Wedding Bells Are Ringing: Book B

June is one of the most popular months for weddings and weddings as we all know are full of traditions. One of the most commonly followed of those traditions is for the bride to have "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue" on her wedding day. To honor that tradition...

A. OLD - Read an old book (to qualify as an old book it must have been published before you were born).
AND
B. NEW - Read a book written by a new author i.e. a book by an author you haven't read previously.

BORROWED - One of the books above must be borrowed (from the library, from a friend or family member etc.)
BLUE - And the other book must either have a blue cover or the word blue in the title.

(I.E. You need to read an old book that is borrowed and a new book that is blue OR an old book that is blue and a new book that is borrowed.)

Book Title/Author: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
Publisher/Year Published: 2009 by Leisure Books
Where I got it: Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This was the blue and new book.

I had never heard of Jennifer Ashley, but throughout the course of the end of 2009, I kept hearing about this book. It showed up on book review sites as the best of 2010. A retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a lovingly damaged hero! A must read! Right now! get it!

So I was a little wary of picking it up and having it live up to all the hype surrounding it.

But I loved Ian MacKenzie right off the bat. It's hard not to like Ian Mackenzie. He is definitely different and its almost immediately apparent why, but he is still so likable in his unlikablity (this may be because of all my Sheldon love in Big Bang but I digress). He has Asperger's Syndrome in a time when people don't know what that means. Instead he is thought insane.

Reading from Ian's point of view was always something of a treat. His character was so charming in his misunderstanding of all things society. So often in historical romances you read about a duke whose only flaw is he is too sexy, but here you have a guy just trying to get by with what he knows. And it's completely believably written.

As for our heroine, Beth, she to me was not as interesting as Ian. I've read the come from nothing, tenacious, understanding heroine many, many times. She was acceptable, well rounded and well written, just nothing new to me. But new to Ian and therefore a treat for me.

Really this story is all about Ian. When I read it, my thoughts centered around him. And it worked. Ms. Ashley has another book in this series that just was released, Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage the stars of which you meet in this book. I am looking forward to continuing on with this family.