CluckingBell

While it has fantasy elements, this is a romance first and foremost. In the fluff I read immediately prior to this, the romance was lust-fueled: Man wants woman and must possess her, but eventually realizes she has a good mind and heart as well; woman is so desperate for it she falls in love based on fervor and virility alone. This book, however, had more of a Jane Eyre, slow burn quality: Man’s not too impressed by the “drab” creature inhabiting his house, until he realizes she’s smart and funny and a hard worker, and of course when he finds out her frumpy clothes are hiding a beautiful body, it’s all downhill from there.

So yeah, I totally bought the friendship/mutual respect basis for their relationship. And I appreciated that the heroine dove into the sexual relationship headfirst (not literally, if I recall correctly—but she didn’t have terrible insecurities about not being beautiful or her slave status or anything [don't worry, she wasn’t his slave—that would be icky!]). Then the sex got to be a little too much; the author had been doing so well creating likable characters, and that kind of went out the window for a while so they could give each other rugburns day and night.

And then the “plot” really took over, and that was a little sparse, though there were some good moments there as well. Anytime the god Corruption manifests, it’s pretty creepy. And anytime the heroine and the servant and the dog are in the same room, I just want to nestle in there with them. Pretty awesome for a self-published author (I think—that's what I read someplace, anyway!). Only $2.99 for the ebook. I definitely can see myself reading this book a second time and watching for more by Grace Draven.