First May Meeting of H&H Book Club: Teresa Medeiros’s The Bride and the Beast

I absolutely fell in love with this book and the heroine. Sometimes the town can seem like a mindless horde and Gwendolyn seems to be the only voice of reason..and virgin apparently...in the town. The fantasy elements make it fun and funny since it's not really a dragon but just a clever man. Love it. However, as far as an overweight heroine goes, I think the story would be the same without it. Of course, it adds something and I'm always pulling for the plus-sized heroine, but in this case it's not the biggest selling point for me with this book.

Before I started reading this book I put a couple post-its dividing it into 3 sections so I would be ready to answer the questions appropriately. Unless a book is truly terrible I can't just delay my reading! The funny thing is I had strong reactions to the three sections. But I will answer the questions as they pertain to the first third :-) I love the Beauty and the Beast story and appreciate it being used as many times as possible in romance. I really like both H&H thus far, Gwen more so as we get more information on her in this section. I appreciate a smart heroine. The only thing that I find "off" is that we're expected to believe Gwen is not desirable by any of the village men. Sounds very far-fetched to me, considering the era and the absence of Twiggy as the feminine role model. I would think Gwen's figure would be more appreciated. But I can believe that Gwen's intelligence would be off-putting and that the teasing she endured as a child made her more likely to reject the idea of any of the village men being interested in her.

I am not far enough along in the book to get a decent impression of the hero, but I absolutely LOVE Gwen. I can't wait to see the story unfold as the hero discovers what makes Gwen so great. He already is, to some extent, and that is already fun. What is cool about this is that the fantasy--such as it is thus far, which is very minor--is woven in well with the historical. A really delightful read thus far.

I read this book last year and really enjoyed. As the first section goes, I really like the heroine and I love that they have history together, even though the heroine is the only onethat apparently has any sense. The hero is clever and I like that they have a shared event in their past.

I really liked this book and finished it way too quick, but I won’t jump the gun with my comment. I loved Gwendolyn’s smarts and her impatience with the rest of the town’s folk. I can see why she would have issues about her size especially with the sisters that she had and her lack of a mother figure. Also the town seems pretty ignorant so she has had no one to build up her self esteem. I also really liked The Dragon. He seemed just the type of man strong enough to handle Gwen.

I've actually only read up to the 30% mark on my kindle. I enjoy the story so far. Gwen is a very likeable heroine, in a no-nonsense sort of way. There's all this mystery surrounding The Dragon at this point, who is of course only a man. It will be fun finding out how that pans out and following the relationship between fair Gwen and our Dragon.

I am going to have to opt out of this Book Club discussion. I thought I was going to be able to borrow the book, but it didn't work out. I hope I have better luck next month.