Christy Healy brings "Beauty and the Beast" to medieval Ireland in Unbound, a sweeping romantic fantasy drenched in Irish lore and mythology. Rozlyn's birth brought a curse to her people--a terrible beast that terrorizes the kingdom by night. The only way to break the curse is if she marries a man who truly loves her, something that proves difficult as sheltered, embittered Rozlyn scares off all suitors--until she falls for Jamie, her seeming match in all ways. But he betrays her on her wedding night.
Unbound is not simply a gender-swapped retelling. In chapters that alternate between the past and the present, Healy weaves a tale of love and monsters, those inside and out of the castle. In the year 1006, flirtatious, determined Jamie slowly wins Rozlyn's heart with tales of terrifying beings, tragic romance, and heroic deeds. In 1017, a powerful, angry Rozlyn grudgingly accepts a truce with her estranged husband to defeat a threat neither can manage alone. They must face an awful truth as they work together and as the love they once shared flares back to life: Rozlyn holds the key to Jamie's people's salvation, but allowing him to take it will mean the end of her existence.
Readers will delight in Healy's world of dark legends and hard-won romance, with hints of both "Beauty and the Beast" and One Thousand and One Nights. Unbound sits perfectly on the shelf with other atmospheric, romantic fantasies, including those from Hannah Whitten, Ava Reid, and Lucy Holland. --Suzanne Krohn, librarian and freelance reviewer