Beauty and the Beast

by Hannah Howell

New York Times bestselling author Hannah Howell enthralls readers with her unforgettable tales of the love between fierce knights and their passionate women, weaving her storytelling genius to give us one of her best romances yet.  .  .

Beauty And The Beast

On the eve of her wedding to the heir of Saiturn Manor, the stunningly beautiful Gytha is shocked to learn that her betrothed, a man she barely knew, is dead. Now she must marry the new heir, Thayer Saiturn, a battle-hardened knight known as the Red Devil.  .  .

With a face scarred in battle and a heart broken in love, Thayer has no interest in marriage. But not even the Red Devil can break the promise his foster-father made years ago and soon finds himself married to a woman whose exquisite beauty and sweet innocence intrigue him. But can his new bride look beyond his scars to find a hidden passion and undying love locked deep inside him?

• ISBN10: 0821780042
• ISBN13: 9780821780046
• Publish Date: 1 April 2007 (first published 1 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 23 December 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Zebra Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

The drama dragged on a little too long - it would have been nice if either one of them would have just said what they were feeling. Still it was an enjoyable enough read. I liked the characters a lot and the plot was interesting enough.

[Stephanie]

Originally posted at Once Upon a Chapter

Beauty and the Beast was a breath of fresh air for me. It pulled me out of a reading slump. I think I was sorely in need of a good historical romance. I certainly found it in this book. Thayer is a plain man. He is also a knight and spends most of his time on the battlefield. From that time he has amassed quite a few scars. Any woman he is intimate with weighs his coin against his appearance to determine if he is worth the effort. Needless to say, Thayer wants nothing to do with a relationship.
Gytha is a sweet girl who is more level-headed than your average maiden. She has been told from the time of her birth that she is beautiful. Nearly every young man who meets her tries to court her. Gytha knows that while most of them see her beauty very few of them actually want to get to know her as a person. She often sees her beauty as a curse.

Thayer and his men take a much needed break to attend his cousins wedding. When he arrives he is struck by the beauty of the maiden they find picking flowers in the meadow. He knows that he doesn’t stand a chance to win her over though. Much to his surprise he finds himself the betrothed and the beauty to be his bride.

Watching Thayer and Gytha enter their marriage and learn each other is wonderful. They both hold back for the exact same reason. Thayer expects Gytha to be unfaithful at the first opportunity because of a past hurt. Gytha knows that Thayer won’t let him in but she thinks the only reason is due to his opinion of himself. She is shocked and hurt when Thayer’s true fears come to surface. The remainder of the book is spent trying to clear up the misunderstanding while a few others are thrown in for good measure.

Howell also does a wonderful job with her secondary characters. I was almost as invested in Roger and Margaret’s relationship as I was Gytha and Thayer’s. Roger especially stuck with me. He is such a loyal friend that he could truly be counted as Thayer’s brother. The same can be said about Margaret and Gytha. While some people may think that this detracts from the main story, I felt that it added greatly to the story.