Beauty and the Beastmaster Mystic Springs, #3

Linda Winstead Jones — 2020

For Gabi Lawson, Mystic Springs has been the perfect hiding place for her and her daughter. For the past year she's kept her head down and made a decent living cutting and styling hair. Even though she's becoming comfortable in her new home, she's always behind locked doors when the sun goes down. The last thing she wants or needs is a man in her well-structured life. Silas Hollister is the town critter guy. If your pet is sick or you have bats in your attic, he's the one to call. Like many in Mystic Springs, his career is shaped by his gift. He communicates with animals in a way others can't even dream of. When he's approached about helping along a spell that will isolate the town once and for all, he's on board. His assignment seems easy enough. All he has to do is make sure Non-Springer Gabi is out of town when the spell goes down. When Silas's bloodhound Judge connects with Gabi and her daughter in a special way, it's clear he's determined to protect them. Is Judge protecting the woman and her baby from some unknown danger, or from Silas himself?

Reviews

Jo H@psyche_eros

Aug 27, 2021

2.5 ⭐️. The title of this book intrigued me when I was browsing the Kobo store, so I clicked thinking it was a Beauty and the Beast type story only to find it wasn't that but is the romance between a small-town hairdresser and an animal whisperer neither of which I've ever come across before in books. So I picked this book up outside of my normal habits of reading a completed series in order because I was attracted by the characters. And for a short book, there was enough of those aspects to satisfy my curiosity. It also contains a 'magical' baby who forms an instant and solid bond with a 'magical' dog which kind of made me smile (in those respects I'm easily pleased!). However, despite it being set in a somewhat interesting magical town with a nearby lake that affects those who drink from it, the story itself was pretty basic with a cliched abused woman running away from her psychotic ex-husband (a cartoon like villain totally lacking in any nuance) and a twist I could see coming from a mile off. Also, it seems that the author has been writing for years, and TBH that shocks me as it was written in a very basic, 'still learning the craft' style, especially at the beginning. It was cute in the moment but will not leave any lasting impression on me and I don't even have any compulsion to go back and read the first two in the series, which is highly unusual for me the few times I do read outside of my comfort habits.