Beast Charming

by Jenniffer Wardell

Beast Charming tells the story of Beauty, who works as a temp at an agency run by a high-tempered dragon. To avoid running into her conniving and desperately-craving-for-nobility father—conveniently named Noble—she takes on a peculiar job that will force her to converse with a violent beast named, well, Beast. The rest of the story develops into a hysterical tale of a classic fairy tale romance gone modernly awry.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Retellings, Beauty and The Beast, Fairy Tales, Young Adult, Fairy Tale Retellings

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Jenniffer Wardell is a fantasy romance author and general fairy godmother-at-large. She's always on the lookout for witty dialogue and a well-earned happily-ever after. Anyone who wants to chat or trade jokes can find her at http://www.facebook.com/JennifferWardell, https://twitter.com/wardellwriter, http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com or http://jennifferwardell.tumblr.com.

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenniffer writes romance for people who hate romance -- none of the secret-keeping or stupid misunderstandings or childish insecurities that keep couples apart in most romances.

In this take on "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty is a temp who gets hired to assist Beast's butler to help with his brooding. She wins his affections after chasing off airheads trying to to break his curse and win themselves a happily-ever-after. That just leaves Beauty's scheming father and Beast's ex-fiancee to deal with.

The writing is intelligent and distinct. The dialogue is clever and engaging. The story is light and sweet and really cute but not sappy or cheesey.

[Susana · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 Stars



How does a story that starts out so promising, ends up being so boring?
Well, the fact that the romantic tension is pretty much resolved in the first third of the book might explain it...
Look it's Beauty and the Beast, they should have lots and lots of charisma.
The fact that Beauty is strangely attracted to a furry guy with fangs , was endearing. Her ogling of Beast's (furry) chest interesting...
The fact that the guy wasn't interested in having anyone breaking his curse... peculiar.
Thing is, in the end the author only had material for a novella. Because after a point, love declared and all of that, things became extremely boring. And prone to give you diabetes. -_-
It didn't help that a second romance was _hastily _introduced, because I like "my" romances to take their own darn time. In fact, after that point, the pace becomes so slow, nothing pretty much happens.
I did manage to force myself to keep reading for a little longer, but it was of no use, things were not getting better, and I was bored senseless.
Only recommended if this goes through an extensive... extensive editing.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. This author just continues to blow me away. Jenniffer Wardell has this amazing, witty sense of humor that interweaves into her storytelling. Her writing just flows effortlessly for me. Beast Charming was thrilling, refreshing, full of wit, charm, & an amazing bit of humor all mingled together. It brought about new life to an old, classic fairytale!

The characters were stunningly crafted! I'm actually having an internal debate about whether or not I loved this version of Beauty & the Beast more so than the original cartoon... Yes... it was THAT good.

Reading Jenniffer's guest post above (THANK YOU FOR THAT JW!), you'll immediately get a sense of what I mean when I say that the characters are perfect. Beauty is strong, independent, and oh so smart-mouthed. Hehe. I loved her! It's so nice to see a female lead who isn't afraid to take charge and go after what she wants. She's lived a horrible life thanks to her father pushing her on every prince & single noble man within a million mile radius. Her & her sister... I don't envy them for being the laugh of the ball at times. But they kept their heads high & they finally managed to get away from him to live their own lives.

Beast! I really, really loved his character. I liked the strength and the internal debate that he had going on within himself. He was a "beast" of a business man until he literally became, well... a beast. Then he shut himself out of the business world, not wanting people to see him looking more like his nickname. Waverly! Ah! I think he's truly one of my favorite characters in the entire novel. I loved every time he graced the pages. He had this calm sense of all-knowing about him that just hypnotized me.

The plot was great! I wasn't expecting some of the twists and turns that Jenniffer took while working through their story!

Overall, perfect 2nd novel by Miss Wardell. I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!!!!


Overall rating: 5 Stars

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute retelling with sympathetic characters. Beauty and Beast James are just grumpy enough to keep the book from being completely insipid. I would've liked more devious plotting and/or more tension and suspense. Recommended for fans of non-fraught romance and stress-free happy endings.

[Nanou · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'est horrible, je préférerais presque cette version délirante de la Belle et la Bête au Disney xD

C'est drôle, y'a du suspense, l'intrigue est bien menée et tous les personnages sont géniaux (oui je m'emballe un peu huhu). Beauty et Beast sont meugnons et à force d'être obligés de passer du temps ensemble, vont se laisser séduire l'un par l'autre. Les rôles sont mêmes inversés : Beast cache un gros coeur meurti et Beauty se découvre pleine de force et de courage pour affronter l'ennemi !

Un livre bien trop court, un de ceux qu'on voudrait qu'il ne finisse jamais.

[Anna del C. Dye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beast Charming by Jennifer Wardell is the most fun fairytale I have ever read. The witty personality of beast and beauty are delightful to follow to the last page. The story flows smoothly and colorfully. I had a hard time putting it down, even when my husband threatened

to turn the lights out. When I had to put it down, I couldn’t wait to pick it up again. I wanted to know where it was going and I wasn’t disappointed at the end. It is completely different than the fairytale done by Disney, but no less enchanting.
Beauty and her sister are hiding from their cunning father who keeps putting her and her sister in all kinds of happily ever after situations, because he wants to belong to the nobility. The girls have dealt with ogres, evil sorcerers, mad royal parents and such for many years and are tired of him embarrassing them.
Beauty finds a job with a temp office that sends her to a mysterious castle where she is to help the butler. Her job is to find something that will make the master of the house “The Beast” happy. That is when the fun starts.
Magic enchantments, poison, travelling via charms, curses, calls though mirrors and family drama is all included in this exceptionally well done story. You will enjoy it to the last page. It is an excellent read for all, from pre-teens to adults, who enjoy happy ever after’s.

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story

This is a great alternative to the traditional Beauty and the Beast fairy tail. It is funny and fun. Loved every minute of it!

[Rose Zarcani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting outlook and twist in the Beauty and Beast story. Nicely done!

[Allison Tebo]

DNF.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much. A Beast who doesn't want his curse broken. A Beauty who has no interest in being the fairy tale heroine who breaks curses. They fall in love anyway because of course they do -- with SO. MUCH. SNARK. -- but the romance isn't the be all end all of this tale. The story doesn't end with that first kiss. And the kiss doesn't break the curse. I love all the tropes getting turned on their head in this novel. I love that James and Beauty rescue each other at various points over and over. I love that there's no love triangle when the ex is introduced, I love that there's none of that doubting miscommunication, I love that when confronted with The Forged Letter of "I can't do this, I'm sorry, I'm leaving," James doesn't believe it for an instant. I love so much about this book. I just love it so much.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My star rating:

Plot: 4/5
Pacing: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
World: 4/5
Romance: 4/5

Enjoyment level: 4.5/5 stars

This was absolutely wonderful. Just hit the right spot with a whimsical beauty and the beast retelling that was full of humour and romance. Delightful read.

[Brenda Lower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with lots of references to other fairy tales thrown in for good measure. Fun twists such as Beauty dealing with Beast's ex-fiancee. Cute, clean, all around good book.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute twist on the fairy tale. The dialogue was pretty witty. The only problem was the pacing. It climaxed about halfway through and then everything else fell flat and took too long. Overall though a fun read.

[Sierra Swenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, really. Fun premise, but the execution was lacking. The characters were all brash and passionate and generally very loud. There was so much dialogue and banter that I sometimes got confused as to what was happening. Lots of snark. Still enjoyed bits of it however.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not your average Beauty and the Beast retelling. A very fun and cute story with a happy ending.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute story, and I enjoyed the blend of fairy tale world and modern. The two leads are entertaining to watch clash, and their personalities are well-suited to each other. This is a creative take on Beauty and the Beast that follows the basic story outline but only as much as it has to to be recognizable.
Beauty and the Beast's individual circumstances are also a fun twist. Beauty Tremain's father is a grasping social climber who has tried to force his two daughters into fairy tale after fairy tale so they could marry royalty and bring him prestige, but they managed to dodge his plans as well as they were able by being sensible and clever. Now grown, the two girls have settled into lives as an art teacher (Grace) and a worker at a temp agency (Beauty), trying to keep their heads as low as possible so their father doesn't show up and harass them too frequently. After yet another blood-boiling encounter with him, Beauty begs her boss (Manny, a dragon) to give her an assignment that will get her out of the way for a few days.
James Hightower used to be a successful financier, so aggressive he earned the nickname 'Beast,' until a mysterious curse transformed him into a literal seven-foot tall hairy monster. He's been hiding out in his mansion ever since, chasing off girls trying to sneak in to get him to fall in love with them and break the curse. James, however, doesn't think the curse can be broken--he was happily engaged, he thought, until his fiancee disappeared and his human shape went not long afterwards. His faithful butler Waverley requests an assistant from the local temp agency, someone with enough stubbornness to put up with James's brooding (and unsettling appearance).
You see where this is going, yes? Well, you're partly right, but the curse is a little more complicated than True Love's Kiss and Happily Ever After. And of course Beauty's father isn't the type to give up easily...

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute, fun take on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale for the first half of the book, morphing into.... something else.... later. It was told in a lighthearted, ridiculous fashion that managed to remain tolerable to me (a difficult balance to achieve). It was full of good banter throughout, and I always love a good grumpy hero. I enjoyed the unique twists on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale in the first half.

The writing was inconsistent at best. Mostly it was fine, but there definitely were parts that needed polish. For example, the entire first chapter. I was dumped into the book with no introduction, and the significance of all of the events and most of the characters that happened here wasn't apparent until much later in the novel. And I almost quit the book in the first paragraph when Beauty was contemplating using a gauntlet to bash her father's head in. Yep, that's pretty much the exact language the author used. I mean, I know it's hard to write villains in a book with this kind of tone, but.... this was NOT the way to do it.

And the second half of the book, I mean, I know Beauty and Beast needed to have Personal Growth and fix some Unresolved Trauma and such, but... it didn't make a lot of sense. So just go along for the ride, but don't think too hard or look for internal consistency or anything.

I happened to read this book at a time when I needed a light and easy to put down book which greatly increased my enjoyment of it. If I had been grumpy, it would have been DNF at the first paragraph. Mixed feelings throughout.

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a very cute story, but I also feel it's very underdeveloped. This could have benefited with more in the beginning (filler) between Beast and Beauty as the romance is a bit too fast. The two villains also felt underdeveloped. Juliana was really interesting from a distance, but once she was there, she was pathetic... I felt disappointed. She is described as a calm (coldish) character but turns out to be a whiny child. Noble is the first threat, and he does get his time, but it's after such bumbling momments, and it never felt like he had a reason, purpose, for anything he did. He's a narcissist, that pretty much it.
I did love all the relationships in this, and overall, it's a super cute story. I just think it needs more story. I mean, Beauty hints at a terrible relationship before Beast but literally never explores or talks about. They talk about how bad Noble is, but don't show you. Anyhow, I could keep going. Good book, sadly, could have been great.

[SleepLess_ReadMore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book just makes me happy.

I love a good retelling of a fairy tale and will give pretty much any such book a chance. Not all of them become favorites, but this one did. It's sweet and simple and adorable. The "should I or shouldn't I" love issue is resolved pretty quickly (so anyone who likes a lot of drama in their romance probably won't enjoy this), Beauty and Beast bicker like an old married couple throughout the entire story (which is always adorable), and there's just enough new ideas in the plot that it felt fresh and new.

It's just a well written, straightforward, easy read that will make you smile at its cuteness.

[bookwormmama]

I enjoy retellings and books based on fairy tales a lot, but it took on an happy-couples-romance-novel vibe about 60-70% the way through. No problem if it’s your thing, just not what I look for. Maybe there’s a twist I didn’t make it to that brings the primary focus back around, but I had a hold come through and am moving on. DNF

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderfully fantastical read!! I loved this book so much...funny, quirky, plot twists. The characters are so well thought out and the world that was built was fantastic!

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this different take on a fairy tale. So much fun!!

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun, charming, romantic mash-up of the story of Beauty and the Beast and some other Fairy Tales! I thoroughly loved this!!!

[book_nymph_bex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was really clever and charming. A fun read.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, funny, adorable. It's been on my to-read list for a while and I got around to reading it. Slow in the middle, but a good read.

[Fiona Titchenell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Basics:

Beauty never wants to find herself in another fairytale for as long as she lives. Her bumbling con artist father spent her entire childhood trying to plant her or her sister in any scenario that might result in a marriage into a noble family. When her new assignment from her temp agency turns out to involve bringing a financial magnate out of his shell after he's been cursed with a beast form, she almost turns and runs, but Beast's volatility and disillusionment with fairytale expectations turn out to be intriguingly matched to her own.

The Downside:

The two parallel romantic plotlines both spend the better half of the book in essentially identical "I know I'm in love but I'll just die if anyone else finds out" stages, and it gets a bit monotonous. The constant, casual, three stooges-esque violence and threats thereof make it difficult for the few moments that could otherwise carry some emotional weight to come across with any seriousness.

The Upside:

Beast Charming promises a lightheartedly satirical take on Beauty and the Beast, and that it delivers. Beauty is smart and cool and free of the Stockholm syndrome of the original, Beast is lovable (and not a creep), and the relationship between them is quite sweet once it gets going. Those who enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek reimagining of the fairytale fantasy world from Fairy Godmothers, Inc. will have fun with its expansion here, and fairytale fans will love spotting the references.

This review and others originally posted on www.fjrtitchenell.weebly.com

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of the book for an honest review.

What do you do when your father schemes every step of the way to get HIS happily ever after? Beauty's father is a liar and a cheat. He has tried her whole life to use his daughters to gain riches in the world. When the novel opens, we find Beauty working for a temp agency. Will her next assignment be the one that will free them both from his grasp?

Beast Charming is a great twist on the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. This book stays true to the overall aspects but adds enough twists and turns to make it memorable. Wardell's writing and whit are unmatched in any retelling I've encountered so far. Her characters are REAL and exaggerated at the same time.

You will fall in love with Waverly, Beast, Beauty, Grace, Manny, and Steve. The banter. The scenery. And if you've already read Fairy Godmother's Inc. you'll see nods to that story as well. I cannot wait to see what the author comes up with next. This story is about finding your happily ever after regardless of what someone looks like or is perceived in being.

Loved reading this book. Lots of LOL moments. I give it 4 stars!

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great take on Beauty and the Beast. This is set in the same world as her previous book Fairy Godmother's Inc. Beauty works in a temp agency and is sent to be a butler's assistant in a home with a man who has been cursed with a beast's body. We get to know them as they get to know each other and it's more that just fun to read. There are a lot of tender 'Awww' moments. Something I love about this author throughout the two books I've read is how her secondary characters come to life. They have such defining personalities and play so well into the stories. I recommend this book to fairy tale lovers. The ending definitely has a twist or two.

[Allie May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Jenniffer Wardell at LTUE, and as soon as I heard her speak on a panel, I knew I had to read her books. While Beast Charming wasn't as sarcastic as Fairy Godmothers Inc., it was still entertaining from the first page to the last. I loved seeing this alternate side of relationships. Rather than the sweet and naive "happily ever after" couple, James and Beauty spent the entire book arguing. It was a great twist on Beauty's personality from the original fairy tale. Plus, the twist on her father's character was enough to keep the story going. Overall, this book was great. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys fairy tale retellings.

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Beast Charming" by Jenniffer Wardell is an awful retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. The writing was really poor as the author tried desperately to be amusing and hip. Bluntly, she failed on both counts. The pacing was erratic and the same lines were repeatedly used. The characters were stereotypical and single dimensional. The plot was predictable and full of inconsistencies. The editing was poorly done. Truly the best part of the book is the cover, which is beautiful. I absolutely cannot recommend this book.