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Title: Blossom & the Beast
Author: RS McCoy
Series: The Alder Tales #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Shifters
Length: 320 Pages
Publication Date: 31st May 2016
ARC Book Review:
Blossom & the Beast by RS McCoy is the story of Blossom Frane, the youngest daughter of the head of a Bear Clan who is just weeks away from her transformation when she meets Kaide Landel who takes an instant fancy to her and whisks her away as his prospective bride. Blossom is feeling like Beauty from Beauty and the Beast, whisked to an unknown land against her wishes by a brooding Beast. But is Kaide really the Beast she thinks him to be?
This is the first book by RS McCoy that I have read and when I heard about it the first time from the author, I got intrigued by the whole Beauty and the Beast reimagining that she hinted at!
The cover is okay, nothing very spectacular about it. It is the title and the blurb that are interesting and will attract the attention of readers, especially paranormal romance lovers.
The plot is well conceived and executed and the author had me intrigued right from the start. Her world building is meticulous and while she started slow, she soon picked up pace and had me visualizing the world as she sketched it in the book. The book is set in a future time with the world divided in four groups representing fire, water, air and earth where each human has a totem (animal transformation) which he or she gains at a certain age. Blossom is just weeks away from gaining her totem which she hopes is a bear just like her mother and brothers.
I empathized with Blossom right from the start. She is overly protected to the point of being a prisoner with no choice of her own in even the simple matters like going anywhere at will! She also knows that one day she will be traded to her future husband in exchange for food, fabric and other goods that support her clan. This is the way of life in her world and she knows it but doesn’t necessarily like it. Then when Kaide, a fire clan high ranking official, a Vice Syndicate, trades her from her father, she is left with no choice but to accompany him but is still hell bent at being difficult at every turn. I enjoyed her altercations with Kaide right from the start.
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Both Kaide and Blossom are feisty, headstrong and stubborn characters and it was entertaining watching them butt heads. Kaide is a strong, alpha character and I loved him right from the start. He is brooding and dangerous but nevertheless a good man and a big softy. I loved how he fumbled in his efforts to win Blossom’s affections and his shyness also had me falling more in love with him. A complex man with a past, his character is developed with expertise by the author and she unravels the layers to his character all through the book that not only took the story forward but also kept up the interest in it.
I was also intrigued by Blossom’s three brothers and Kaide’s niece and am eager to read their own story. Hope the author tells us their story soon!
I was also intrigued by Blossom’s three brothers and Kaide’s niece and am eager to read their own story. Hope the author tells us their story soon!
The story is fast paced and apart from Blossom and Kaide’s romance, there is plenty of suspense, political manipulation and intrigue in Kaide’s career as a politician that will affect and change his and Blossom’s lives forever! All this and more is handled with ease by RS McCoy and I loved her writing style and know that I will be checking out her other books too while I wait for the next book in this series.
The story ends in a cliffhanger and while I don’t like books with cliffhangers, I didn’t feel very angry at being left hanging here because the story gradually paced to it and didn’t abruptly end. I got to see Blossom and Kaide’s romance come to a everlasting love before the ending so this did pacify me a little. Still the reader is left to wait for the next installment which hopefully will take Blossom and Kaide’s story forward so this did make me feel a bit dissatisfied but apart from this, Blossom & the Beast by RS McCoy is an entertaining and different story that had me engaged throughout and has left me wanting to read the next book.
4 out of 5 to Blossom & the Beast by RS McCoy and recommended to all lovers of paranormal romance.
I received an ARC from the author and I am very thankful to her. The above review is my honest and unbiased opinion and in no way influenced.
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