Review: Atmospheric gothic romance....with an annoying heroine.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 19, 2013
Originally published at The Rookie Romance Blog.I love Beauty and the Beast re-tellings, it's my favourite fairy tale, so I jumped at the chance to review Beauty and the Wolf. Whilst there were aspects of the book I did enjoy, there were also bits that for me, fell a little flat.I thought the plot was well thought out, and I really enjoyed combining the werewolf aspect with a gypsy curse. Then you throw in an ancient Egyptian curse and it's all very intriguing. There's plenty of mystery and twists in the plot to keep your interest.I also really liked Draven, he's clearly a very tortured soul. He has spent his whole life grappling with guilt because of an awful accident when he was younger. He does his best to deal with his werewolf curse, he stays away from people and always tries to ensure that he doesn't harm anyone. Whilst he did marry Isabella for the curse she supposedly has, he cares for her very deeply and would do anything to make sure she's not hurt.Now Isabella, is a different story. I just could not like her, and I tried. When I'm reading a book I make notes on my phone for when I write my review. 90% of the notes I wrote were about how much Isabella was annoying me. She was just so inconsistent, one moment she would be professing to care for him and the next she would think he was some kind of mad monster. Also, considering that she ran away from her husband on their wedding night, when she returns to Thorncliff Towers she's pretty rude and demanding. Every time she would start to redeem herself, she would do something stupid or cowardly.I've made her sound pretty awful, and I guess a lot of the time she was scared and/or desperate. She does redeem herself by the end of the story, but I wish she's come to her senses sooner.I did enjoy the style of the author's writing a lot, it reminded me of an old fashioned gothic romance- in the best sense! So even though, I didn't click with Isabella, I really enjoyed the story and the other characters. I'm looking forward to reading the next book from Marina Myles.*I received a review copy of the book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for my honest review.