Gilded Mess by Colette RhodesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Messy World of Shifters in Alaska
I am ashamed to say that I wanted to read this book because it has such a beautiful cover. I’m glad it did because I probably wouldn’t have read it otherwise as 'retelling of fairy tales' isn’t exactly my favourite trope. I’m also not keen on MFC’s who are ‘a bit of a mess’. Whilst I know characters who are flawed are interesting and more fun to write about, I like to read about characters that are competent and together and just make reasonable mistakes. Ria, is definitely a bit of a mess. She’s nearly 30, never had a career, dropped out of college twice and is constantly needing to be bailed out of trouble by her older brothers.
Ria’s latest catastrophe is getting lured into a relationship with the promise of a great cabin in the woods of Alaska, a caring partner who wants to have children together and the opportunity to start a small business from home, rather than working in a diner. Only it turns out the caring partner is pretty much a sham and Ria runs away into the fading light out into the woods, with no idea where she is going. I pretty much wanted to smack some sense into the woman during the first couple of chapters but I stuck it out.
Ria started to grow on me when she met the bears. She stole into their fantastic cabin, made herself at home and wasn’t really embarrassed about being caught. Once she settled into staying with the bears she started to show more of her less ‘messy’ side. She chipped in around the house with chores without being asked. She had a go at things even when she didn’t know if she was capable or not and she stood up for herself against her ex. Some of her more messy personality traits turned into more admirable ones when taken with a more positive spin.
To be honest she wasn’t the messiest character. The three bear brothers were quite a bit unusual. They have lived together in the woods since the eldest twins were 15 and the youngest was 10 after their parents were killed in a house fire. They lived in their grandparents’ cottage and then built their own home by hand. They mainly live off the land with occasional trips into town to sell things they make. Living mainly in isolation from an early age and never really venturing out to face getting hurt again lead to isolationist tendencies. Putting the three messy bears together with the messy non-shifter leads to a much more balanced situation if only they can get out of their own way.
I ended up quite liking Ria and the bears, despite myself. Ria has a good sense of humour, a good heart and tries hard. I also quite liked the plot which was secondary to the relationship aspect, but it definitely adds some interest to the book. I will definitely be reading the second part of the duet, because I want to know what happens next, after the cliffhanger. Apparently, the second book comes out within a month, so fingers crossed the release date isn’t too far off.
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