Chateau of flowers: The romantic story of Lily of the valley

Alain Treville is a French Count and perfume maker. He gets acid into his eyes one day and as a result, is blind. At first he is very hopeful in regaining his sight back, but after two years of painful surgery, he loses hope and becomes very, very bitter.

Fleur Maynard is the Reverend's daughter. She is pressured to go see Alain to try to calm him for his next surgery, but in their first meeting, she snaps at him for his childish behavior, and Alain surprises her by apologizing. Fleur is the only person who tells him the truth, he says, instead of giving him pity.

So he hangs out with Fleur all the time now, having her describe scenery and such. His behavior has become a lot better, except sometimes he lashes out his frustrations at Fleur when they are alone, and that causes Fleur great distress. Yet, somehow, that doesn't stop her from falling in love with him.

Right up to this point, I am thinking, "Toxic relationship! You must get out, Fleur!!" But I read on, hoping it might get better.

Alain next has part-one of his surgery, but the surgeons have discovered an infection that would have to put off part-two of his surgery by a few months. Alain falls back to his grumpy self, asks Fleur to marry and moves back to France. There, Fleur meets a very kind mother-in-law, an evil ex-fiancée, and a jealous cousin. Misunderstandings keep Fleur and Alain apart for most of the book.

Although this story holds my interest throughout, I cannot seem to shut off reality like I can with other books. I didn't enjoy reading how being with Alain sucks the life out of Fleur early on in their relationship. That part deeply disturbs me.

Admittedly, I am not troubled by their relationship in their married life, when Alain continues to crush her hope that he might love her, because that happens a lot in old school romances. Still, I couldn't forget their early relationship so I couldn't enjoy this book as much as I want to.

The good news is the story does get better towards the few last pages of the book. It doesn't make up for Alain and Fleur's early toxic relationship, but hey, it's better than nothing. ( )