Review: Lair of the Lion

Lair of the Lion by Christine Feehan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



My very first romance book. Most of my education has been from books and I didn't feel it could be complete without at least one book from each genre. I saw a coworker of mine reading this and decided it was time. I really want to give this book two and a half stars (feature please, Goodreads?), but since I can't I did feel it deserved better than two.

This book apparently falls into the classification of "paranormal romance," a genre I didn't know existed until now. I'm thinking of blaming Twilight. This shouldn't be such a jump, however, because in the pre-Potter days classic fantasy often had lots of gratuitous sex - you only have to glance at the old Conan book covers to remember that. I enjoy Harry Potter, but it's popularity transported us back to a time when the fantasy/sc-fi genre was the simple kid stuff of "Lost in Space" or "Land of the Giants." But I digress...

I've come to the conclusion that I loved the fantasy part of the book, but not so much the romance part. I did a lot of skiming during parts of this book. Pornography has never really interested me all that much. I love art, and if there are naked bodies in photography or paintings that's fine - they're beautiful and artistic. I also appreciate the irony of sex and humour I can enjoy, too (I'm thinking Shel Silverstein's Playboy cartoons). Other than that, it's time to skim.

However, under all that - or rather, in between it - I found a really good story with well developed characters. It started to become popular a few years back to take classic fairy tales and cultivate the plot and the rather simple persons that inhabit it, turning stories like Rumplestiltskin ([b:Spinners|499485|Spinners|Donna Jo Napoli|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175275474s/499485.jpg|784720]) or Cinderella ([b:Just Ella|1536818|Just Ella|Margaret Peterson Haddix|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184879830s/1536818.jpg|2979854]) into adult or young adult books. I adore this. This book is Beauty and the Beast, one of my favorite tales (and no get that dirty thought out of your head right now...there's nothing in there like THAT). The story may be missing a Lumiere, but there is a castle full of intrigue, deception, a dark prince, a family curse, a headstrong woman, and beasts that prowl the nights - some of them human.

I would like a more varied vocabulary; it got a little repetitive. I wanted to switch some of the sex scenes for more epic fight scenes, but I do realize that this book was written for women in the end and there was enough to keep me interested from start to finish. After all Miss, this is France - well, no actually in the book it's Spain...whatever.



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