Time-Told Tales: Volume Two

By: Janice Cole Hopkins

Narrated by: Dominic Olcan

Two classic tales set in the Middle Ages come alive with characters that will steal your heart. The timeless plots become believable and all too real, and listeners will find themselves resisting to pause until the end. This is a version of two related novellas, "Patricia’s Prison" and "Jack’s Jewel". It follows Time-Told Tales, Volume One with "Roslyn’s Rescue" and "Glenda’s Gold". Each story stands alone, but they are in sequential order.

In "Patricia’s Prison", Patricia’s parents want her to marry an older duke for his title and wealth, but her interest is drawn to Charles, one of her father’s knights. When she defies them, her stubborn, unpredictable father will have none of it, the unforeseen occurs, and there is nothing Patricia can do about it.

When Jack’s mother sends him to sell their cow, he can find no one to buy it, so he trades the animal for some remarkable beans in "Jack’s Jewel". His mother is not pleased, however, and demands he leave. He heads south, hoping to find a home. In Fairleigh, the earl is going to allow him to plant his beans in one of his fields, but Jack cannot help but notice the earl’s beautiful daughter. However, he will have to use all his wits if the earl ever allows him to court Pearl.

©2020 Janice Cole Hopkins (P)2020 Janice Cole Hopkins

Fairy Tales Come to Life

These are retellings of two fairy tales in a more realistic manner. In the First, Patricia's father and mother arrange a marriage for her with an old duke. She cannot imagine having him for a husband. In addition, she's already in love with one of her father's knights. When she refuses to marry the old duke, her father locks her away. In the second story, Jack displeases his mother when he sells their cow for some extraordinary beans. In her frustration, she asks him to leave, saying it is time for him to set out on his own. He arrives in Farleigh and soon falls in love with the earl's daughter. Will those beans help Jack to win the hand of the woman he loves? Both stories are sweet romances, very clean, with plenty of tension.

Time-Told Tales

This book was a different story than the other books that I have listened to by Janice Cole Hopkins. It was about Knights, Earls, arranged marriages and how God works those things out according to His will.

Timeless tales

I love the concept of taking the fairy tales and tweaking them to give a fresh perspective. The author has taken liberties that allows the listener to recognize the basics of the original tale, but with creative rewriting it seems like a new story.
Heads up for conservative readers, some of the scenes portray men talking to, or about women in a course manner, therefore I would suggest this story would be more suitable to mid teens through adults.
I liked the way that the characters from volume one were back again to support the characters in volume two. If you never read the first volume it wouldn’t affect the story, it just enhances it if you have.
I preferred the reader of volume one to volume two. I thought the portrayal of the the mother’s voice made her sound more like a court jester. Even with that, I did enjoy the narrator and his storytelling capabilities.

Entertaining

This second volume of the Time-Told Tales was another entertaining take on the old fairytales. The author again intertwined faith into the stories, which really added to them in my opinion. I especially liked the way all the characters from the first volume carried over to the stories in this volume as well, though this is a standalone book and it is not necessary to have listened to the first to enjoy this one. The narrator did an okay job, though I found the voices of a couple of the characters rather irritating, especially the mother. I would still recommend this entertaining audiobook to anyone who enjoys a different spin on the old fairytales with some faith intertwined. I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook, however I have voluntarily provided this unbiased review.