Thank you Jill for the recommendation.This book is a combination of the things I like, History, Romance, and Fantasy, oh, and a little hint of Paranormal too. Little wonder that I enjoyed it and wished it would go on a bit longer.
We have Miranda, whom we know has a bit of the supernatural in her as she can make fire by thought, her father who has lost his fortune has just agreed to marry her off to Lord Archer, a mysterious masked man.
Lord Archer's motives are clear from the beginning, he simply wants Miranda, but what is his story, what is behind the mask??
Surprisingly Miranda doesn't cower from him as everybody else does, they get to know each other and have quite intresting conversations. The tension between the two is just delicious, and much rewarded later on. A series of murders that all connect to Lord Archer, targeting people he knows and pointing at him start happening the day of their wedding. Both Miranda and Archer feel the need to solve these murders before they themselves are targeted.
Miranda is not your typical heroine, she is strong willed and forward with her speech. I like her forwardness and how she is fearless and goes into danger without hesitation. She actually helps unlike in other books where they hint that the h will do something and she ends up mocking things up.
Lord Acher was not as dark as I thought he would be, he is a mystery that gets solved very slowly as you read, his reactions and the things he dooes, do come as a surprise sometimes. We see glimpses of his strength, his loneliness, some supernatural as well, but it's not fully revealed until near the end.
The mystery of what's behind the mask kept me guessing as I read, I wanted to know, but I also wanted it to stay a mystery a little longer. When it was revealed it was nothing that you would have expected. Thumps up for our smart writer.
And I think it's the fact that the writer was very smart is the main reason why I truly enjoyed this book. It is written in a way that as you read, the mystery builds up and you get hints and details that help you put the story together that everything fits quite perfectly in the end and you feel complete. Nothing really came as a totall surprise, expect of what was behind the mask. Unfortunatly going into more details would be a spoiler as everything is quite connected.
What I was really dissapointed in, is that I wasn't really surprised when the murderer was revealed, I kinda figured it out from the start.
There were some parts in the book that made this a four star book instead of five. Yet I feel that I want to go back and read it again.
I've always wanted a version of Beauty and the Beast that would sweep me away and be the perfect adaptation. I'm still waiting!
Now excuse me while I go raid Jill's shelves for more things to read ;)
