My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I’m really enjoying this series of fairy tale romances with historical clothing on.
What I liked best was the playful tone of When Beauty Tamed the Beast, never entirely taking itself seriously. There were nods to the fairy tale, there were nods to the norms of historical fiction. None of these nods got in the way of the story or (more important in a romance) the characters.
The characters were entertaining, and both had more to them than a quick glance would see.
In this volume, the “Beast” is an extremely talented young doctor with a damaged (and painful) leg, a terrible temper and no desire to obey the usual rules of society (a character that will feel familiar to many TV viewers).
“Beauty”, on the other hand, reminds me more of Fiona in Shrek– certainly, her outside has everything that society deems desirable. That is, right up until the moment a small lapse in judgement leaves society believing she is pregnant. Luckily, she isn’t merely a beautiful face (and body). She’s got a sharp mind and, when pushed, a tongue to match.
A marriage between them seems to be the answer to both of their parents’ concerns, and so Linnet is off to meet Piers in his remote home…
There is one steamy scene, and other references to such activities without the same level of detail.
I hope there are more of these on the way!
Audio Notes
For more audiobook reviews, check out Sound Bytes
Narrator: Susan Duerden gave a wonderful performance, giving a touch of magic to the proceedings. Some of the secondary character voices worked better than others, but the primary characters and (particularly) the general narration were very good.
Production: No issues, no extras. Well, I did have one minor issue, but I’m fairly certain that his was particular to the review download, and won’t be an issue in the final version!
Print vs. Audio? Although I was charmed by the audio productions, I suspect I would equally have enjoyed this book in print. When listening to audio, I do appreciate some restraint as to the quantity of really steamy scenes, as they generally seem to arise at highly disconcerting times, and can be difficult to skim through in audio. That was a plus for this book over other romances, but I think this one would be good in whatever format is more convenient.
Thank you to Harper Audio for providing me this audiobook to listen to and review!
