Tag: Beauty and the Beast Retelling

Posted in Spicy Romance

Beauty’s Beasts

Posted on by Little Bee

by Alex Hanson

Rating 5 out of 5 Stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a dark, fantasy retelling of Beauty and Beast/Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Why Choose Edition. The main character is nonbinary. Some days are Evan days, where they feel masculine; some days are Eve days, where they feel feminine; and some days are neither and they go by their name given at birth, Evangeline, in which these days are just meh days. The townspeople are not receptive to their trying to live their life as a man some days, and they have difficulty just getting through the days. Eventually, they get offered up in the monthly Offering given to The Deadwood to be eaten by the demons in the forest. These demons, as you may guess, are the “Four Horsemen” in this story.

I was immediately sucked into this book. It is very well written. It is so many things all in one: it includes monsters, magic/paranormal aspects, action, loose fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast, reverse harem/why choose, MM action between side characters (but spicy scenes are only of the main character and their harem) and more. One thing I always complain about is how some books are split into multi book series, when one or two books would suffice. Well, Beauty’s Beasts is all one book, so no cliffhangers. It is a happily ever after, but doesn’t mean I didn’t sob through the last couple chapters because I FORGOT it was HEA.

I like how inclusive the story is. I have never read a book that the main character is nonbinary/gender fluid, but it was easy to follow along mostly. There were times where I was confused because “Evangeline” was used a lot and only a few times after the bracelets were given to them did they actually correct anyone. So I felt like they had a lot of days that were Evangeline days.

I like that the story had a steady flow. The MC built a relationship with each of the “demons” (Gryxen, not sure if I spelled that right). Each mating happened before the next pairing really started. Each Gryxen had their own personalities and abilities. They were pretty well thought out characters. The reader easily falls in love with each one of them. I do feel the last mating, with Drixus, could have used a little more. I was starting to stress out around 77% into the book when it hadn’t happened yet. The main fight scene happened very quickly. Finally, I liked Will’s perspective for the Epilogue, but really would have liked one from the main character as well. I liked Will’s character, and I liked they were best friend’s with the main character, but I feel like him and Jacob were not as present or had a significant role other than being Evan/Eve/Evangeline’s best friend. Once Will and Jacob were in The Deadwood, you see them some, but its mostly focused on Evan/Eve/Evangline’s relationships and matings with the Gryxen.

This book is indicated as not being a part of a series, but I really hope there is more following these characters. I could not get enough. There is a good amount of spice as well. Much like each Gryxen has a unique character sketch, their spice follows along with that. I was extremely happy for the primal play, and am always very excited when I see it in there.

Before reading the book, make sure you check the trigger warnings!

Posted in Spicy Romance

My Brutal Beast

Posted on by Little Bee

By Melissa Cummins

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5 Stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

My Brutal Beast is a monster romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast. You can read the description of the book for more information, because I really want to talk about the content of the story as a whole.

Sometimes, novellas can be very difficult reads. They are short, sometimes have major plot holes, you feel like you are missing something, you want more, or all of the above at one time. This author created a well rounded story in just 77 pages. Do you want more at the end? Yes. But the depth of the plot and the development of the characters is pretty impressive for such few pages. This book had spice, murder, monsters, mayhem….what more can you ask for? The spice scenes are not fade to black. They are entire scenes. My only qualm is I wish I knew more about Raven. Maybe more novellas will be written about these monsters so we can learn more about them.

If you are looking for a quick read that packs a punch, this one was really good and I recommend.

Posted in Romance

Make Her

Posted on by Little Bee

By Cassie Alexander

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Make Her is the third and final installment of The Transformation Trilogy. You can find my review for Bend Her (book 1) and Break Her (book 2). This series has been a slow build throughout it. As the books go on, the storyline has picked up the pace. Bend Her really focused on the world building. Break Her focused more on Lisane and Rhaim getting to know each other. Make Her brings both together and has more fast paced action, lots of spice, and you find yourself rooting the whole way through.

I did not care for Lisane throughout most of the story as a whole, however, in Make Her, she really grows and becomes more likeable. She is no longer child like in her thinking. Having the opportunity to experience the world, she learns and gains a better understanding of how sheltered she was, and she knows that is not what she wants anymore. I really appreciated the character development of both Lisane and Rhaim in Make Her. They were hard to relate to or like in the earlier stages of their relationship.

You finally get all the answers as to what is happening in the kingdom and who the “bad guy” is. The grand finale was slightly underwhelming for me. The chapters towards the end of the story, the “aftermath” was also slightly underwhelming. I do not want to give spoilers. Even with that, the story was still great. I just felt I got shorted maybe with the end LOL.

Posted in Romance

Bend Her

Posted on by Little Bee

by Cassie Alexander

3.5 out of 5 stars

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Bend Her is a dark, fantasy, romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Princess Lisandra was brought to the All Beast (a beastly mage) by her father in exchange for his help. While she was there, she wanted to learn magic, and he taught her through pain and obedience. Throughout the story, she believed she was kidnapped, and Rhaim (the All Beast) never told her otherwise. Most of the story really followed around Rhaim working with the King to kill the Deathless and Lisandra struggling to learn magic. The last couple pages of the book had some spice, but really it was very mild, just a hint.

I had been waiting eagerly for my review copy. The author had been posting prints on Instagram of the characters and I really thought it was going to be deliciously steamy, so I was a little disappointed. There is a lot of world building and working on what becomes their relationship/friendship/situationship through the story. I am hoping that book 2 will lead more into them together or if it will be much of the same. I really want her to gain magic she can control…women cannot learn magic, but there is no real evidence as to why, just that they will burn up and die. But again, no evidence of this written anywhere. Finx, the little cat spider was my favorite character honestly LOL.

The book does end on a cliffhanger and book 2 does not come out until May 2023, so there is a bit of a wait. I do want to continue on with the story. My hopes is sometimes I get caught up on what I want it to be that I miss something to enjoy. A friend of mine who also reviewed this book reviewed the audiobook and she indicates the narrators were fantastic and that helped her love the book even more. So this could very much be a me thing. I wanted something more from the story, but it is hard to point me finger to what. I did like the world building. I did like to know about the battles with the Deathless they sent Rhaim out to battle. There was a short plot twist towards the end that I didn’t really expect so it gave it some nice excitement. I am very happy the author did not kill of Finx or it would be zero stars for me LOL.