***SPOILERS WILL DIFINITELY BE PART OF THIS REVIEW***When I picked up this book today I was about halfway through. I thought I'd read 2 or 3 chapters and then go on about my day...Yeap, that didn't happen! This story sucked you in and didn't leave you out of it's grasp until the very end! The pages kept turning and turning and suddenly I was done. I didn't notice the time passing or remember my very important obligations *cough*, I just kept reading!
What made this story great? One word: IAN!
For visual aid I turned to one of my fav movies although Raoul isn't exactly how I imagined Ian...
Ian was such a special character. When I read the title I have to admit that I didn't think it was literal, meaning the hero was actually crazy! Now, throughout the book it never becomes totally clear exactly what is Ian's problem (because he did have one) but I LOVED the guy.
At times you wanted to hug him like a little child and then he made you wanna take his clothes off and do very adult things to him. He was a genius in several aspects but slow at others(mostly human interractions and feelings), and I don't mean he didn't want to be bothered by them, I mean he literally couldn't understand them, he didn't know what love is and he believed himself incapable of it.
I can't fully explain it...You have to read the book to get it!
Beth...
Christine will do nicely as Beth. I actually liked Beth. This surprises me because I usually don't enjoy the heroines in historical romances, but Beth was a strong female. She was stubborn, loyal, loving and apart from the first 10% of the book during which I thought her slightly naive, she was quite mature and free spirited. Even though she had money she wasn't spoiled because she wasn't borned into it and she didn't take everything she had for granted but she managed to find humor in life. She was in general a decent heroine, someone I could enjoy reading more about.
They never actually danced in the book but the picture is beautiful.
Ian's life as well as Beth's have been hard but Beth was able to leave the past behind her whereas Ian is still haunted by his. Betrayed by his father but very loved by his brothers, Ian cannot get over what has been done to him since childhood but with Beth he is able to think through the pain that the new stirring of an old crime and his past bring. It was so touching at some points I wanted to cry!
“We don't fit in, you and me," he said. "We're both oddities no one knows what to do with. But we fit together." He took her hand, pressed her palm to his, then laced their fingers through each other's. "We fit.”
“My Beth,” he whispered, his breath hot on her swollen lips. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Beth couldn’t stop crying, but she smiled, her face aching with it.
“Setting me free.”
And my personal favorite(I believe it shows much about Ian)...
“Is this what love feels like?" he whispered to her. "I don't like it, my Beth. It hurts too much.”
I can't sum up my feelings for this book and this review is already too long(and probably chaotic) so I'll just say that if you like hirstoricals this is a definite must-read, or at leat a definite must-try.
PS. I don't really like Mac so far but I'll definitely give his book a go.
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