A review by leahegood
The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson
3.0
I'll start by saying that my three star rating may not be entirely fair. See, I'm not a fan of romance stories (even so called "squeaky clean" ones) and, despite my recent fairy-tale binge, I'm not a regular reader of fairy tales. If I was a bigger fan of one or both, this book would have ranked higher.
The fairy-taleness of this story was well great. Sophie is sweet and innocent and easy to sympathize with. Her stepmother is quite hateable. Gabe is a wonderful hero who sweeps in and saves the day and has some character flaws to make him a bit more real. And their falling in love was...partly sweet.
My complaints (and star deduction) pertain to the romance. There was way to much emphasis on physical attraction for my comfort. You know, looking at each other's lips, the guy's muscles, the girl's lush hair. Some people like that, but I don't and it makes me uncomfortable. And then there was the fact that they were both betrothed to other people. That didn't sit well. Especially not Gabe's betrothal since he had agreed to it, where Sophie was only a baby when her's was made.
So good (sweet) story, good characters, good writing. Too much romance.
The fairy-taleness of this story was well great. Sophie is sweet and innocent and easy to sympathize with. Her stepmother is quite hateable. Gabe is a wonderful hero who sweeps in and saves the day and has some character flaws to make him a bit more real. And their falling in love was...partly sweet.
My complaints (and star deduction) pertain to the romance. There was way to much emphasis on physical attraction for my comfort. You know, looking at each other's lips, the guy's muscles, the girl's lush hair. Some people like that, but I don't and it makes me uncomfortable. And then there was the fact that they were both betrothed to other people. That didn't sit well. Especially not Gabe's betrothal since he had agreed to it, where Sophie was only a baby when her's was made.
So good (sweet) story, good characters, good writing. Too much romance.