Garden of Roses

by Kathryn E. West

Danyana "Yana" Morneen, the only child of a widowed cobbler, has always wondered why the forest seems so sad. Dark and lifeless, it sits on the outskirts of town, never producing the lush greenness she longs for. As Yana explores the secrets of the forest, she tries in vain to keep an admirer's advances at bay. Many women in the village desire Nicolas Vanlock, the wealthy, handsome son of a local merchant, but he only has eyes for Yana. For as long as she can remember, Nicolas has been trying to force himself into her life, and now he desires marriage. But Yana knows that her destiny does not lie with Nicolas.

As she ventures further into the forest and its secrets, Yana discovers a lush, hidden estate in the very heart of the woods and is surrounded by magic she cannot comprehend. Her visits to the property's garden of roses become more frequent, and she becomes aware of a presence in the dilapidated old mansion. Nicolas fears he is losing his true love to another, and he begins a relentless campaign to claim Yana's heart.

If Nicolas has his way, Yana will never be allowed to enter the enchanted forest again .

328 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 2007

About the author

I am a young writer, I've been reading since I was old enough to understand words. I love books, of all genre's and influences. I started writing just after ten, and never stopped.
Feedback, helpful hints, and your opinion are all important to me, so feel free to get in touch.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I've read/watched "Beauty and the Beast" but I believe all of these elements are present in it: disfigured beastly man, pretty young girl, everlasting roses, talking household objects. So it seems to me that "Garden of Roses" is more than a little bit of a rip-off of the old classic, but it did have some added bits that I really liked, namely the obsessive lover boy and the elderly sisters. But while I did thoroughly enjoy the story, its execution was unfortunately less than stellar. As a previous reviewer suggested, it seems that it was written by a very young author.

My apologies to the author for this bit but I have to say it in the interest of warning potential readers: it blows my mind that someone can get away with selling a book at full price (I paid $14 on Amazon) without so much as a disclaimer stating that it is unedited and not even spell-checked. I mean, it wasn't just one or two things here and there. Typos abound, punctuation is missing where needed and added where not needed, the spelling is bad, and the author doesn't seem to know the difference between there, they're, and their, and to and too. I almost abandoned the book after the first 30 pages or so because of all this; it's frustrating and distracting. In retrospect I realize the fact that I couldn't find this book in the entire Central Massachusetts library network should have been a clue that something was wrong with it.

All in all though I'm glad I persevered. This would easily be a 4 star rating if the book had been edited and better written.

[Wendi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A beautiful young cobbler's daughter is sought by a handsome wealthy merchant's son. Yet her heart belongs to an enchanted secret garden of roses on the estate of a kind and compassionate "beast" of a man.

If this storyline sounds familiar, it is. I am hesitant to write my typical honest review of this work because I fear the author was a child at the time of writing. If that is the case, then allow me to say how charming this (albeit grossly plagiarized) tale was. If you choose to read this novel, please know ahead of time that the work could not have had an editor, was not spell-checked and the grammar is rather poor. If however; you are a parent who would like to read a sweet book to your daughter at bedtime, this one might be perfect.