Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, Barbie and the Beast

Barbie and the Beast

Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

Love Spell. Apr 2009, $7.99

ISBN: 9780505528131

Barbie Bradley visits Forest Lawn Cemetery at night with her best friend Angela in search of a party. However, instead of the gala she expected to attend, some hooligan lifts her off her feet and runs off into the dark carrying her like she was a featherweight.

Barbie is a bit surprised that she is attracted to her wannabe suitor Darin Russell and even more stunning gives the hunk her number. As a werewolf in a tux Darin knows Barbie is his soulmate. Although he cannot understand why her parents named her after the doll, he has to persuade her that he is her hirsute Ken or at least her faithful shaggy werewolf

Readers who nuke their plausibility gene for a few laughs need look no further than the lighthearted BARBIE AND THE BEAST. Neither Barbie nor her hairy suitor is fully developed, but the frolic is fun to read starting with their meeting in the cemetery (think of the memories they will share with their grandchildren looking back to where each first met their true love) as the doll and the werewolf react differently to their attraction.

Harriet Klausner