Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt
Need something funny, fun and steamy
just in time for Valentine’s Day? You
can’t go wrong with any book written by Elizabeth Hoyt, but this one in
particular is great fun.
Lily Stump is a well-known, but down
on her luck, comic actress using the stage name Robin Goodfellow. Forced out of her apartments she moves with
her maid and son to the portion of a theatre not consumed by a recent fire as
the rebuilding of the space and replanting of the pleasure gardens surrounding
it occur. Out in the garden she meets
the man she names Caliban. He is mute,
and seems agreeable to his new name. His
face is not much to look at but his physique and sweet manner more than make up
for it. Imagine Lily’s surprise when she
discovers that her gardener escaped from Bedlam, is an accused murderer and
happens to be an aristocrat. Of course
antics, escapes, disguises and surprises ensue.
I thought this would be a retelling
of Beauty and the Beast but Hoyt found her inspiration from an older tale, that
of the Minotaur. Each chapter starts
with an excerpt from the tale so we get two love stories in one!
