Nocturnal Book Reviews

This book is simply amazing.

I've been reading HR since I was 13 years old, and this genre has its own the good, the bad and the ugly. Emphasis on the last two. But there are rare gems which destroy all the usual cliche and rise above it all. Unveiled is a book like that.

First of all, Courtney Milan doesn't play by the rules.

I was reading the book and unwillingly drew parallels with Amanda Quick's Scandal. Both men are ruthless businessmen absolutely bent on revenge, however Amanda's Blade gets the woman and then softens and changes because she believes in him; Milan's Ash wants the woman and because she can't accept him the way he is, he changes first - there is a huge huge difference between them.

Ash is fascinating. He grew up literally on the streets and left the country at 14 to make a fortune and provide for his brothers. He is a severe dyslexic to the point of not being able to read at all, but he managed to build an empire because he can read people and judge their abilities really well.

Margaret is not your usual simpering miss, she's got balls of steel, but she doesn't know her own strength until Ash tells her that she matters, she is important. Everything he says to her is empowering her and sets her free, and it's really really wonderful...

“You’ve tugged on your bonnet strings five times in this conversation already. Why wear one, if it’s so uncomfortable? Have you any reason for it, other than that it is what everyone else does?”
“I brown terribly in the sunlight. I’ll develop freckles.”
“Oh, no. That sounds awful.” He spoke with exaggerated solicitude, but he leaned down from his horse until his nose was a bare foot from hers. “Freckles. And what do those dastardly spots portend? Are freckled people thrown in prison? Pilloried? Covered in tar and sprinkled with tiny little down feathers?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
He moved his hand in a lazy circle, ending with it stretched towards her, palm out. As if to say, explain why.
“Pale skin—a white complexion—is superior,” Margaret said. “I don’t know why I am defending a proposition everyone knows to be true.”
“Because I don’t know it.” Mr. Turner slid his finger under her chin. “Yet another reason why I am glad I am not a gentleman. Do you know why my peers want their brides to have pale skin?”
She was all too aware of the golden glow of vitality emanating from him. She could feel the warmth in his finger. She shouldn’t encourage him. Still, the word slipped out. “Why?”
“They want a woman who is a canvas, white and empty. Standing still, existing for no other purpose than to serve as a mute object onto which they can paint their own hopes and desires. They want their brides veiled. They want a demure, blank space they can fill with whatever they desire.”
.....
“Miss Lowell, you magnificent creature, I want you to paint your own canvas. I want you to unveil yourself.”

The whole book is like that, - a very easy, insightful and bittersweet read. If you want to try HR, go for Courtney Milan or Sherry Thomas - both go against stereotypes and both a sheer delight to read!