When her father dies, Rosalind Hawkins is left with debt and few options. A professor of hers mentions a letter he has received from a man in San Francisco looking for a tutor/governess for his children, but requires particular language skills. As a scholar and doctoral student, Rose has the necessary qualifications and she decides to leave what is left of her life in Chicago to start a new one on the West Coast. She discovers when she arrives that there are no children, but that her position may actually be better than she had hoped.
I absolutely love these re-tellings of fairy tales that Mercedes Lackey does; the books are historical and put Magick in the 'real world' to create 'realistic' ways for fairy tale stories to come about. This one tells the story of Beauty and the Beast with realistic characters and an interesting plot. Although this bears no resemblance to the 'original' it is definitely the same story.
I need to give a brief explanation about where this book falls in the series so that it makes sense. This book is not listed among those of the Elemental Masters series [The Serpent's Shadow (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves), The Gates of Sleep (Sleeping Beauty), Phoenix and Ashes (Cinderella), The Wizard of London (The Snow Queen), and Reserved for the Cat (Puss in Boots)] presumably because all of the books in the series take place in England around the same time and the later books reference characters from the early ones. However, I think that this one still belongs at the head of the series in part because it gives a more thorough introduction to the 'Magickal' world than the others do. I don't think readers would be confused by not reading this one first, but I do think it helps.
I definitely recommend this book to fantasy fans, particularly those who like re-tellings or stories about magic in the 'real world'/historical fantasy.
- If this book sounds interesting, consider these: Beauty & Rose Daughter, The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Stories, or Wicked Lovely
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