Lord Carew's Bride

I'm excited to be putting up my first Books and the City! blog post.

I remember when I first saw Beauty and the Beast as I kid. It wasn't my favorite of the Disney fairy tales (I believe the honor fell to Snow White at the time) but it was a hauntingly beautiful story. After seeing it though, a question stuck in my mind: "How could Beauty love the Beast?" Now, as an adult who has seen some life (barely :)), the question that comes to mind is "How could Beauty not love the Beast?" He was potrayed as a man of substance, and isn't a man's substance more important than his trappings? When it comes to true love, shouldn't what's beneath the surface matter more than what is the surface?

Well, my attraction to stories about people who fall in like and then love for "what's beneath the surface" led me to buy Mary Balogh's newly re-released book, Lord Carew's Bride, a week ago. And when the 300-page book was delivered a few days ago, I sat down with it and devoured it within five hours. I've always found Ms. Balogh to be an engaging author and, with Lord Carew's Bride, she has outdone herself again.

Lord Carew's Bride is a modern day (nay Regency Age) Beauty and the Beast. It's about a beauty nursing a broken heart, the disabled gardener she finds solace with and the special companionship they develop. Throw in the scoundrel who broke the beauty's heart and the fact that the gardener is a marquess in disguise and you've got a delicious romp of a love triangle. I really enjoyed this story and I recommend it.