Darkest London #1 Firelight

Its the medieval London and its a gothic retelling of the classic Beauty & the Beast....and its beautifully done. Presenting Darkest London #1 Firelight by Kristen Callihan.

Here is the summary of the book:

London, 1881. Once the flames are ignited . . . Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman. They will burn for eternity . . . Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

Its Gothic London and its a new retelling of the classic Beauty & The Beast, giving it new dynamic and a new meaning in a different period of time. Miranda Ellis, a woman of deep secrets must marry Lord Benjamin Archer, the masked mystery, why because three years prior when was going to kill her father for his sins, she had awoken something within him that he had never felt before. And he makes good of his plans.

Miranda agrees to marry Lord Archer because she feels she is the sole reason of the misfortune that had befallen her father. So with her head held high and a firm step forward, Miranda agrees to marry the mysterious Lord and thereby enters a world, not her own. A world full of deceit, power, lust and darkness. It does not take her long to see that behind the mask adorned day after day, there is lonely man inside but strange things are going around in the aristocrat circle, prominent members of well known aristocratic families are being murdered and Archer finds himself in the center of the action leading Miranda into doubting his innocence. But deep down she knows things are much worse than they appear to be. It is now upto Miranda to see what lays beneath the mask and Archer to make himself feel the things that he had long since forbidden himself to feel and save himself from his impending doom.

An exceptional star cast, the perfect Gothic London and the mysterious dark element surrounding it all. Kristen Callihan has done an exceptional job. Miranda is a force to be reckoned with, a strong female who has a big curiosity streak and an exceptional beauty. Archer is the big mysterious behind the mask whoever he has ever laid eyes on has disliked him. The plot itself is nail biting and makes you sit on the edges anticipating about what happens next. There is enough happening in here that you definitely won't be distracted for once.

Miranda and Archer complement each other in their own ways. Miranda is strong and very curious while Archer is many more layers hidden underneath the mask that he caters around. At first Miranda is weary of Archer but she soon finds out that the rumors about him were unfounded to a large extent and comes to care for him, even love him. The one thing I appreciate about this book is that the author weaved such a prose that it is enough to imagine the gothic London and the scenes of the book materializing in front of us, making us interested to know the welfare of Archer and Miranda.