Bend Her: A Dark Beauty and the Beast Fantasy Romance

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As far as the romance, it's non existent and I really hope that at least the print version of the book comes with an author's note that this should not be used as an instructive example for BDSM. These training sessions are random, most happening because Rhaim says he needs to know he can trust her before teaching magic… which to me is a really unusual way to figure that out. At first he's a total dick leaving her in the dungeon for days while he decides what to do with her and once he takes her out he makes her crawl to him to eat but he's taken a back when she threatens to kill him.

Seeing as Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairy tales ever, I’m always excited to find new retellings and I was over the moon when I had the opportunity to read an eARC of this. Some people seem to respect him as a powerful wizard, and others that don’t like him are involved in his “payment” so they’re biased. He's a grumpy man living in a floating castle (yes, you read that right) with Finx, his cute spider-cat, spending his days acquiring knowledge and doing experiments in his laboratory. Rhaim knows what will happen in the future , but while he has Lisane now, he will make the most of the present.I loved how possessive he started being of her and judging by that ending, I'm sure we'll get some hot scenes in the next book. Though Lisane has lived an incredibly sheltered life, I love how she took advantage of the unfortunate life circumstances she finds herself in and commits to using this imprisonment to become stronger. From the author of the Dark Ink Tattoo series and the co-author of Prince of the Other Worlds, comes Bend Her, dark fantasy romance akin to Kushiel's Dart, about Rhaim the All-Beast, a cruel mage doomed to die at the hands of the woman he must protect at all costs, and Lisane, the sheltered Princess of Tears, who has been given into his care and who needs him to teach her magic so she can be free—no matter how much it might hurt her. Protagonista della storia è la principessa Lisane, che durante un viaggio viene rapita e lasciata nelle mani di Rhaim, uno dei maghi più potenti al mondo. There’s this tension between kingdoms that has a lot of potential but that has nothing to do with the turning point of the book.

Rhaim, your brain says f**k him but lets be real he makes you want to bend to his wills and say sir yes sir. Again and again I had to suspend disbelief to keep going because the characters were all over the place. It felt like the author struggled to give the story substance with two povs, and it might have been more beneficial to focus on just one pov. I requested an ARC not knowing much about the premise other than "dark beauty and the beast," and when I saw the trigger list included heavy impact play, I almost had instant regret.I don't worry so much when he pushes her because he knows she won't break, and the knowledge of his impending doom makes it all bittersweet. The rest of it is “training” and Lisane never reacts in a positive way where she enjoys it so to me it just reads as abuse.

This story is based on Beauty and the Beast but is a much darker telling of the story, one that consists of magic, mages, a deadly war against the Deathless, a princess kidnapped held captive by the beast, lots of betrayal and a super sexy dom/sub relationship. He is a great mage but with a taste for our sweet main character Lisane and of course he uses his knowledge to his advantage. It centers around the magician Rhaim, who shapeshifts into big hairy beast (whom I pictured in my head as Egyptian god Osiris for some reason) and the princess Lisane.I defiently will read the next installment, as it ended in a bit of cliffhanger for me and I just want to know more! Even characters that had little "page time" were given so much personality that I visualized exactly who they were very quickly. the only way for the FMC to develop her magic is to ignore all of her internal alarms and let the man she thinks has kidnapped her to starve and hit her on a regular basis?

Bend Her è un libro interessanti sotto molti punti di vista, ma mi sarebbe piaciuto un approfondimento maggiore su alcune parti del racconto. Not that one or the other can't voice both characters but, in this case, it really helped me to image the story play out in my head.My hot editing takes aside, I loved Rhaim’s povs, the spice was hot, and I am a forever sucker for a Beauty and the Beast retelling – and this one had a really cool, unique approach. Comunque è un dark romance che penso si possa considerare abbastanza soft e per questo può essere un ottimo primo approccio al genere per chi vuole provarlo. Each mage has a unique form of magic and Rhaim ‘s magic presents as control over beasts and the ability to turn into an All Beast.