GREAT READS

A Curse as Dark as Gold

Elizabeth C. Bunce.

Charlotte Miller is the daughter of a long line of Millers running the local town Mill; a living, breathing entity her family has been steeped in for generations. Her father died leaving no sons to inherit the Mill, so it has fallen to the remaining daughters Charlotte and Rosie. Traditionally, women are not allowed to inherit and run the family business which supports the whole town, but the sisters are more than capable and not concerned with culture customs. Unfortunately, the mill has a curse.

The Mill is in a dire situation due to her father's previously unknown debts and is on the brink of foreclosure. Then a mysterious man named Jack Spinner arrives. Jack offers to make all their problems go away for a simple trade: he will spin straw into gold for a small token of Charlotte's. When he is true to his word, Charlotte manages to save the Mill and meet a handsome banker along the way. As the Mill and family prosper, everything is wonderful until disaster strikes again, as it always does. Jack Spinner's demands to help save the Mill become more and more serious leading up to the unthinkable. This novel breathes new life into the old classic story of Rumpelstiltskin.

Recommended by Allison Holbrook

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