To pay off debts owed by her spoiled merchant-class family members, and escape a marriage to the repulsive town bailiff, 17-year-old Annabel forgoes her desire to enter a nunnery and chooses three years of indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf Le Wyse. Rumors around the village paint him as a cursed, hideous man, beastly in nature. However, when she is attacked by the bailiff, it's Lord le Wyse who determines to protect her, even if it means his own life. Slowly, an unbreakable bond is forged between them. Intertwining the lore from The Beauty and Beast and strong biblical messages, Dickerson (The Healer's Apprentice, 2010) manages a heartfelt romance that will stick with readers, not only for its morality but for the exploration of a woman's place within fourteenth-century English Christianity. True, readers will peg the happy ending at the start, but the progression of Annabel's honorable love affair will have the rapt attention of Christian-fiction fans.

Living in rural Glynval, England, in 1352, a beautiful but penniless merchant's daughter discovers appearances can be deceiving. As she did with The Healer's Apprentice (2010), Dickerson spins period romance from a fairy tale, in this case, "The Beauty and the Beast." When their wealthy father loses his ships in a storm and dies of pestilence, 17-year-old Annabel and her family must pay a huge fine to avoid the indenture of one of them to Lord Ranulf le Wyse. Although her "dearest wish was to enter a convent," Annabel opts to work as Ranulf's serving maid rather than enter an arranged marriage with the lecherous bailiff. Rumored to have a fierce temper and beastly appearance, Ranulf finds himself attracted to kind-hearted Annabel and, to her joy, asks her to read him the Bible every evening. When the bailiff is brutally attacked and Annabel implicated, Ranulf knows he should send her away to a convent, but he can't bear to lose her. Should Annabel flee or stay to defend lonely, disfigured Ranulf, whom she has come to love? Awash in meticulous medieval detail and heavily glossed with Christian overtones, this thinly veiled homily pulses with self-sacrifice, good intentions and suppressed sexuality. A virtuous romance with characters who "fall in love with each other's inner beauty in spite of outward appearance." (author's note) (Historical fiction. 12 & up)

Gr 9 Up-After her father's death, the daughter of a once-wealthy merchant is sent to pay off her family's debt through three years of indentured servitude to her town's new lord. Annabel fears his mangled appearance and rumored ill temper will be more than she can bear. Her only desire is to learn to read the Bible and find escape in a nunnery. When the unseemly bailiff offers a way out of her debt through marriage, she refuses and suffers the consequences. Annabel finds unexpected protection from him in the Lord Ranulf le Wyse. Set in medieval England, this romantic tale explores friendship, religion, and, above all else, love. Though the ending may seem predictable, the journey is unexpected, and readers will find themselves rooting for Annabel's happiness as the story takes an unexpected turn that threatens to bring down all involved. References to the Bible blend seamlessly into the story, more as a historical reference to its influence at the time, but some readers may not identify with Annabel's faith. Written with purposeful similarities to "Beauty and the Beast," this story will resonate most with young women trying to find themselves. The book takes some time to draw readers in, but once it does, they will be compelled to find out if Annabel will release the one thing she thought was most important to her for something she never knew she wanted. Danielle Farinacci, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, San Francisco, CA