A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Bridgid Kemmerer

“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.”

Prince Rhen must find a girl to fall in love with him before he turns into a horrible monster... again. He and his kingdom of Emberfell has been trapped in this curse for years now they are down to one last season, and one last girl, Harper, before they are trapped forever.

This is a new telling of Beauty and The Beast and of the two that I've read so far this year I prefer this one. I felt that Rhen and Harper were well fleshed out and I was rooting for them and their relationship throughout the book.

Rhen starts the book in a very dark place. This beast has taken everyone dearest to him with the exception of Grey and he can't seem to achieve something as simple (in his mind) as getting someone to fall in love with him. Harper helps him see outside of himself and see whats truly going on in his kingdom.

Harper is also extremely hard headed. She has cerebral palsy and rather than that being a limiting factor it ends up helping her. Her entire life before she was abducted was difficult but she's still willing to cross Grey and Rhen to try and make it back home.

I enjoyed the addition of Grey. A calm cool collected soldier who makes a great counter to hot tempered Rhen.

All in all I really enjoyed this book and think it's definitely worth checking out. This series has two more books and I'm definitely going to have to check them out. Hopefully they live up to the high standards that this one set.