascinated by her. Jamie is determined to get Alexa to befriend him, and these two soon find that the power of love heals all wounds. "The Fairest Rose" by Marianne Willman is fabulous. It is by far the longest of these four tales and is tied with "Winter Rose" as my favourite. The evil sorceress Lady Bryn has captured the heart of newly appointed King Gilmore of Airan with a spell. As a result, Gilmore forgets his true love, Deirdre, and years later has no idea that he has an 18 year old daughter, Rosaleen. Rosaleen, called Mouse by all who know her, has been protected since birth by a spell cast by the village wisewoman, Elva, that all who would do her harm shall forget her. Mouse works as a weaver in the castle, and has no idea of her royal heritage. Tor, a great warrior, travels to Airan castle in hopes of winning the hand of the King's other daughter, Princess Camaris. To do this, Tor must bring the egg of the legendary phoenix to the King, and only Mouse, who is madly in love with him, can help him on this quest. But Tor can't stop thinking about Mouse, and his heart and his head are pulling him in opposite directions, which will he choose? This is a wonderful tale that I guarantee all readers will love. I truly enjoyed all the stories in this anthology, especially "Winter Rose" and "The Fairest Rose." However, with a book such as this, certain stories will appeal to different individuals more than others. I do not believe that this book deserves a one or two star review, as all of the stories are well written with intriguing characters. I absolutely recommend this anthology - it is fun, fanciful, and utterly enchanting!
Rating: 
Summary: Different but fun
Review: Anthologies are usually held together by one great author and fall apart after that. This one was different. I really enjoyed all the stories. They are magical, arthurian, and fun. Held together with the theme of ROSE. A fun, light read.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect princesses, curses and princes, roses and ice...
Review: As I was sitting at home recovering from the flu, I thought I could use a good fairy tale to make me forget all my aches and pains, so I grabbed this book off the shelf. Although pleasant enough little tales, there were rather annoying flaws in every story. "Winter Rose" by Nora Roberts has some eerie parallels to the story of "Beauty and the Beast," what with the symbolism of the rose and the curse and all. "The Rose and the Sword" by Jill Gregory was probably the best of the lot; however, the hero's initial nastiness was somewhat overdone, which made it difficult to believe his miraculous transformation on their wedding night. "The Roses of Glenross" was easily the weakest story, although the love story was very evocative and sweet. The plot seemed a bit contrived, and it was with a raised eyebrow that I read about the two lovers consummating their love without benefit of marriage on the grounds of a convent with the holy sisters' full approval. "The Fairest Rose" by Marianne Willman is plagued with a hero who is infatuated with the heroine's half-sister until the very end, at which time we are expected to believe that he is REALLY in love with the heroine herself and has been for some time. Frankly, I thought Rosaleen deserved much better. In fact, one of my complaints about these novellas is the absolute perfection of the heroines, especially in contrast to the heroes (at least in the case of "The Rose and the Sword" and "The Fairest Rose"). These women are too beautiful and good to be believed. How could anyone stand to be around them? The men, on the other hand, range from normal men with the usual faults to a man who paws serving women in the presence of his betrothed. I guess it's the usual double standard that you find in most fairy stories. And I did forget my aches and pains for awhile, so it was definitely time well-spent.
Rating:
Summary: Once Upon A Rose Not Nora's Best But Still Worth The Read!
Review: First I'd like to say I am a huge Nora Roberts Fan however, I found Once Upon A Rose not to be as good a story as the rest of her books. That being said I would also say Once Upon A Rose Is still certainly worth the read as with all of the very talented writers books.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Story.
Review: I enjoyed this story very much. I am a huge fan so of course, I like all Ms.Roberts books-- I have to admit however that I liked
Heaven and Earth a little better than Once Upon A Rose.
Rating:
Summary: What was this?
Review: I have to admit to being a huge fan of Nora Roberts, and it is difficult for me not to like one of her books. The Once Upon A... anthology has on average been excellant with short fairy-tale type stories. This one just didn't quite go over as well as the other ones. The stories were all well written and interesting, but they were too similar to each other and they didn't quite entrance the reader as most of the other stories in the anthologies did.
Rating:
Summary: Slow, slow, slow!
Review: I just couldn't get into this book at all. I finished about half of the first story and then put it down.
Rating:
Summary: My First Romance Anthology
Review: I love a great fairy tale! I absolutely love Nora Roberts and her "Once Upon a Rose " is no exception. Herself along with Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Marianne
Willman give us enchanting tales of magic! Filled with handsome princes and of course wicked queens. I truly enjoyed all the stories in this anthology as all of the stories are well written with intriguing characters. I absolutely recommend this anthology, it is enjoyable, fun and truly enchanting!
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