Introduction

Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is a Beauty . . . Naturally, she's betrothed to a Beast. Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. And rumor also has it that a wound has left the earl immune to the charms of any woman.

Linnet is not just any woman.

She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love?in just two weeks.

Yet Linnet has no idea of the danger posed to her own heart by a man who may never love her in return.

If she decides to be very wicked indeed . . . what price will she pay for taming his wild heart?

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Excerpt

Beautiful girls in fairy stories are as common as pebbles on the beach. Magnolia-skinned milkmaids rub shoulders with starry-eyed princesses and, in fact, counting two eyes in each bright-eyed damsel would result in a whole galaxy of twinkling stars. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

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A Kiss at Midnight

I think I should make it clear right off the bat that I’m assuming all of you are women. I find it hard to imagine men sitting in a cozy circle dissecting Another Bullshit Night in Suck City—a memoir that is apparently topping the list for literate men these days. Though interestingly, both titles reference nighttime. Mine is all about kisses, a subject women tend (in my experience) to like more than men. Whereas the bullshit express is decidedly a male gift.

If you happen to be more interested in kissing than fast-talking, this list is for you. I’m writing questions that I would like to talk about (though I did drop the one about just how Viagra works). I’m only writing three questions because with any luck someone in your group will burst into tears and disclose that her husband came home with a scarlet A tattooed on his forehead. That’s the kind of literary reference that will really generate a lively conversation.

1) These days the economy and media seem to be competing to make us feel dreary. In fact, all this bad news has done a good job of making each of us, no matter how financially secure, feel a bit like a Cinders-girl, hiding out in the kitchen in a precarious job with little prospects. Do you think that Kate should have left home earlier? What would you have done in that situation, torn between responsibility and a future of your own?

2) Every rewrite of Cinderella grapples with the evil stepmother in a different way. How do you define evil? Do you think my stepmother is evil enough? What’s the worst thing she says/does?

3) Cinderella is truly a fantasy: From the Regency period to the Victorian age, for a gentleman to fall in love with a working woman was utterly insane; and yet, as Bottom says in A Midsummer Night's Dream, "reason and love keep little company nowadays." Gabriel turns down a princess to marry Kate; what’s the craziest story you ever heard along those lines, in which a man or woman gave up everything for love?



When Beauty Tamed the Beast


Professors of English literature have a very complicated relationship to television. To put it in a nutshell: we’re not supposed to do it. TV is like snuff or crack or some other substance one rarely encounters; succumbing to a “show” can only be disclosed in secret and preferably after one has already received tenure.

So When Beauty Tamed the Beast is my public confession: I love the Fox show, House, M.D. If you have escaped this addiction (I know, Glee is pretty good too), Dr. House is a nasty, limping, brilliant doctors. He solves the medical mysteries that no one else can solve. He’s not exactly unlovable (I, for one, adore him), but it’s hard to imagine the woman he would fall for. That’s the kind of challenge I can’t resist. I’ve already put an alcoholic hero on the bestseller list, not to mention the one who considered sex a five-minute-endeavor. Bring on House!

1. At the beginning of When Beauty Tames the Beast, neither Linnet nor Piers is strictly truthful with each other. That’s not exactly abnormal—I had my future husband convinced that I was sweet, supportive, and a fabulous cook (I learned a lot from watching soaps). But Linnet and Piers are telling lies that aren’t exactly flattering: Linnet is claiming to be pregnant, and Piers is boasting of impotence. First, agree among yourselves that I did a clever job of shifting the whole question of superficial beauty to deeper questions of the body. Then have another drink and get down to brass tacks: so, who has had a run-in with an impotent man? All details welcome.

2. This novel goes in a lot of different directions. If I had to nail down two things that were absolutely essential to the hero and heroine actually surviving marriage together, it would be that Piers had to reconcile with his father, and Linnet had to understand that Piers loved her for more than her beauty. Neither of these lessons was easily learned. I’m not sure what question to ask here, but if anyone wants to talk about how parents can mess up a good marriage, feel free to leap in.

3. Linnet is the heroine of a fairy tale—so naturally she’s as beautiful as the sun and the moon. She doesn’t find it all that easy. In fact, she doesn’t have any female friends, and the moment she’s suspected of being unchaste, the ton turns on her as if she were a smoker lighting up in church. Do you know anyone who’s that beautiful? What happened to them? (This is a cue to let the conversation wander where it will…here’s my final question: Are you sure there wasn’t a nose job involved??).

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