SPELLED, by Betsy Schow

The story: Princess Dorthea Gayle Emerald, about to be married off to a handsome prince she's just met, never realized the magical ability she has lying dormant under her Valley Girl exterior--until she makes a wish that throws all the magic in her world out of balance and threatens to exterminate her family. Forced to work with the prince (who turns out to be a chimera), a thieving servant girl, and a head-changing Hydra, she finds strength and abilities she also never knew she possessed as she races against time to restore the balance of magic in the kingdom before it's too late.

June Cleaver's rating: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content PG; Nudity PG; substance abuse PG; magic & the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: I like a good fantasy as much as the next person, but this one did not float my boat--too much chaotic running around, and a main character who's just way too hard to like. It's not very often that I take a real dislike to the main character, but this was one of the exceptions. Even though the spoiled, selfish heroine does get a reality check during the course of the story, by the time she wised up it was still too late for me to suspend my disbelief in her change of heart (or tactics). Girls like this should not rule.