Book Review by Twilight

This month's selection is "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty" by Anne Rice, writing as A.N. Roquelaure

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is the first of three stories of erotica based loosely on the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. As the story begins, Beauty lies asleep in her bedchamber, the castle long dormant around her from her curse... much as the fairy tale exists. The tone of the story is set, however, when the Prince arrives to rescue her from her sleep, and does so by taking her before even kissing her. This particular Prince comes from a neighboring land with a history of taking Princes and Princesses for terms of "service" in their kingdom. What this service means becomes very apparent as Beauty is taken to the Prince's home and is forced to travel nude, amid many spankings and other punishments in the form of lessons.

Upon arriving at the castle of the Prince, Beauty begins to learn more lessons of humility and servitude... oh yes, and there's a lot of sex. The Prince's attentions to her aren't so well-received by some of the other Court, including the Queen, which leads to many more opportunities for creative punishment. Through the course of her lessons, Beauty finds herself attracted to another Prince, Alexi, serving his term at the castle as well. Beauty begins to have an off-limits affair with Prince Alexi... off limits because the Princes and Princesses serving there are for the amusement of the Court alone and are forbidden to have contact with one another. Though Beauty's affair with the young Prince Alexi is not discovered, she becomes rebellious after a time, and after an attempt at running away, it is declared she be sent to the village neighboring the castle... a most severe punishment and one dreaded by all, though we don't find out exactly why by the end of this book.

All in all an interesting and tantalizing story told with a great deal of imagination... if you're not a purist and can accept this sort of poetic license, it makes a fun if fluffy read. And even better if you can manage reading it with a partner *winks*.

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