If you like your historical fiction to have a touch of romance, then "Marvelous" by Molly Greeley is for you. The novel traces the origins of the "Beauty and the Beast" fairytale to Renaissance-era France, where Pedro, a boy with a condition that causes him to grow hair all over his body, is kidnapped and taken to the glamorous court of Catherine de Medici, Queen of France. As he grows into a young man, Catherine decides it would be amusing to find him a bride, which she does: Catherine, the daughter of an impoverished merchant who sells his daughter to the queen in exchange for his debts. Catherine and Pedro are forced to wed, but they might find in one another a true safe haven in the dangerous place that is the royal court.
Release date: Feb. 28
