Winner of the 2006 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award!Medieval Historical Romance – Long NovelVladamir of Kessen, Duke of Lakeshire Castle, is feared as a demon in the land of Wessex. The kings have granted him a title of nobility in exchange for his part as a political prisoner. Discontent, he bides his time in his new home until war will once again rip through the land. But boredom soon turns to … soon turns to devious pleasure as the daughter of his most hated enemy is left for dead at his castle gate. Now the monster bides his time plotting revenge.
Lady Eden of Hawks’ Nest doesn’t know what to think of the man who saved her life, but she can’t wrench her thoughts away. His words are those of a tyrant, true to his vicious reputation, but his touch is that of a man, stirring passion when there should only be fear. It would seem the infamous monster is not as monstrous as he appears.
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Loved the book it was great, the story was written well and the characters were interesting. This book had me captivated from the start, Vladimir of Kessen saves Lady Eden. There are ups and downs, lie that will have two people who find loves together.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Straight away this title gives the impression of The Beauty and the Beast and it does have that feel as I read this story. However the characters themselves hold their own and they still entrance the reader as their love story unfolds. The villains is plural and the hero is sacrificed so not happy but happy ending. The reader wants the HEA and the author must hear the unspoken pleas because the way she ends it is beautiful and positive. I have immensely enjoyed this story and the characters make me hug myself in glee. I like reading medieval historical romances because it is a time where women were unappreciated and it took a strong personality to survive. There is physical violence so if this is a trigger please exercise caution. However the good note is the violence is mentioned and not morbidly graphic. I would recommend this to those Beauty and the Beast fans and those fans who like medieval historical romance.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A medieval spin on beauty and the beast. Though the beast is not homely, his reputation of being unforgiven is. The lady he rescues he wants nothing to do with but he married her to seek revenge. He ends up redeeming himself even though he was beastly in the beginning.
At first I thought that this would be a paranormal book but it totally isn’t. This is more of a historical romance that has elements of mystery, tragedy, love and redemption.
Vladimir is scarred and feeds into the image that he is a monster so that everyone will leave him alone. He had a tragic first marriage and wants nothing to do with women again. But when the daughter of his most hated enemy arrives after being beaten and left for dead, he figures that he can get his revenge. He holds the lady at his castle as a prisoner, then proceeds to marry her.
Lady Eden ran away from the machinations of her father and the man she is promised to. She doesn’t see Vladimir as the monster that everyone else does. She starts to care for him and even fall in love but can he ever find it in his heart to love again? When she finds out the truth about her father and Vladimir she has to come to some difficult decisions.
I enjoyed the intrigue as well as the life and death situations that these characters find themselves in. I will add this book to the long list of winners written by this author.
I did enjoy this book. I don’t read many historical romances but I am glad I read this one. Eden escapes one Monster to be thrust into the arms of another or maybe not. Eden is left for dead at Duke Vladamir’s castle. After Eden recovers she asks Vladamir to save her. As peace rains at this time against the Vikings, war could start with this relationship. There are lots of secrets that both have to get through. Love will prevail though at one time it didn’t seem like it would. There is some very steamy scenes. There is also trust that former between Eden and Vladamir.
*I received a free copy of this book via the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
This is a historical romance it started slow but then built and I found myself drawn into the story, the characters are well-drawn and interesting. The storyline is hot and at times dark with lots of heat and explicit sex scenes. It’s also an emotional read which made me cry.
Love Beauty and the Beast retellings; not a fan of historical type romances, but I still wanted to give this a try. I liked the read, but not the dialogue style or the 3rd person POV, and the POV switching back and forth randomly. Lots of erotica type of situations; good passion between Vlad aka Beast and Eden, mostly the rough type of loving between these two. Vlad is a very gruff type of guy and at times not the nicest; he’s had some junk in the past that has messed with him. Eden’s father tried to sell her off into an unfavorable marriage for her; her intended and his friends wanted her to give in to all their depraved pleasures, but she denied them and was severely beaten. Vlad ends up finding her and helping her, and the two begin a romantic connection. There’s many problems between the two; lack of communication being a big one, so these two have a lot against their happiness. Overall, an interesting read with lots of steam, but I didn’t really connect with the vibe or the characters of the story. Still liked it.
I enjoyed this book however, I did find the hero extremely dislikable at times. I have always enjoyed anything Ms. Pillow writes, and found it to be true with this story as well. She captured my interest, but I found the hero off-putting and dislikable at times.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Despite being warned this book was hotter than expected. I did expect brilliantly creative characters that had deeply descriptive personalities and interacted well with the storyline and got them. I also expected a wonderfully twisting plot that would keep me fully engaged with glued to the pages, and I got this too.
This book has everything suggested in the blurb but it also gives you more.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
loved it !!! hated it !!! love Eden…hated Vlad… story is good… a variation on beauty and the beast ..hard to read…this is not a love story…
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Creative and intriguing read I’ve enjoyed many books by this author and I’m always impressed I know I’m in for a an incredible read when I get one of their books. The characters were amazing well written and and the storyline took you along on their journey. Looking forward to reading the next book from this authors
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Now this is a romance novel! I was sucked in right at the beginning and never wanted to see it end. I loved everything about this story and cannot wait to read more by this author! This is a must read!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This medieval novel from Michelle is definitely gritty and in your face. But that is not a criticism far from it. It is not to everybody’s taste but it is a compelling read. This story of Lady Eden of Hawks’ Nest and Vladamir of Kessen, Duke of Lakeshire Castle is a turbulent tale. Well written it kept me turning page after page as I navigated the rough waters until I finally came to the end.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Really enjoyed this action packed, emotionally thrilling and highly entertaining journey filled with witty and exciting charters, heart racing twists, emotional turns and thrilling passion. An edge of your seat exciting adventure from beginning to end.
Slow start but the characters grew on me and the ending was very enjoyable. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A different take on Beauty and the Beast, it is well written and held my interest throughout. Vladamir of Kessen, Duke of Lakeshire Castle saves Lady Eden of Hawks’ Nest when she is left at his gate. They will have ups and downs, there will be a lie that does harm to them, and two people who find love together. I enjoyed reading this story.
Once again Michelle M. Pillow has done a great job creating characters that grabbed my attention and kept it throughout the book. The story line was good, but the characters made this book for me.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed this book. This author is a really good writer so that is a good thing. I did have a bit of an issue with some of the characters at first but they did tend to grow on me as they started to redeem themselves through the book
When Lady Eden of Hawks’ Nest is dumped outside the castle of Vladamir of Kessen, Duke of Lakeshire Castle, his first impulse is to have nothing to do with the mysterious injured woman. Convinced to take her in and aid her recovery, Vladamir might just discover that Eden is the best thing that ever happened to him…
It did take me a bit to get into this medieval Beauty and the Best adaptation. Vladamir isn’t instantly a likeable character, but he does find the mysterious – and injured – Lady Eden intensely attractive, meaning that we get a lot of his heated sexual thoughts before we really get any romance kindling between the two. As the story starts to unspool, things start to get more interesting, and this story turned out to be one that kept me reading until the wee hours of the morning to finish the tale. The heart of the beauty and the beast aspect of the story is always there, and if you squint you can really see where Pillow played with the fairy tale, but the story does go beyond the confines of the fairy tale as well. The romance is emotionally compelling, and though there’s a lot of sex in the book, it all fits with the characters, advances the story, and is just plain hot. The book isn’t all flowers and light – Eden’s appearance at Vladamir’s castle is not only just what Vladamir needs, but is everything Eden needs as well. I loved that both characters were intelligent and reasonable, and that they clearly loved being with each other and really appreciated the relationship that they built. Pillow does throw in some curve balls sometimes as well, which I did find enjoyable. Maiden and the Monster is a thoughtful, emotional romance, and readers will not find themselves disappointed!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I like medieval romances from time to time, to see how those before us fared and for the story itself. I however never would’ve lived in that time, I would’ve been killed at an early age. lol I’m not good at being subservient to anyone, so some parts of the story were hard to read. The point being that Michelle Pillow wrote them with such excellent detail that I felt that and gave it some thought! My only “complaint”, small that it is, is the use of currant words mixed in with words used back them. It wasn’t enough to take away anything from the story, but was mentioned in some reviews, so I thought I would mention it. I would hate to see anyone miss reading this story because of that. It’s well worth the read!