Sometimes to truly know a person, you have to read between the lines. I received an early copy and am voluntarily leaving a review of this sweet romance. I think there’s a lot of good buried within the story, but it’s ultimately a forgettable read… unlike the original.

Since the plot borrows so much from Beauty and the Beast, it needed more unique, swoony moments between our couple to really keep things interesting – and those come too late. And even then, we don’t know much about Beau’s thoughts or feelings. Told exclusively from Izzy’s point of view, Beau remains something of a mystery for much of the story, which doesn’t help advance the romance until later on. It’s a story that feels very mild/somewhat boring, with not enough interaction between our couple.

I’m not sure that the tone will resonate with adult audiences – it just feels so young – but that’s not the major sticking point for me. This has a definite YA feel, though there is swearing, kissing, and implied sexytimes that make this feel a little older. As Izzy spends more time with the brooding beast, she realizes that there is more to him than she realized. But he shocks Izzy by demanding that she come stay at his home to assist in finishing up the manuscript. Beau is every bit the beast she imagined he’d be, a former child star turned bad boy whose surly attitude is an immediate turnoff. When Izzy has the opportunity to stop at a troublesome client’s home – hoping to see the progress he’s made on his long-overdue manuscript – she gets more than she bargained for. She’s always loved books and dreams of writing one herself, but working in the industry has started to tarnish that love for her. The story follows Izzy, a young woman who works in publishing. There are some cute Beauty and the Beast references that bring the classic story to mind, and I liked the modern twists that were included, but it didn’t hit the right notes for this adult reader. It failed to hook me in at the start, then improved somewhere along the way, but I was already disconnected from the story before the romance even came into play. Think of this as Guillory watered down and sweetened up for a younger audience – it’s got the foundation of a good book, but the end result is bland and a little boring. As a huge fan of Beauty and the Beast and someone who has enjoyed Guillory’s writing in the past, this should’ve been right up my alley… and it just wasn’t.

By the book guillory