BLOG TOUR REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: BEAUTY’S BEAST by Amanda Ashley

Posted September 11, 2014 by Kris and Vik in Blog Tours, Book Love, Giveaways, Guest Posts & Reviews, Home, Jmelynn Review / 1 Comment

Beauty’s Beast

By: Amanda Ashley

Releasing September 2nd, 2014

Zebra/Kensington

goodreads

 

Blurb

Beauty

Fair of face and figure, Kristine is young, innocent, pure. Yet she has been condemned to the gallows for killing a man. The only one who can save her is a lord so infamous that some say he is the son of the Devil himself…

 

And the Beast

Erik Trevayne is called the Demon Lord of Hawksbridge Castle, but few know of the curse he lives under. Or the terrifying changes slowly gnawing away at his humanity. When he weds her, all he wants of Kristine is a son. But when he beds her, a wild hope is born—that love that can tame even the most monstrous of beasts…

 

Excerpt

Erik Trevayne, seventh lord of Hawksbridge Castle, stood at his wife’s bedside. He watched in quiet

horror as she strained to bring their firstborn child into the world.

His wife’s mother, Charmion du Lac, the witch of Cimmerian Crag, stood across from him, her gaze

fixed on the midwife.

“Erik.” Dominique reached for his hand, her body convulsing with pain as the life slowly ebbed from

her body. “Erik . . .”

The sound of her anguished cries rose to a crescendo, slashing through the dimly lit bedchamber like lightning through storm-ravaged clouds, leaving a great gaping hole of silence when, with her last feeble breath, she expelled the tiny wrinkled infant from her womb.

A low moan, rife with a sorrow so deep it would never heal, issued from Charmion’s lips. Stunned, he watched the tall, dark-haired woman grasp her daughter’s limp hand as if, by the sheer force of her indomitable will, she could restore Dominique’s life.

Erik’s gaze moved to the midwife as she quickly cut the cord.

“The child?” he asked hoarsely. “Does it live?”

Slowly, the midwife shook her head. “I am truly sorry, my lord.” After wrapping the infant’s body in a

piece of sheeting, she placed it on the foot of the bed. “There’s naught I can do.”

Bowing to the lord of the manor, the midwife backed out of the chamber, afraid, as were so many others, to turn her back on the witch.

Charmion lifted her head to regard the man standing across from her. “I warned you, Trevayne,” she said with quiet menace. “You should have listened.”

“You cannot blame me for this, Charmion.”

“I can, and I do.”

“It was not my fault!” He shook his head in denial even as he accepted it for the lie it was.

“I begged you not to marry my daughter. I warned you she was not strong enough to give you an heir.” Charmion lifted the stillborn child from the bed and cradled the shrouded infant in her arms. “But you would not listen . . . you would not listen! And now my daughter is dead, and her son with her.” She stroked the infant’s head. “You should not have planted your seed within my daughter’s womb.”

“It was what she wanted.”

“It was what you wanted!”

“No.” He had never wanted to marry, never wanted to be the lord of Hawksbridge Castle. For as long as he could remember, he had dreamed of dedicating his life to the priesthood, of losing himself in the silence and serenity of cloistered walls. But then his brother, Robert, the rightful heir to the estates, had been killed in a hunting accident and the title had fallen to Erik. It had been his father’s dying wish that Erik marry Dominique du Lac and sire an heir to continue the family name. Stricken with grief, hoping at last to win his sire’s favor, Erik had knelt at his father’s bedside and sworn to do as he wished.

Charmion had vigorously opposed the marriage, but for the first time in her life, Dominique had defied her mother to marry the man she adored. At Dominique’s sweet urging, they had been married in

secret. She had conceived within the first month.

“Look at me, Trevayne.”

Unable to resist the power in Charmion’s voice, he looked up, felt himself impaled by the hatred blazing in her witch-black eyes. Her heated gaze trapped his, holding him immobile so he could neither move nor look away.

“A rutting beast you were, a beast you will become. Not all at once, my selfish one. Day by day, the change will come upon you, until you have suffered for every tear my daughter wept, for every drop of blood she shed this day.”

“No!”

She nodded once. “As I have said it, so it shall be.”

“Is there to be no end? Your daughter’s pain is over, yet you would condemn me to a lifetime of suffering.”

Charmion placed the babe on its mother’s belly; then, sitting on the edge of the bed, she drew mother and child into the cradle of her arms. Bending, she kissed her daughter’s waxen cheek. “When Dominique

forgives you, so shall I.”

“Charmion, listen to me—”

But it was too late. With a wave of her hand, the witch was gone, Dominique and the babe with her, leaving him alone with his grief, while the ominous portent of the witch’s last words rang like bells of mourning in his ears.

 

guest review Jmelynn

Beauty's BeastBeauty’s Beast by Amanda Ashley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really really enjoyed this book. It was probably the closest thing to reading a beauty and the Beast type story I’ve ever read at this point…..


“A rutting beast you were, a beast you will become. Not all at once, my selfish one. Day by day, the change will come upon you, until you have suffered for every tear my daughter wept, for every drop of blood she shed this day.”

Erik Trevayne’s life has been destroyed. He’s only guilty of marrying a woman he really didn’t love and getting her pregnant. In his defense, his wife begged him to have a baby with her, pleaded, until he finally relented. However, her and her child died during birth and even more terrible than that, his mother-in-law was an evil witch who had warned him against marrying her daughter, that having a baby with him would kill her. When the outcome came out just as she predicted she put a curse on Erik. A curse, that only his dead wife could break. So now he lives in the confines of his castle, just waiting for the curse to take over him.

Kristine’s life isn’t looking so hot right at this moment either. She’s to be hung for the murder of a man. A man she indeed killed, but it was an accident acting in self defense. She’s been held in a dungeon for weeks and has 100% accepted her fate. The suddenly a dark figure comes in, checks her out and she’s told she will be married to him the next morning. Erik Trevanye. He has a huge reputation, and not a good one. However, terrified she may be, she’s relieved to know she won’t be killed now and swears she’s going to make the most out of this marriage. Erik doesn’t agree however. He claims he wants her only for a baby. And in his mind that is all he wants from Kristine, but something about her once he gets her home changes his opinion. He knows he can’t get too close, but as time goes on the more he wants to be with her other than just a breeding practice in bed, and of course Kristine wants him more too. But she wants to know what’s behind that mask as well.

This book isn’t my typical read. I normally don’t really like historical actually. It’s not that I just straight up don’t like them, I just usually like the more modern feel. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It actually didn’t even read like a historical except for references like “My Lord, husband” or “my lady”. I was constantly pulling for Erik and Kristine. They had a rough time at first. Mostly from Erik fighting Kristine at every chance. His tactic was complete avoidance except for at night when he would come to her room to try to knock her up and wouldn’t even take his clothes off or let her touch him. Of course slowly but surely they get closer and closer. But Kristine is hell bent on being a good wife to Erik, she’s falling in love with hm, and she only wants more. You know, what’s behind the mask and such.

I actually loved how Kristine was with Erik. I loved how as they got closer they were with one another. So thoughtful, and supportive. Kristine was so strong and brave. I loved the characters in this book. THE ONLY THING negative I can say about the book was, we waited soooo long for them to be together, like really, and then the book just ended. Yes there was one small chapter, but I would’ve LOVEDDDD to have an epilogue. Something, to see how they are in their future. I mean they had jumped over major hoops to be together, I just wanted a little bit more of a reward for the torture to get there.

I highly recommend this book. Historical lovers will love it, but it doesn’t read really like a historical so I think anyone would love it.

*View all Jmelynn’s reviews on GoodReads

 

Buy Links 

amazon usAMAZON UKbnereader_ipadpreviewibooks_thumb_featurekobo

Publisherhttp://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/30155

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Link to Follow Tour:  http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/06/beautys-beast-by-amanda-ashley.html

 

Author Info

Amanda Ashley is one of those rare birds—a California native. She’s lived in Southern California her whole life and, except for the earthquakes, she loves it. She shares a home with her husband, as well as an adorable Pomeranian named Lady, a wild house sparrow named Tweety, and a tortoise who remains nameless. Amanda and her alter ego, Madeline, have written 60 books. Not bad for someone who started writing just for the fun of it. Her books regularly appear on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.

 

 

Author Links 

Website: http://www.amandaashley.com/
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/AmandaAshleyFanPage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vampyrewritr
Goodreadshttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/48190.Amanda_Ashley

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