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Beasts & Blades: A Beauty & The Beast Fairy Tale Retelling
If the assassin doesn’t kill him, I will.
Destitute and determined, Julietta has a chance to save her family—if she can keep from strangling the arrogant prince she’s hired to protect. Devereaux is rude. Annoying. Infuriating. He wants nothing to do with her, but she’s glued to his side until his attacker is caught. Being snowed in together at a remote palace only sharpens their simmering tempers.
But the more time she spends with him, the more Julietta wonders if there might actually be a heart beneath his beastly exterior. And that could be even more dangerous…
Torn between love and her family, will Julietta risk everything for a chance at her own happily ever after?
Beasts & Blades is a retelling of the classic French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. This enemies-to-lovers adventure is a sweet standalone full of love, action, and mystery. Grab your copy to join Julietta and Devereaux as they fight with—and for—each other!
Destitute and determined, Julietta has a chance to save her family—if she can keep from strangling the arrogant prince she’s hired to protect. Devereaux is rude. Annoying. Infuriating. He wants nothing to do with her, but she’s glued to his side until his attacker is caught. Being snowed in together at a remote palace only sharpens their simmering tempers.
But the more time she spends with him, the more Julietta wonders if there might actually be a heart beneath his beastly exterior. And that could be even more dangerous…
Torn between love and her family, will Julietta risk everything for a chance at her own happily ever after?
Beasts & Blades is a retelling of the classic French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. This enemies-to-lovers adventure is a sweet standalone full of love, action, and mystery. Grab your copy to join Julietta and Devereaux as they fight with—and for—each other!
295 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 17, 2023
12 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 17, 2023
“Beasts & Blades” is a young adult Beauty and the Beast retelling that captured my attention from the very first page! Julietta was a really interesting heroine; I loved that she knew her way around a weapon and I admired her intelligence. As for Lord Devereaux, I thought he was a little cold hearted at first, but as I continued to read, I realized there was so much more to him than I had first thought! The slow burn romance was super sweet, and I enjoyed the banter between Julietta and Devereaux as well. All in all, I enjoyed this read!!!
February 29, 2024
A lighthearted, romantic tale… but not a convincing retelling.
My favorite fairytale is beauty and the beast, and this… just isn’t. The premise is cute. Make the “beauty” character spunky and capable and blade-trained, and have her guard the beast. Sadly, it didn’t satisfy.
I caught the nods to the original fairytale, but nodding in that direction is as far as we got. There was no curse, no magic (not necessary, but I mention it in case readers were expecting it), no past misdeeds that must be atoned for, ,and perhaps most importantly, no pain—for without a beast trapped in his own pain, you do not have Beauty and the Beast.
If what you’re interested in is watching two people banter and become friends and then engage in some majorly swoony but clean cuddling, then this is a great book for you. The scant plot exists merely to propel our two MC’s into each other’s arms, which might be just the lighthearted read some people are looking for.
The problem is that I couldn’t really get behind either character. Most guild-trained guardswoman type characters seem more serious, more driven, more shadowy. Julietta by contrast is cheerful and plucky and outgoing—so much so that her supposed history as a trained protector does not resonate. She refers to “a lifetime spent in the shadows,” but she does not move and speak like someone trained to blend and watch. And when startled, she does what any normal girl might do: she jumps and whirls around with her hand to her throat. If she really were blade-trained, that hidden sleeve knife would have flicked into her hand automatically.
And Devereaux is no beast, though the author tries to convince us by having Julietta frequently use the word in reference to him. There’s potential: when our beauty first arrives, Devereaux is extremely cold, unwelcoming, and judgmental… but it leads nowhere. He transforms almost immediately into Prince Charming, and when he does randomly and weirdly close off again, I feel like I’m watching him try ill-tempered fleetingly on for size, for no good reason. He does have one beastly flaw, and that’s that he repeatedly turns on Julietta, making the distrustful snap judgment that everything she has ever said to him is a lie—and then apologizes without explanation, and they move on like it never happened.
The whole intrigue about the potential spy is the driving conflict of the plot (well, no; it’s the scaffolding on which to hang the romantic tensions. between J and D) but we keep losing sight of it—and more importantly, Julietta, who is there expressly to resolve it, keeps losing sight of it. At the end, it just sort of fizzles without a satisfying resolution.
Finally, I have to mention that the book is written in present tense. That worked for Hunger Games, where every moment is fraught with tension and you’re living each breath with the MC as though it may be your last. It didn’t work for me here, though some people might really enjoy it.
Kudos on the cover, though. It’s really lovely and cheerful, with a good Beauty and the Beast vibe. It drew me in and does fit the story nicely.
My favorite fairytale is beauty and the beast, and this… just isn’t. The premise is cute. Make the “beauty” character spunky and capable and blade-trained, and have her guard the beast. Sadly, it didn’t satisfy.
I caught the nods to the original fairytale, but nodding in that direction is as far as we got. There was no curse, no magic (not necessary, but I mention it in case readers were expecting it), no past misdeeds that must be atoned for, ,and perhaps most importantly, no pain—for without a beast trapped in his own pain, you do not have Beauty and the Beast.
If what you’re interested in is watching two people banter and become friends and then engage in some majorly swoony but clean cuddling, then this is a great book for you. The scant plot exists merely to propel our two MC’s into each other’s arms, which might be just the lighthearted read some people are looking for.
The problem is that I couldn’t really get behind either character. Most guild-trained guardswoman type characters seem more serious, more driven, more shadowy. Julietta by contrast is cheerful and plucky and outgoing—so much so that her supposed history as a trained protector does not resonate. She refers to “a lifetime spent in the shadows,” but she does not move and speak like someone trained to blend and watch. And when startled, she does what any normal girl might do: she jumps and whirls around with her hand to her throat. If she really were blade-trained, that hidden sleeve knife would have flicked into her hand automatically.
And Devereaux is no beast, though the author tries to convince us by having Julietta frequently use the word in reference to him. There’s potential: when our beauty first arrives, Devereaux is extremely cold, unwelcoming, and judgmental… but it leads nowhere. He transforms almost immediately into Prince Charming, and when he does randomly and weirdly close off again, I feel like I’m watching him try ill-tempered fleetingly on for size, for no good reason. He does have one beastly flaw, and that’s that he repeatedly turns on Julietta, making the distrustful snap judgment that everything she has ever said to him is a lie—and then apologizes without explanation, and they move on like it never happened.
The whole intrigue about the potential spy is the driving conflict of the plot (well, no; it’s the scaffolding on which to hang the romantic tensions. between J and D) but we keep losing sight of it—and more importantly, Julietta, who is there expressly to resolve it, keeps losing sight of it. At the end, it just sort of fizzles without a satisfying resolution.
Finally, I have to mention that the book is written in present tense. That worked for Hunger Games, where every moment is fraught with tension and you’re living each breath with the MC as though it may be your last. It didn’t work for me here, though some people might really enjoy it.
Kudos on the cover, though. It’s really lovely and cheerful, with a good Beauty and the Beast vibe. It drew me in and does fit the story nicely.
March 2, 2024
I love a good fairy tale retelling, especially when you throw a bit of "spice" in there! Beauty and the Beast has been a long time fairy tale favorite of mine because I have always related to Belle because of her love of reading.
This book is a fun read with a mild amount of spice. I did find it a bit cheesy at times. Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes I look forward to a bit of cheesy-ness! This was a sweet romance. I loved how their friendship formed, it was so adorable seeing them get to know each other better. I loved that.
There were some twists at the end that I enjoyed. I do feel like this one is a slow build. Then it wraps everything up far too quickly.
The FMC brings up concerns, that are very legit... and by the end I didn't really feel like they had sorted things out. The ending seemed a bit rushed, which was a very different flow from the rest of the book. That is why I left off a star. I do feel like a good epilogue showing us how they've worked things out at some point in the future now that they are living in their new reality, that would have tied up the rest of what was happening when the book ended. If that makes sense.
Still a fun read and totally worth it! If you are looking for a sweet romance with two stubborn characters (and also some parts that were funny and had me laughing!) then this is for you. If you're looking for spice, then this is not the one.
This book is a fun read with a mild amount of spice. I did find it a bit cheesy at times. Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes I look forward to a bit of cheesy-ness! This was a sweet romance. I loved how their friendship formed, it was so adorable seeing them get to know each other better. I loved that.
There were some twists at the end that I enjoyed. I do feel like this one is a slow build. Then it wraps everything up far too quickly.
The FMC brings up concerns, that are very legit... and by the end I didn't really feel like they had sorted things out. The ending seemed a bit rushed, which was a very different flow from the rest of the book. That is why I left off a star. I do feel like a good epilogue showing us how they've worked things out at some point in the future now that they are living in their new reality, that would have tied up the rest of what was happening when the book ended. If that makes sense.
Still a fun read and totally worth it! If you are looking for a sweet romance with two stubborn characters (and also some parts that were funny and had me laughing!) then this is for you. If you're looking for spice, then this is not the one.
July 19, 2023
Clean and entertaining
Enjoy the hero on heroin's interactions in the dynamic they had together. The author set up the story quite cleverly providing a convenient way for them to spend time together and fall in love. I would have liked an extended epilogue but I'm not big on signing up for extra emails. That was the only way to get one. The romance was fun. There were times when he would accuse her of weird stuff and she was very quick to forgive which is good. But I felt like it needed to be a little more fleshed out for me to accept it. She loves him so she forgives him I get that but I kind of need a little more detail cuz some of the stuff he does is pretty boneheaded LOL just a couple of times otherwise he's a Prince Charming. I'd recommend this book this is definitely an author to keep an eye on.
Enjoy the hero on heroin's interactions in the dynamic they had together. The author set up the story quite cleverly providing a convenient way for them to spend time together and fall in love. I would have liked an extended epilogue but I'm not big on signing up for extra emails. That was the only way to get one. The romance was fun. There were times when he would accuse her of weird stuff and she was very quick to forgive which is good. But I felt like it needed to be a little more fleshed out for me to accept it. She loves him so she forgives him I get that but I kind of need a little more detail cuz some of the stuff he does is pretty boneheaded LOL just a couple of times otherwise he's a Prince Charming. I'd recommend this book this is definitely an author to keep an eye on.
April 12, 2024
I picked this up because it sounded like a delightful way to spend the evening, lost in a wintery world of danger, intrigue and love, and I was not disappointed. I adored Julietta and loved watching and reading as she fell in love with the prince. The twists and turns throughout the story kept you turning the page and wanting to know more and more. That third act was nailbilting and made me swoon with the ending. Overall an amazing book and an author I will happily read again and again and again. Very much recommended!
September 7, 2024
This was an absolutely fantastic read. Fun and with all the banter. The female lead is smart but also has moments where she very much let's her hormones override her smarts but never long enough to make her even close to annoying. The male lead is suspicious at first and slow to come around but once he does... boy oh boy. Never really a miscommunication and they openly talk about all their feelings and problems. Totally in the must reread pile. "Could have been a knife" is also my new favorite phrase.
July 3, 2023
Meet Julietta and Devereaux or as known in this wonderful fairytale retelling, Beauty and the Beast. It’s is a well written, captivating and enthralling story of two enemies bought together in this action packed adventure, full of mystery and suspense, of love, friendship and family. Told with the authors twist, this is an incredible enemy to lovers romance and I enjoyed every minute of it.
April 9, 2024
Interesting twists
I enjoyed reading this book because there are some fun twists to the beauty and the beast story line. Only a couple of typos marred the reading. Other characters are introduced but not well explored well. If you're looking for some clean romance, this is it. Good kissing without smut!
I enjoyed reading this book because there are some fun twists to the beauty and the beast story line. Only a couple of typos marred the reading. Other characters are introduced but not well explored well. If you're looking for some clean romance, this is it. Good kissing without smut!
February 4, 2024
What a wonderful story that follows the idea of Beauty and the Beast. It’s totally a story by itself. Needing money, Juliette take the job of protecting the Prince. Not an easy job, as he’s not so pleasant. Who knows what will happen next.
July 18, 2023
I love the action scenes and the romance. I really like the roses!
October 30, 2023
I absolutely love beauty and the beast retellings, and really enjoyed reading this. I loved all the twists and turns and really enjoyed this book!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews