Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Okay, I love re-imagined fairy tales, and the plot of this one was decently different and interesting. But much of the side story horrified me. I honestly can't believe this story was written by a woman. It pretends to write about a strong female character and say that rape is terrible, but in reality what I read seemed to make men out into beasts that can't help themselves when faced with a beautiful woman. Prince Varden has only known 'Belle' for a day or so when he jokes about ravishing her. When she is offended by the joke, he apologizes but basically tells her "it was just a joke and I would never actually do it." Later on he spends much of his time mentally thinking about her naked or dreaming of her naked (and we get to read about this, oh joy!) and even implies straight to her face that that's what he's dreaming about. In the end, with the completely unnecessary sex scene, he thinks something about hoping he can be a "gentleman" in bed with her instead of a beast because he's just so consumed with lust he can barely control himself. This is NOT a book for young readers, and I would not recommend it for anyone that has a problem with this kind of male attitude being promoted as an ok part of a love story. I am extremely disappointed in this book and the author.