The Vanity of Roses by Lily White
Publication date: March 17th, 2020
Pages: 431
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
Callen Rose.
That hadn't always been his name.
When we were children, he was nothing more than a servant boy in my family.
He was an amusement to me.
A nobody.
A weak soul who refused to fight back.
It was so easy to take advantage.
But then my father died, and I was stolen. The family moved on without me. Until I was penniless with no place to go.
I returned to the Rose Estate not knowing Callan was the head of it.
He's honed his body and temper in the underground fighting ring. The scars only made him more beautiful.
Now I'm trapped by a seductively dark man who has nothing but vengeance running through his veins.
I'd always wanted him to fight back, but you know what they say:
Be careful what you wish for.
Available at:
Free in Kindle Unlimited!!
Review:
This book seemed very unique in the synopsis when I read it. It seemed like a bully turned victim while both try to find redemption in the end. I was anxious to see the bully get a taste of their own medicine. I was also in the mood for a romance that was bit darker than the powderpuff stuff I had been reading. Can I get a story of love with a dash of hate, please?
Lisbeth treated Callan horrendously when he was her servant boy at the tender age of 17. She ridiculed him and even used him as a foot stool to the glee of her rich friends. She hated her life and took her anger out on the poor boy who never spoke. She just wanted him to show some spirit and fight back. The more he abides by the rules and resisted her antics, the more loathsome she became. Until one fateful night where she is spirited away to safety after a massacre and Callan awakes to a new life as the heir of the Roses after being adopted by Lisbeth's uncle. She never thought she'd return to her old life. She grew into a humble woman with compassion for others but when she is left penniless she has no choice but to come home to what family she has left. It is there that she becomes the victim she had made Callan all those years. He was determined to bring her to heel at any cost.
Callan hates Lisbeth. He hates how she treated him. He hates that he feels she was responsible for his mother's death. He hates that she seems to be the same uppity bitch who looks down her nose at servants like she did when she was younger. He will show her the dark ways her family has always earned the riches she found so accommodating. That is if he can escape his attraction for the smart mouthed vixen who seems to be able to take just about any torment he tosses her way with a pride he admires. Can he find a way to forgive her before one or both of them break irrevocably?
I went into the book a thorough cheerleader for Callan and his plan to break his childhood tormentor. But along the way I started to notice that Lisbeth was not the same person she was when she was a young and dumb 17 year old. She didn't look down on the staff, she didn't want anyone to go out of their way for her, and she appreciated what she had after experiencing having nothing. However, Callan is too blinded by his hatred to notice any of that. He only sees the bitch she was from his past and all the things he wanted to do to her back then becomes his main focus. But he underestimates Lisbeth's survivor instinct. I flip flopped to Lisbeth's side after a particularly humiliating experience with Callan that I felt was a bit far even for his level of hatred. I came out of the book not really knowing how I felt about the couple as a whole. I really felt they were a pretty precariously toxic relationship that, if in reality, would sizzle out very quickly. That's the great thing about books. Even when it feels like the couple is definitely not meant for each other, they find a way.
The Vanity of Roses explores social classes and the respect even a lowly servant deserves. Money doesn't bring happiness and revenge doesn't make the pain go away... only love can do that.
