GUEST REVIEWER ~JANET RODMAN~ BEAUTY AND THE CURSE by K.M. FAWCETT & CATHY TULLY

Seeing her necklace around the neck of Anabel Charming, dubbed "The Freak of Park Avenue" by the tabloids,, Chase Singleton's Grandmother sends him on a quest to get it back.

Chase's Grandmother had many eccentricities, including an antique crystal ball, the ability to predict the future and belief she is a witch. After seeing the necklace in the paper, Gram explains to him that fifty years ago she had given her heart to her one true love, Maxwell Charming, Anabel's father. Gram tells Chase that he must get the necklace back from Anabel or she is going to die on Halloween, two days away. "How will I do that?" Chase asks. Since Chase worked for his father's security firm, Gram suggested that he barter a security system for the necklace because Anabel was having issues with the paparazzi. Chase arrives at Anabel's penthouse. He believes that this will be a quick deal and then he could leave. When Anabel opens the door, he is surprised by her appearance. She is hunchbacked, has a short leg and covers her face with a black veil. Anabel feels like he is like all of the others and mocking her appearance.

Chase offers a security system for the necklace. She refuses. He then explains that the necklace belonged to his Grandmother and that she gave it to her one true love and needs it back to heal. Anabel tells him that she doesn't need an alarm system, she needs sex to break her curse and doesn't have much time left, only until Halloween and would give him the necklace if he had sex with her. Since Chase didn't believe in magic, he thought she was joking. Needing the necklace to save his grandmother, Chase agrees to the deal.

After Chase agrees to have sex with her Anabel is unclear what to do next. She asks advice from her pet, a fire breathing Dragon, Jinxy what to do. Jinxy is a Grease fanatic and uses movie references to help Anabel try to seduce Chase. The first few attempts fail until Jinxy suggests dancing to put Chase into the mood. This works. All of a sudden Chase starts to begin feeling something towards Anabel. They talk, and he finds out that they have a lot in common, including a love for art that Chase gave up after going to work for his father. As they talk more, Anabel finds out that Chase didn't like his job and that his passion was actually doing physical therapy and he was getting his Master's so that he could eventually open up his own practice. Anabel tells him the story of her mother's jealousy towards her and that she cursed her to become uglier as she grew older, this way no one would love her, not even her father. Chase tells Anabel that she is brave like his grandmother because she won't compromise herself for what she believes. Chase begins to develop feelings for Anabel. After having some wine, Anabel passes out. Chase realizes that he wants to show Anabel tenderness in bed and wants to go slow. He doesn't have time, he needs to get the necklace to his grandmother. He plans on leaving a note for Anabel telling her he will be back after he gives his grandmother the necklace. As he goes to take the necklace, he meets Jinxy and realizes that she actually has a fire breathing dragon and magic does exist. Chase and Jinxy bond. Eventually Anabel and Chase make love. When Anabel wakes up, she sees a portrait that Chase had painted of her. she was beautiful. When she looked at herself, she was the same. Anabel is furious about the portrait thinking he is mocking her and blames him for the curse not being broken. Chase tries to explain to her that this is how he sees her, " the artist paints the beauty he sees". Anabel doesn't believe him, words are exchanged and she gives him the necklace and tells him to leave.

Chase leaves and returns the necklace to his grandmother who puts it on and becomes healed. Believing this could help Anabel, Chase grabs the necklace and heads back to Anabel. No woman understands him like she does. She is surprised that he returned. He gives her the necklace to try and break the spell like it did for his grandmother. Anabel explains to him that it is too late and her mother never taught her any magic any way so she wouldn't know how to use it. Chase tells her that he doesn't care if the spell is broken, that he wants to be with her because he loves her. All of a sudden the necklace glows and the spell is broken. Five years later we find Anabel and Chase married with a little girl. Grams has moved in with them and Chase has become a physical therapist.

Ms Fawcett and Ms Tully have written a love story that focuses on the ideal that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Anabel is physically handicapped due to a curse and Chase is handicapped by his inability to follow his true passion because of his parent's expectations.. Over a weekend, they both find the strength to overcome their handicaps through love. I enjoyed this story because I liked the way Chase slowly came to realization that he loved Anabel despite how she looked on the outside because of what she was on the inside. She gave him the strength to pursue his dream to become a physical therapist with his own practice. If you are looking for a feel good story, I recommend you read Beauty and the Curse. I give it a 4 because of the message it leaves with the reader, "true beauty is found in the heart".

~JANET RODMAN~