"I am not beautiful..."Knife's entire existence has been as twisted as his flesh and his face. The only thing beautiful in his life is his sister. When Gwennie is obliged to turn a suitor down because she fears to leave her brother to the brutality of their village, Knife is desperate for anything to ensure her happiness.
Her suitor's cousin offers him a way out, but it won't be easy. Aerie-Smith has been cursed to walk upright in the form of a beast, and his beloved village suffers from the same spell. Aerie-Smith offers Gwen a trousseau and some hope, if only Knife will keep him company on his island for the span of a year and perform one "regrettable task" at year's end.
Knife is unprepared for the form the island's curse takes on his own misshapen body. In one moment of magic, he is given the body of his dreams—and he discovers that where flesh meets spirit and appearance meet reality, sometimes the only place to find truth is in the darkness of a lover's arms.
Comment: This was my choice of mrs Lane for the challenge. I didn't check reviews or other comments before reading, so I could start it with a clean slate.
I wasn't prepared to read a story where one of the main cgaracters was an animal most of the time, but that fact didn't disturbe me or my will to read.
Aerie Smith has been cursed for an innocent mistake in his past and he knows only a sacrifice can help him and the people in the island where he lives. So, he asks for Naef's help, although Naef is often rude and doesn't accept it at first.
But a promise makes him go to the island and help his host.
In there he understands what its liek to be friendly, to trust and to love. He accepts the other habitants of the island and helps them in their daily issues, as well as accepting himself for what he is. Then there's his relationship with Aerie Smith and all that goes with it...especially love and confidence.
Naef has had a troubled childhood, he isn't good looking and has a limp. He was violated and his sister defended him, so she means the world to him. When she refuses to marry in order not to leave him, he agrees to go to Aerie Smith's island as a favour to his future brother-in-law, which means his sister might follow her heart at last. In there he understand what is to love and trust. I think the writer has a great way with words, it felt like she used the perfect words to describe whatever was happening. I eagerly read each page and was happy to see new things hapenig and how each main character dealt with his own feelings and what those meant to the whole situation and the other person. It's a very raw study on emotions, I believe, to understand sometimes what others see in ourselves is really there, no matter how difficult it is to us to see it too. I think the magic is in there, mostly. We just can't see it but someone else swears it is. Then there's the trust issue, with true love comes trust and although Naef didn't trust Aerie Smith at first, he grew to see that sometimes true love deserves all the trust in the world.
I liked the story a lot and I feel I'll re-read it often too. It has such sweet parts. I felt happy when I finished and the book totally worked out for me. Plus there's always some kind of magic in the air in the author's novels. I like that a lot.
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