In the Aerie of the Wolf by Leonora Pruner ~ A Gothic Re-telling of Beauty and the Beast

My Review: What I have to say about In the Aerie of the Wolf is so vast and widespread that I'm not sure where to start! But I suppose I shall start at the beginning.

When I first picked this book up and started reading it I was not sure what kind of book this even was! And so for the first few chapters I tried in vain to peg it down as a historical, or fantasy, mystery, or romance, but in the end I decided it really wasn't any of these, yet all of of them! Are you confused? Hang in there :)

But when I finally decided that it was a Christian Gothic Historical Romantic Fairy-tale, and isn't that a mouthful? Oh, but well worth the time. By around chapter 4 or 5 I was completely, irrevocably hooked.

Anne Crofton finds herself betrothed to a mysterious man that she does not know. So leaving behind her girlhood love she travels to the Aerie of the Wolf. But upon her arrival strange an mysterious things begins to happen, among them the murder of the vicar who was to preform her marriage ceremony to the mysterious Master of the Aerie. And yet she has still not seen the face of her betrothed.

To add to her struggles, the love of her youth, Michael Pennywaithe, comes to the Aerie as the new vicar. Anne has a choice to make, what and who will she choose? Can love bloom in the most unlikely of circumstances?

This book completely surprised me, and once I stopped trying to nail it down as one or two things I found myself absorbed into the story. The main characters are so deep. And their struggles really hit home. Andrew was my favorite, I mean, he was the perfect hero in that he wasn't perfect, a great Gothic, Fairy-tale prince. I don't think anyone could read this book and not totally love him!

Another thing I wanted to highlight was the way that the spiritual struggles were ones that, if we're honest, I think we can all relate to. For instance, how sometimes we do things that are wrong and we know they're wrong, but we try to justify ourselves, and deny our true sin, instead of humbling ourselves (and it's hard) and asking for forgiveness.

I enjoyed reading this mash of genres I love, all put together. I think that this is the kind of book that will be much more satisfying each time you re-read it. Each time it will grow on you. After I finished it I went back and re-read the beginning which I hadn't really appreciated as much when I reading it and it was so much better the second go round. I highly recommend this book, and I can't wait to read another book by Ms. Pruner :) Thanks!

Final Rating: 5 out of 5
ISBN: 978-0-9827074-8-7

Buy it Here 

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”