Princess of the Silver Woods, by Jessica Day George (Princess #3)

In the final book about the Twelve Dancing Princesses, the main character is the youngest sister, Petunia. Petunia is on her way to visit an old duchess from Russaka (Russia's equivalent in the alternate universe) when her carriage is overtaken by the Wolves of the Westfalin Woods (or something alliterative like that). When Petunia turns out not to be as docile as expected, Oliver, the leader of the wolves, unintentionally kidnaps her. Feeling bad for what he's done, Oliver brings Petunia to her destination, and while there, he discovers that Petunia is in danger. The new King Under Stone is determined to have his twelve brides, and will do anything to get them in his clutches once and for all. Will the sisters' fight against the evil king finally end, almost fifteen years after it started?

The first book in this series, Princess of the Midnight Ball, was about Rose, the oldest of the 12 sisters. The second book, Princess of Glass, was about Poppy, one of the many middle sisters. This is the last book, and it is about Petunia, the youngest of them all. I liked how there was time between the 1st and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd of the novels because it shows more development in the characters. The 2nd book didn't take place in the Westfalin castle so there was barely any interaction between the sisters, but I liked how in the 3rd book I could compare the sisters as they are now to how they were almost ten years earlier in the 1st book. It was also fun to see a continuation of all the little nuances in each of the sister's characters. Each one had a distinct character trait in the first book (there are too many sisters for each one to have a fully developed character) and they still had in this book, just all grown up. I just realized that what I wrote is a long chain of babbling. I hope it makes sense.

This book got a lot darker than I expected it too, but the ending was adorable. The dark and twisty parts didn't stray too much from the overall cuteness, but it did give the story more validity.

One last thing before I go: I realized while reading this book that the only other books with the names Pansy and Petunia in them are the Harry Potter books. And they weren't exactly pleasant characters there either. Just something to think about :)

4.6 stars.
Before reading the publisher's summary, I want to warn any prospective readers that it contains some information that may be classified as spoilers. (I consider any information not discovered until halfway or through or not blatantly obvious to be a spoiler.)

 
When Petunia, the youngest of King Gregor's twelve dancing daughters, is invited to visit an elderly friend in the neighboring country of Westfalin, she welcomes the change of scenery. But in order to reach Westfalin, Petunia must pass through a forest where strange two-legged wolves are rumored to exist. Wolves intent on redistributing the wealth of the noble citizens who have entered their territory. But the bandit-wolves prove more rakishly handsome than truly dangerous, and it's not until Petunia reaches her destination that she realizes the kindly grandmother she has been summoned to visit is really an enemy bent on restoring an age-old curse. The stories of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood get a twist as Petunia and her many sisters take on bandits, grannies, and the new King Under Stone to end their family curse once and for all.