How Beauty Met the Beast (Tales of the Underlight #1)

By Jax Garren

Editions: ebook

Expected publication: November 19th 2012 by Carina Press

Genre: Adult Romance / Steampnuk / Paranormal

Source: NetGalley

The Beast
Scarred. Damaged. Living with a terrible secret. Agent of the Underlight Wesley "Hauk" Haukon has nothing left but the fight for liberty against the oppressive Order of Ananke. He's starting to lose hope…and then he sees her.

The Beauty
Despite her night job as a burlesque dancer, grad student Jolie Benoit has always played the mostly good girl. That all changes following a scorching sexual encounter with a stranger whose face she doesn't see. After she's kidnapped by thugs and rescued by a man with a very familiar voice, Jolie becomes a pawn in a struggle she never knew existed.

Hauk knows he cannot have her, and resolves to protect his heart and his secrets. But as they work together and grow closer, he finds new reason to keep fighting. Dare he risk hope in a new life, one where Jolie can see past his ravaged face and where their friendship can grow into something more?
~ Goodreads

Bomy's Flutter: great short(ish) read {152 pages}

World Building: Awesome, it's this sort of resistance to over-tech&power-waste sort of vibe that I love despite my own geekiness towards tech :D
Characters: I absolutely loved Hauk, just loved him. He was just such an awesome guy, brave and honorable and beautifully broken. I have a thing for tortured characters, as you know, so I adored him. Jolie was fun and brave too, very free spirited so I loved that. They had some chemistry going on, especially explosive in the dividing screen/sheet scene - yum times ten thousand.
Plot: For a shorter read (150ish pages), pretty intense and well developed. The romantic story is gonna end in frustration a bit, but it's not an instalove so it needs time to develop and there simply isn't enough of it in this long novella.
Writing: Great, loved the voices of each character and how distinct they were, loved the way scenes were built.
Curb Appeal: Skyrocket-high. Amazing cover, cool concept and intriguing blurb. Would be a compulsive buy.

Overall, a great shorter read, but if I could have had my way, it would have been longer and Hunk would have gotten more love right now. Maaaaybe not all of it - I'm evil and like tortured characters, keep in mind - but just a bit more. Plus, I hate waiting for the next one to come out in any series I like - like this one, which I will undoubtedly read. Waiting sucks, and I suck at it, lol!

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