REVIEW: Before Midnight (Blood Prince #1) By, Jennifer Blackstream

Loupe always dreamed of getting married. She yearned for a caring husband who would take her away from her servant-like existence at home with her stepmother and two stepsisters, a man who would love her forever. Those dreams ended the day she was bitten by a werewolf. Now she’s a mindless beast on the night of the full moon—a condition that forever prevents her from sharing a marriage bed. Not even the attentions of a handsome and endearingly strong prince can convince her that the life she wants is still possible. 

Etienne is a prince in need of a werewolf. A werewolf himself from birth, Etienne and his family have protected their kingdom with tooth and claw—literally—for thousands of years. Unfortunately, the spell of a well-meaning witch is slowly turning him human. Only the bite of a cursed werewolf, one who was not born with the beast inside, can save him from becoming human. He has no time for anything that will not lead him to a cure for the curse. Not even the beautiful maiden whose gentle nature soothes his soul can take his mind from his goal.

Love cares little for the best laid plans or the impossible. A grand ball. The stroke of twelve. A magic “slipper.” All kinds of things can happen when you don’t leave the ball…Before Midnight.

If you couldn’t guess by the synopsis this is a retelling of the fairytale Cinderella. I have been obsessed with these retellings lately and I haven’t quite found ones that I like. A lot of “retellings” barely have anything to do with the original story and that bothers me because it really isn’t a retelling if you change the story almost completely. Then I picked up this series. I loved it. The characters, the story, the romance, all of it.

Loupe has been mistreated by her stepfamily since her father died. One night she gets bitten by a werewolf. So now every full moon she turns and she can’t remember what happens. Loupe goes to check on the wolf cubs that she takes care of and meets the prince of the land. I loved Loupe’s character. She spends most of the book being meek and scared of anyone new and her stepmother. By the end she has embraced the wolves and grown a pair. She becomes strong and a force to be reckoned with.

Etienne was cursed. Granted the witch that did the cursing thought she was helping him. Turns out there are two types of werewolves. Ones that are born a wolf and can change pretty much any time and the ones everyone has heard of, the ones that change on the full moon. Now Etienne is turning into a human and that is the last thing the kingdom needs. His last resort is to have an heir before he changes. And then he meets Loupe. Etienne was such a caring character. He helped Loupe when no one else would. He realized even if he changed, Etienne wanted Loupe and he was willing to protect her no matter what.

This book was well written and the pace was perfect. These books are a little shorter than full length but a little longer than a novella. I thought that the changes that were made ended up being really good. In Cinderella the two meet and immediately fall in love, but in this story they actually spend some time together. Granted it’s not much but they actually interact more than once before they declare their love. I can’t wait to read more from this series and see what other fairytales are brought in.

     

     
  

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