A good friend of mine wrote their first book recently and while I am by no means a popular blogger, I told her that I would write a review about it.

It’s a romance novel, but it teeters more on the edge of adventure than sexual escapades as many books in that genre tend to do. Manor has always been obsessed with classic romance over the modern; as in more Mister Darcy over that super creepy dude in Fifty Shades of Gray. Now, the book does have sexual content in it, but (not being a romance novel fan myself) it was done far more classy.

I’d be hard pressed to say that the book is purely romance as it does have a strong storyline to go with it.

“Belle” is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast told in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world. The world has had a major reset; the civilizations of our time crumbled. The societies now are small, in general, relying on ancient forms of monarchy to run them for the most past. Most do not have technology or, even, electricity.

The story is that one of these kingdoms is being threatened by an outside, hostile society. Due to a series of failures on the part of the king, they find themselves at the mercy of a mysterious stranger who offers them what they need to survive. The king is so desperate that he agrees without hearing first what the price is. The price is his first born daughter, the Crown Princess Belle. Nothing is exactly what it seems though, and Belle has to make hard decisions as the future of her kingdom is threatened.

Now, I won’t go further than that, because ‘spoilers’ but I will say that I enjoyed the story. It had its exciting moments, even action toward the end, and a very fulfilling epilogue that tied everything together with a neat little bow.

For a first book, I am very proud of my friend. It is hard though. She’s, like me, just an average person, and figuring out how to get people to actually READ the book has been taking a lot of her time. Advertising is so expensive and it’s not something she has in her budget.

“Belle” is on Amazon right now as an e-book and a print book. The e-book is currently free if you are a Kindle plus member or whatever that service is.

You can also check out her website, run by yours truly, at http://www.sarahelizabethmanor.com

Check it out.