NIGHT'S ROSE

Author: Annaliese Evans ISBN: 9780765361660 4/2009 PARANORMAL Publisher: TOR

Beauty was not awakened by a kiss. For nearly one hundred years, Rosemarie Edenberg has worked tirelessly to wipe the dreaded ogre tribe from the earth. Now the tribe has gathered in London to work a spell that will destroy the scourge of their kind, the woman they call the Briar Rose. Two magnetic men will unite to aid Rose—her mysterious Fey advisor, Ambrose, and the vampire, Lord Shenley, an Earl of scandalous reputation and even more scandalous appetites. One will save her, one will betray her, and both will challenge her to face the past that haunts her. Once upon a time, she was ensnared in the mists of enchantment, cursed to sleep one hundred years. But this beauty wasn’t awakened with a kiss, and has never known happily ever after. With the help of her handsome allies, Rose may yet find it.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I admit to being openly fascinated with fairy tales redone. NIGHT’S ROSE is a twisted Sleeping Beauty, but not a complete warping of the original tale by Perrault (though even his version is a variant on an older version by Giambattista Basile’s ‘Sole, Luna e Talia’). Perrault’s version was told in two parts—the first of Beauty falling into the enchanted slumber and the second about her adventures after being rescued by the Prince. You can blame the Brothers Grimm for truncating the tale.

NIGHT’S ROSE, which has even better significance later on, begins as a tale about a female warrior against the tides of evil monsters, with very little beyond that. What changes this, however, is that the monsters have suddenly begun to seem a bit more en masse then usual and are working dark blood sacrifice magic. The trouble quickly escalates as it becomes apparent that is not an isolated incident, but possibly the worst trouble seen in years.

A lot happens within the book, but the course of time is just over a month in actuality. The real trouble begins the night of a full moon in February and then mounts towards the night of the full moon in March. Ogres, vampires, fairies (dark and not so dark), brownies, water sprites… practically name a mystical being and they’re likely to show up. The ogres are by far the most repulsive, but in all honesty the fairies aren’t that great either. And don’t be fooled into thinking anyone has altruistic motives towards humanity—they’re all in this to protect their feeding source, whether it be blood for the vampires or the sins of humans for fairies, their reasoning is the same.

I think I enjoyed the action of the book more so than the romance. The romance was interesting, but heavy-handed. Actually, I was little exasperated by the fact that at one point Rose and her two male cohorts suddenly think it’s a grand time to start a love triangle, and hey, let’s go to the theatre as well! The world is ending and they worry about who she will end up with.

And that, I think, is my main bone to pick. Too often it seemed like either Rose or Ambrose or Gareth would get distracted from the problem at hand (the dark blood sacrifice magic? Demonic uprising? End of the World?) and instead, brood about their romantic entanglements. I thought the problem might have been solved in the second part, when past secrets are revealed in the ugly light of truth, but no. They persist.

According to the author’s page this is the first in a series of books, with the next book tentatively scheduled for release later this year. I look forward to the next book, but hold out hope that resolution is found for the romance.

Alexandra Cenni