The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: A Goblet of Guises and Gooseberries

Series: Abigail Manning

Series: Enchanted Confections #1 (standalone within the series)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, Romance

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

A basket of berries, a dash of wild goose chases, and an identity swap that is nothing to honk about.
Princess Emaline has waited long enough for her betrothed’s family to invite her into their kingdom after the lengthy acquisition of a workers’ agreement. Accompanied by her new handmaiden and joined by a freeloading goose who rides valiantly on the carriage roof, Emaline is eager to explore her new kingdom–until her first exploration gets up close and personal with a local mud puddle.
A less-than-cordial exchange with their goose stalker leaves Emaline completely unsuitable to meet her future in-laws. In a desperate attempt to save face, her handmaiden kindly offers to greet the royals in her honor. Which would have been a grand solution had they not mistaken the polite maid for Princess Emaline…
Muddy, lost, and ready to pluck a goose, Emaline hunts for a discreet place to tidy up before rescuing her maid from the mix-up. But during her hunt for clean water, she stumbles onto the slave master’s property and is taken in as a new worker. With no way to prove her identity or get in touch with her maid, Emaline must rely on the help of a smooth-talking farmhand who just so happens to be head over boots for the new princess. Now tasked with making the gooseberry wine for her own table, can Emaline reclaim her crown? Or is it all destined to be a wild goose chase? – summary from Amazon

*I received an ARC from the author and all opinions are my own.

A Goblet of Guises and Gooseberries was an amazing retelling of the Goose Girl with twists and turns, an identity swap, and an angry goose!

It’s going to be hard to talk about this book without spoiling it, but I’ll do my best.

I now understand why Abigail Manning is called the Queen of Plot Twists! The plot twist in this book was genuinely shocking. I was in public when I read the big twist and it took everything in me not to gasp out loud. I was completely shocked and I loved it so much! The twist was amazing and really brought a new side to the story.

I have read a few Goose Girl retellings, but this is probably my favorite! I loved the reason Emaline and Corrine switched places, and I just loved Corrine. In all the retellings the handmaiden was a bad person, but in this story, Corrine was so sweet and caring. I loved the friendship she had with Emaline, it was heartwarming and I loved this positive female friendship representation.

Emaline was such a great main character! She was sweet and caring of all around her, and she wasn’t opposed to doing hard work. There was a nice balance of her being strong and soft, it was very realistic and endeared her to me. She also listened to her friend and took her advice, which I appreciated.

I really liked Dane, too! He was so sweet and caring. I also loved how he cared about everyone. He is a total golden retriever MMC. He was also very loyal to the princess, which was sweet, but also a little frustrating at times because of the identity swap.

Dane and Emaline had such a cute relationship! She was smitten with him from the beginning, which was super cute. They began as friends and grew into something more, but there was also the identity swap which confused things a little. But they were so cute together, and I loved all their little moments together!

I loved how the goose was incorporated into the story! It was super unique and interesting. He was such a lovely addition to the story, and his antics brought some levity to the story!

This book was very cozy, but it also explored some heavy themes. It explored slavery in a really unique way. There was a nice balance between exploring this and the romance and other parts of the book, so it was easier to digest. I loved how this was explored and how it was woven into the world, showing the consequences and harsh realities of slavery. I also really liked how this storyline ended, with slavery being abolished.

A Goblet of Guises and Gooseberries is a cozy Goose Girl retelling with romance, twists, and an identity swap!

A Goblet of Guises and Gooseberries releases on May 8th, 2026.

Quotes:

“‘Because I am a loyal man. Ever since I knew I was betrothed, I decided I was going to love only her. No matter what she needed from me or who she needed me to be. I was going to love my Emaline.’”