“The curse says you must learn to love and be loved, does it not? Those are the only conditions?”
The dragon nodded, his head still buried in his hands.
The parson broke a piece off a roll and buttered it. “Then I suggest you get a puppy,” he said. [loc. 356]
A short, sweet M/M romance, set in rural England in 1940 and based on the story of Beauty and the Beast. Except in this version, the parson who steals a rose for his daughter won't let that daughter be traded for his theft: instead, he becomes the guest of the mysterious, draconic Briarley himself.
The parson -- we don't learn his name until late in the story -- is a sensible, pragmatic, thoroughly decent man, a veteran of the Somme, devoted to his daughter Rose and to his beloved dead. The Beast, Briarley, is a spoilt Victorian aristocrat who has read far too many melodramas. Their discussions of philosophy, theology and love illuminate both their characters -- and their growing respect and liking for one another.
And meanwhile, outside Briarley Hall, the war rages, the Luftwaffe roar overhead and Rose nurses the wounded...
Briarley is not a wholly likeable character, but there's an innate decency to him. The invisible servants are strongly characterised. And the parson is ... not at all what I'd expected of a country parson in 1940.
Humorous, thoughtful and sweet: a charming and calming read.
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