Monster Among the Roses by Linda Kage

My rating: 5/5 stars

I love Linda Kage and I’ve missed her stories so much!! When I saw that she was releasing another series I was so excited and seeing that the topic was slightly changed than the “Forbidden Series” made me more curious about reading it.

“Monster Among the Roses” is one of the sweetest and most heart melting stories I have read in this period and I feel very fortunate to discover it and enjoy it the way I did. Linda got her inspiration from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” and she did a fantastic job in recreating in her own style the story and characters.

Shaw is our leading hero, a poor boy that desperately needs help in order to save his mother. She is very sick and after a bakery business got bankrupt, she owes money to a lot of people. Shaw is ready to take his mother’s responsibilities and make a deal with anybody who is willing to give him a loan to cover the debts. He goes to Henry Nash, one of the richest men in town and asks for help. Nash decides to cover all the money Shaw’s mother owes in exchange for this services as a handyman in his mansion. Little did he knew that this will be a cover up for the real reason Shaw is needed. During a tragic fire 8 years ago, Nash lost his wife and his daughter, Isobel, was left with terrible scars, reminder of the incident. After that she became a different person, secluded, rude, unrecognizable and focused on her rose garden. She didn’t left the house, barely spoke to anyone and lived a solitary life. Shaw was brought here as a distraction, to make Isobel open up more, to see a slight change in her behaviour. He was not suppose to befriend her, much less fell in love with her.

I loved Shaw for being him, straightforward, devoted to his mother and simply genuine. He didn’t have a hidden agenda, he was a truly nice guy, but considered himself inferior to others because of his economical condition. He left his pride aside when asking Nash for help and he was willing to give up everything for his mom. After realising his mission in the Nash Mansion, he practically didn’t care that he had to interact by contract with Isobel, because he already wanted to do that liberally. He was very intrigued about her, about her nasty and rude manner of talking, about what made her this way. He was also very attracted physically to her and this made his mission very hard.

Soon, he and Isobel will become very close and everyone will see the progresses she was making. She is not secluded any more, she will help Shaw in various projects in the house, they will build a new library together and all of this will make her fall in love with him. I loved their connection and the depths of their relationships, because it was not something that began physically, but from the heart. Despite Isobel appearance and that everyone called her a monster, Shaw saw the inner beauty that surpassed everything. He could see how fragile and genuine she was, what a great heart and generosity lies in her and without knowing, he fell in love too. He always stood up for this feelings and for her, not once being ashamed or making Isobel feel uncomfortable.

I loved the story, it was like medicine to the soul. It was sweet, heartwarming and besides that it gives you so much hope that love can be born from true feelings. It give you hope that somebody can love you for who you are, see behind the hard exterior and find a way to release your true self. That is what Shaw did with Isobel. He built trust and friendship and after that, only by being honest and speaking from the heart, he was able to get to the real person, a person that has so much love to give and receive as well 🙂 I loved the way the roses symbolised their love and friendship and I loved all the research Linda put in recreating such an unique background to the story, from the rose gardens, to the pool house and all the historical rooms that Isobel shown Shaw during their tour of the property.

Looking forward to book 2 😀