The Beast Within (Blindfold, Inc., #1)
by
Liz Cowan

A contemporary twist on Beauty and the Beast, with just a touch of magic to spice things up.

Crystal Belle St. James’ life is demanding to the point of overwhelming. Her days revolve around the thriving exotic plant and floral nursery. Her nights are devoted to caring for a parent suffering from Alzheimer's. She is lonely. But there are not enough hours in the day for a social life.

Reclusive Daniel Di Domenico may be handsome and wealthy but prefers solitude. No aimless thrashing about to find love for him. He doubts true love even exists.

Then Fate steps in. A brief glimpse of Crystal captures his interest. But before he can act on his desire to meet her, Daniel contracts Bell’s palsy and becomes temporarily disfigured. Just when he was ready to reach for something more than the status quo, his world becomes a cage of doctors and therapy.

Enter Blindfold, Inc. a unique dating service which allows couples to get to know each other without relying on a visual assessment of the other. On a Blindfold date, all the other senses come into play. They have the opportunity to discover the person behind the social mask. If they are lucky, they get to know their heart and soul.

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My Review

This book is based around the beauty and the beast theme, a favourite of mine.

Daniel is a successful businessman, but his heart is guarded, not just for romantic love but relationships in general. When a medical condition changes his perspective, we get to see the real Daniel and his rather nice.

Crystal is the opposite of early Daniel in many ways, warm, caring and open. She also happens to run a successful business.

When I say caring, she really is, as she has been caring for her mother with early onset dementia. I'm well aware of this disease and what it takes from the person suffering and their family and I felt the author covered it well.

Daniel and Crystal together are sweet and sexy. They have a few issues to deal with in their story but generally it's easy reading.

The magical part.... I wasn't sure of, I went with it but it was quite vague, think along the lines of 'the good witch' with extra seasoning.

I really enjoyed the story and characters and I'm giving it 3.75/5 stars. The book could do with another quick edit, the odd name wrong and maybe taking a couple of Daniels love's out.

I would recommend this book, I wanted to get back to it when I had to put it down.