He travels only at night, shrouded by darkness, his visage shielded by a leather mask. After 11 years, Galen Tarrant, Lord of Rosenthorn, rides back from the Crusades to reclaim his lands, only to stumble upon the most beautiful creature he has ever seen. In her arms he feels complete, but cannot allow himself to take her innocence when the demons of his past threaten to destroy everything he touches.
My Thoughts: I've had this book for many, many years in my shelves. I was so happy to finally get started on this! I remember getting this book because it was Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast themed, and I love both stories! I was looking forward to reading this book but unfortunately, it was not as great as I thought.
This book started off very strong, but about halfway I began to get frustrated with it. I was hooked from page one as I read about a feisty "Wood Elf" (that's what the hero called the heroine) who helped out a strange man with a mask in the middle of the night but then got herself into trouble and the masked man had to rescue her. The way the characters acted with each other and the mystery of the masked man, Galen, was quite enthralling. I even liked how the main characters' love for each other began to grow.
However, the pages then began to constantly focus on Galen's insecurities about his face. He kept brooding over it over and over believing he was a monster. Forget that he was tortured and a mad man was going after him. I mean that would have been my main concern versus my face. Yes, I understand that what happened to his face was terrible, but come on! We don't need to be reminded about it for over 100 pages. For goodness sake! He was a warrior! Of course he was going to have scars! Not even the Phantom brooded over his face that much!
Let's just say that his brooding dragged this book for me. When it wasn't talking about Galen's face, it was actually pretty good. I wanted to read more about the villain and how Galen was going to kick his butt. The fight scene with the villain was not as great as I was expecting though, but it was better than reading another page on poor Galen's face. *sigh*
Anyways, as a whole, I wished I could have loved this book. I had high hopes for this book because of the reviews and because I am a HUGE Phan (hehehe...see what I did there? lol), but it left me mostly disappointed. Apparently I have low tolerance for brooding. I rate it:
This book counts for the #ShelfLove Challenge.
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