by 
is one such book.. 🙂
fairy tale, I just loved Taming The Beastby Amy J. Fetzer.
Laura Cambridge is hired as the nanny to Richard Blackthorne’s newly discovered daughter who is coming to stay with him in a few days.
Its a seemingly simple job except Richard is a recluse who has shunned company ever since his accident four years ago, which left him hideously scarred!! No one has seen him since and he is considered a monster living in his castle on the hill.
‘Summoned like a serf to the king, she had been hired to help Richard Blackthorne’s four-year-old daughter adjust to living here. To living with a recluse, a man locked in a castle and shielded from any human contact.’
Can Laura make Richard understand that looks don’t always matter? That his love is what’s needed by his daughter?
Can she mend his heart and accept him with his scars when his own wife left him because of them?
Can Richard overcome his fear of rejection and take a chance of coming out in the open?
Will he be able to love his daughter like he wants, without fear and without any reservations?
Its a splendidly written book and Amy has succeeded in keeping her story concise and mixing just the right amount of all emotions to give a sweet love story where miracles happen and there are happy endings. 🙂
The descriptions and character development is expertly done creating a lively picture in the reader’s mind.
I specially loved Laura who is strong and an independent woman. Despite having won many beauty contests and being drop dead gorgeous, she knows the value of the inner self rather than the looks which had hurt her immensely in the past. She is just the right mix of strength, beauty, kindness, sass, sexy and love. She is uncertain about herself and sees her beauty as a curse. She yearns for love, marriage and children like her sisters who though not as beautiful as her are more happy.
Once burnt, twice shy… Laura fears she will yet again get her heart broken and lose her love as in the past which endeared her to me even more. All her vulnerabilities just make her seem more real and human.
‘She’d fallen deeply, madly in love with him. Her tender beast, her scarred prince. And she was afraid that she’d get what she deserved. Another broken heart.
And this one, she knew, would never heal.’
Richard is also a strong character with definite moral values. He fears facing the repugnance he had seen on his wife’s face and due to this fear of rejection, has hidden himself in his own home. A prisoner in his own house!
Although he loves his daughter and craves her company, he feels that he will scare her if he ever shows his scarred face to her. Sensitive to his disfigurement, he feels each emotion intensely.
Kelly is a sweet child who is scared, has recently lost her mother and learnt about her father.She yearns her father’s presence in her life but at the same time understands the reason he cant meet her. She is intelligent and her childish playfulness give many memorable moments.
The dialogues between Laura and Richard are very interesting and their mutual passion is intense leaving the reader desperately wishing a happily ever after for them.
I was so touched when Richard professes his love to Laura. It was too good and left me wiping tears from my eyes.
“I love you!” he said fiercely.
“From the moment I saw you. I loved you when you yelled at me for hiding, when you held my daughter and soothed her heartache and kept loving her when I couldn’t. I loved you when you fought with me and cursed me.” His eyes burned.
“I was in prison Laura, but loving you is my real freedom. Don’t send me back there.”
A short, sweet and touching love story. Its a must read for people who have loved fairy tales and believe in happily ever afters.
I give Taming The Beast
