This review contains mild spoilers for Moonlit Thorns - no major plot points are revealed!
I love a dark romance Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I have to say that I had the time of my life reading this book. An older, billionaire romance with a bunch of spice is right up my alley, and even though I have read my fair share of these type of retellings, it never gets old. When Anabelle's father passes away and her family's estate is slipping through their fingers, she finds herself employed and housed at a manor occupied by the Voss billionaire brothers. Asher Voss, the 36-year-old billionaire with a cold side has somehow ended up with Anabelle at his fingertips, and her curiosity is about to lead her down a path she may not be ready for.
Anabelle's ex-boyfriend literally coming up to her and telling -- not asking -- her that they are going to get married actually had me laughing out loud. This man is living in the land of delusion, and I was glad to see that she did not put up with it one bit. That being said, she traded him in for a 36-year-old man that is set on tormenting a 22-year-old girl for giggles and because he was low-key bored, which I have to say, not Asher's best moment. I fear Anabelle has a curse on her, because she somehow finds herself in danger or in trouble nearly ever chapter.
The entire contract agreement that Asher presents to Anabelle is literally so insane - taking her phone for a year, only paying her minimum wage, and only letting her leave on Saturday nights - at least she had the good sense to read over every page before signing it. She basically becomes an indentured servant to Asher, and he does not even give her a decent uniform - he has her wearing what I can only picture as clogs, for crying out loud.
Dual POV in romance books are my gold standard, and I was so glad to see that this was held up -- it is always so fun to watch the perspective change when the female lead thinks the male lead hates her, and then we see that he is utterly obsessed with her. I was cackling when he put in one of her AirPods and started listening to her audiobook because girl, same. Watching Anabelle literally walk into danger was infuriating at times - I wanted to reach into the book and shake her to warn her about the red flags she was ignoring.
Asher's' brothers are giving off major bad vibes when they are first introduced - maybe not all of them, but the breakfast scene had my skin crawling a bit, and I was glad Asher stepped in. Preston, and even the sheriff that Anabelle used to date, are certainly no better, and yet you become glad that Asher is there so at least someone is trying to protect her, even if he does have ulterior motives. Not entirely sure why Anabelle is suddenly okay with basically becoming Asher's sex bot in his house when she clearly has stronger feelings towards him. Like girl, he is paying you minimum wage and now instead of his maid, you are his secretary/assistant - I need you to stand up.
Anabelle is thrown into a pretty horrible situation, and someone literally pulls the line "Maybe she consented?" Boy, she was drugged and unconscious, let us use our big brain cells and think logically - she obviously did not. She honestly has to deal with a lot in this book, and this is far from the first time that she is found in a dangerous situation. As the story goes on, we reach more "action" scenes towards the end, and it reminded me so much of plot points from Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James.
I had a blast reading this book - I was literally doing laps around my room at every chapter, and the story moves at a great pace to keep you completely enthralled with the characters. I do wish Anabelle stuck up for herself more often, and that Asher could tone it down a bit when he treated her rudely in the beginning, but overall it was a fun read and I will definitely be returning to this series.
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