Gabriel Fairchild is really a beast when you first meet him in this book. He’s been blinded in battle and really wishes the blow had killed him, too. He hates his ex-fiancée, who dumped him the second she clapped eyes on his hideous disfigurement, and he hates his blindness with an intense and horrified passion. He crashes around his house refusing all help, terrorizes the faithful staff, eats like an animal and – horrors – smells like one too. He hates his life, and hates himself for having no hope for the future. So. You know what’s coming, don’t you? Ah yes, and it is delicious. In marches prim nurse Samantha Wickersham who refuses to be cowed, threatened or yelled into submission by the earl, and she turns him on his ear. This is such a wonderful Beauty and the Beast story. It will have you in tears one moment, and laughter the next. It is beautifully romantic and very sensual, as the shocked Gabriel discovers that he can live and love again, even if he can only do it by using senses other than sight with Samantha, like touching her soft skin, smelling her distinctive lemon scent, hearing her gasp when he kisses her, tasting her… Mmmm….  Then, just as the story ends, there’s a totally unexpected twist! Wonderful.