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    Beast
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    Beast
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    Beast
    Ebook458 pages6 hours

    Beast

    By Judith Ivory

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

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    About this ebook

    An exquisite American heiress, Louise Vandermeer is beautiful, brilliant. . . and bored—which is why she has agreed to a daring adventure: to travel across the ocean to marry an aristocrat abroad. Rumor has it her intended is a hideous cad—a grim prospect that propels her into a passionate, reckless affair with a compelling stranger she never sees in the light of day.

    Though scarred by a childhood illness, Charles d'Harcourt has successfully wooed Europe's most sophisticated beauties. For a lark, he contrived to travel incognito on his own fiancee's ship—and seduce the young chit in utter darkness. But the rake's prank backfired. It was he who was smitten—while the hot-tempered Lulu, now his wife, loves only her shipboard lover, unaware it was d'Harcourt all the time! And Charles will never have her heart—unless he can open her eyes to the prince who hides within.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 1, 2011
    ISBN9780062034816
    Author

    Judith Ivory

    Judith Ivory's work has won many honors, including the Romance Writers of America's RITA and Top Ten Favorite Books of the Year awards and Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award.

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    Reviews for Beast

    3.5/5

    33 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book is loosely based on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale and Ivory's writing is just incredible. Charles d'Harcourt's eye was injured and scarred at birth so he is blind in one eye. He suffered another injury to his knee when he was younger and it sometimes swells up and cripples him for days. Louise Vandermeer is a stunning beauty from a wealthy family. H/h meet on an ocean liner in the Atlantic around 1889. I loved the opening scene where Charles is thrown out of his cabin when rough seas toss the ship about. He is naked and in the middle of an argument with his mistress and she won't let him back in the room :) I liked the hero but I could never quite warm up to the heroine. She seemed to have the "don't hate because I'm beautiful" attitude at first, although I liked her better toward the end. Ivory writes with absolute sensuality. The reader feels as though they are right there inside every scene because she describes all five senses so completely; you taste, touch, see, hear and smell everything in each scene in luscious detail. Louise never actually sees Charles on the ship. They conduct a hot, steamy affair completely in the dark. When they eventually meet on land in the light she is turned off by his deformities, but they marry as planned by her family. There is a famous scene when he kisses her hand that sent shivers up my spine. How Louise comes to love him and figures out that Charles was her lover from the ship is amazing and beautiful. (Grade: A
    • 4/5
      This book had me up and down. I loved the first part on board the ship and the affair that begins between Louise and Charles. Yet, I was afraid to continue, dreading the inevitable upset and had to stop at times once they arrived in Marseilles and they say good-bye and Charles becomes himself - the real Charles. I was in knots over his dilemma and the way Louise treated him at first. Then, when the truth is finally revealed, it was a let down for me and their reunion. Overall, I love Judith Ivory, but this book is not a favorite, although it was still an intricately, well woven plot and a unique idea, yet it left me unsettled. Plus, I was curious to read it, since another of my favorite authors Sherry Thomas has stated this is a favorite book of hers and the inspiration for her Beguiling the Beauty? 'Nuff said, I had to read it.
    • 3/5
      Judith Ivory is an excellent writer of beautiful prose. But the plot of this book didn't please me nearly as much as the prose. I was highly skeptical of the lovers-in-the-dark plot, which however, she pulled off quite convincingly. But once the ship docked and the lovers "met" one another for real, I was just impatient to get to the reveal. And that comes very late in the book.

      I'm glad that I read this, but I have no desire to reread some day. And I learned more than I ever wanted to know about the stomach-churning (literally) details of ambergris.
    • 1/5
      This book was so disappointing. I have always liked Judith Ivory so I expected a fun read with a strong, independent and smart hero and heroine. What I got was a book with a spoiled obnoxious 18 year old society girl who was placed in an arranged marriage to a duplicitous man in his late 30's. Ivory tells us all about how smart this girl is (she really is a girl, not yet a woman) but there is no real evidence other than a facility for language. Ivory tells us that the hero and heroine are having deep and intellectually stimulating conversations, but we are never privy to those conversations. Ivory tells us that the dirty old man is in love with this girl's mind, but the only thing he ever responds to is her youth and beauty. He never works hard to get her to chat, he only works hard to get her into bed. Also, both characters lie to each other about things central to their existence (his is the bigger lie by a country mile, but both lie) and there is little consequence for this once they come clean. Add to all this the fact that I was bored by the book. Really bored. I put the book down for weeks and did not feel compelled to pick it up again. That never happens to me with romances, even bad ones. I can't recommend this at all.
    • 4/5
      It was pretty good but I do think the ending was too fast. I wouldn't have acted in the same way as the heroine and that's all I'll say not to spoil it
    • 3/5
      I would only say that I expected a longer chapter to show how their life changed when the truth was discovered but otherwise a rich & realistic novel. A fabulous read...You can't help but like the characters.
    • 3/5
      Ending was abrupt. Left me wandering what happened next. No epilogue?
    • 4/5
      Ivory/Cuevas is always a treat, and always a challenge.

      I did not mind the pace of this book, but I do not like identity deception. However, I did think Ivory made choices here that actually served the story, but because this is going to be a speed review, I will say that my main issue with the book is that I identified w/ the hero, and Ivory made me feel like he could adore anyone.

      Still, typical Ivory, and I missed more than I picked up and it's a joy to read her writing.

      Buddy read w/ Gaufre & Whiskey-Thanks!