Bewitching the Beast

Wright Bastards #6

by Amy Sandas

Cursed to be alone
The violence and despair of her childhood taught Margot Spencer one thing—love brings only heartbreak and destruction. To avoid the tragic fate of her parents, she will never marry and never love. Then one reckless night forces her to accept marriage in name only to an enigmatic man who inspires her most passionate desires and her deepest fears.

Imprisoned by the past
Nicholas Vane is known for being reclusive, cruel, and heartless. But from his very first encounter with the inquisitive and mysterious Miss Spencer, he finds himself bewitched by her midnight gaze. After a night he cannot forget, he’ll do his duty and give her his name. But the pain of a past betrayal ensures that he can never allow her to possess his heart.

Fearing what they most desire
In a mansion once neglected and lost to time, Margot and Nicholas struggle to create a future home while denying their feelings. But love and fear have ways of making themselves known. Will a man cloaked in anger and a woman terrified to love embrace the light within their shadows and claim the happiness they deserve?

Genres: Historical Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Romance

290 pages, Paperback

Published February 27, 2024

About the author

My love of romance began one summer when I was thirteen and complained of boredom. I ended up with one of my mother's Barbara Cartland books and an obsessive interest that expanded from there. My affinity for writing began with sappy pre-teen poems and led to a Bachelor's degree with an emphasis on Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota--Twin Cities.

I love pizza, wine, and dark brooding heroes! With a husband, three kids, and two dogs at home, it can be difficult to find the time (and the motivation!) to write. But somehow the words keep showing up on the page. I am endlessly grateful to the many wonderful readers who enjoy my books and ask for more!

Reviews

[ChasingLeslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Margot Spencer’s childhood taught her one thing: love brings only heartbreak and destruction. Nicholas Vane has a reputation for being reclusive and heartless. From their first encounter, they are drawn to one another and then one reckless night forces them into a marriage in name only.

This is the sixth and final book in the Wright Bastards series. This book can stand up well if you haven't read the others, but it's better as part of the series and in the whole connected Sandas book universe. Nicholas’s twin brother was the previous book hero and his wife is Margot’s cousin.

If you love characters with tortured pasts and plenty of tension, then this is the book for you! Nicholas is wound as tight as a tripwire and Margot just keeps triggering him. I was hooked by the beauty & the beast vibes and rooting for them to heal together.

Tropes: Ruined, Marriage of Necessity, Pregnancy, Twins, Beauty & Beast

Steam: 5

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review.

[Rebel Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely fell super hard for this one! Book 6 of the Wright Bastards series and it may be the darkest of them. Margot Spencer is destined to be a spinster. Growing up, she only knew love to be twisted and full of heartbreak - something she wants nothing to do with. And even though she knows she won't do anything about it, she has a thing for Nicholas Vane. The Vane brother who is heartless and beastly and also wants nothing to do with love. One night changes everything and now they must decide if fighting for each other is worth the cost.

This book is so full of emotion and intense passion. I love the chemistry between them and the wars they fight within themselves. Sandas brings two characters to life so easily and I immediately cared about each of them. Margot has so much pain to deal with and Nicholas fights his longing for her - intent on doing what is best for her. I even love the subtle hints of Beauty and the Beast thrown in. Definitely a keeper!

[Pam Bereznak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 16th book by Amy Sandas. I started reading her in June, 2020. She is becoming another of my favorite authors. I am loving this series. She gets such depth in her characters and the sex is always "off the chain hot" which I'll take any day. I do have to say I love this cover.

This was a very interesting read. Margot and Nicholas were a very interesting couple. Not sure I've ever read such a "quiet" book. It's hard to describe without giving too much away. I will say, 1/2 way through the book, they may have said maybe 20 words between them and there isn't a lot of characters in the book to take up the slack of them not talking. I was so intrigued and curious where this was going. They were so intense with each other without saying anything. Even though I was reading, it's almost like I could feel their intensity. Just an amazingly written story. I really enjoyed it. Totally different but really good.

[Eugenea Pollock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two wounded souls find their HEA despite all obstacles. Extremely entertaining. Spicier than most.

[Sandy N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bewitching the Beast. Margot and Nicholas story. This was an interesting read. Both our Hero and Heroine were lost and damaged souls that ended married to each after their late night encounter resulted in an unexpected pregnancy. Follows a road to redemption with Angts and tribulations. But they get their HEA. Steam level 4🌟.

[Lady E · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Trigger Warnings Below**

Heroine: Margot Spencer, age unknown. Product of a tumultuous marriage between a poet and an artist.

Hero: Nicholas Vane, age unknown. Son of the Viscount of Withersfield (not his biological father). A twin.

Date: 1831 (epilogue = 1838)

How they meet: Margot and Nicholas met off-page in a park when Margot and her cousin were there with Nicholas’s twin brother. They were immediately drawn to one another, but both were resistant to it. Nicholas has a reputation for being ill-tempered and a recluse.

What happens: Margot and Nicholas attend the wedding between his brother and her cousin. Unable to sleep one night, Margot heads down to the library where she finds Nicholas drinking. He is not happy to be disturbed, but they end up having a short conversation about loneliness that leads to a one-night stand.

Just over a month later, Margot seeks out Nicholas. He doesn’t wish to see her and is rather cold when he does. She informs him she is pregnant because she believes he has the right to know. He decides they will wed, but it will be a marriage in name only. They have a small wedding shortly after that, marrying as virtual strangers with no firm plan for what happens next. Nicholas takes her to his house and even though she has a sense she’ll be taken care of, Margot feels alone.

Both Margot and Nicholas battle inner demons. Margot suffers from bouts of depression and has always relied on her cousin to support her through those times. After observing her parents, she also believes that love inevitably brings pain and does not want to love her husband. Nicholas feels a darkness inside of him and is very guarded. He fights his feelings for Margot at every turn even though deep inside he yearns for a close intimacy, both emotionally and physically. Their marriage is very awkward as they don’t know how to communicate and are busy guarding their emotions.

An opportunity arises that allows Nicholas to see Margot’s nurturing side, followed by his first realization that she’s experiencing morning sickness. This marks a small change in the trajectory of their relationship. Despite their limited interactions, they are intensely drawn to one another, something that makes him angry and her afraid. He does make a bit more of an effort with her and they take additional steps towards emotionally connecting, as well as acting on their physical attraction. Even so, they continue to battle their own feelings as their physical connection grows.

Margot finally admits to Nicholas that she believes love destroys people, leading him to see he had totally misread some of her comments. They know they need to talk about their future, and in the lead-up to the conversation Nicholas fears rejection and Margot fears their love will destroy them. Before they have the conversation, a grand gesture by Nicholas leaves Margot overwhelmed and a pep talk delivered to Margot by her grandmother provides new context for her to consider. When they finally face their fears and reveal how they really feel, things finally fall into place for the couple.

Trigger Warnings: main character suffering from depression, withholding of affection/inability to show affection, and unintended pregnancy (all on-page); betrayal by a lover (off-page)

Verdict: This story has two things that are uncommon for historical romances: pregnancy resulting from a one-night stand and a circumstance where both the hero and heroine have some significant psychological issues (aka a “damaged” hero and a “damaged” heroine) so it isn’t just one person helping the other. They are both relatively self-aware about their inner battles, although the heroine is better at coping with her issues. They are both very guarded about their emotions, but don’t see that their spouse is doing the same. It is a bit of a miracle that they make any progress in their marriage and that progress comes in baby steps. It was a bit hard to read, but I was so rooting for them. Both experience a lot of inner turmoil and eventually personal growth as the story progresses. There are several steamy scenes, however once they finally can admit they love each other, we get an abbreviated love scene and I felt slighted by that. I have not read the entire series, but did read the one with the hero’s twin and the heroine’s cousin (it wasn’t very fresh in my mind though). I think this can be read as a standalone, although some side characters are featured in earlier books in the series.

Steam-level: steamy and explicit

Rating: 4 stars

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margot Spencer is odd, witty and self possessed, with dark eyes, raven hair and an arresting stare. After the tragic deaths of her flighty and self destructive parents, she was raised by her grandmother alongside her cousin, Cicely. Nicholas Vane is angry, reclusive and blunt. Scarred by a past love gone bad and society's disdain, he keeps himself in isolation.

Nicholas and Margot meet when Cicely marries his twin brother and after one impassioned night in the library together, Margot finds herself with child.

Nicholas soon marries her and we get to see two broken and damaged people learn how to love in a gothic old manor house.

THOUGHTS:

This was definitely the darkest of the series but it works. Margot's parents had an obsessive and dark love that manifested in screaming, throwing things and suicide and that's all she's ever known - that love causes you pain. She's intensely aware of "love" and since she was never taught how to handle her emotions, her distress at falling for her husband manifests in the collecting of trinkets and rocks, sticks etc. that she finds. Nicholas endured physical trauma and scarring and has a hard time opening up and communicating his feelings. His past love ended in him ~literally~ getting burned and it's so sweet to see them navigate their relationship and learn to trust each other - plus the spice was pretty good!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love is everything! One of Amy’s darkest books and I am totally there for it. From page one I was on the edge of my seat with anxiousness regarding the feelings of Nicholas and Margot. Don’t get me wrong, these are all very good things in my opinion. I want to feel while reading stories and Amy serves that up in spades. Nicholas and Margot are so in love but afraid of that love until they are not. Their beautiful relationship and journey are loving even though they did not know it at first. Amy is the best at writing stories with emotions that make you feel. This series is special – get it, read it, love it.

[Gloria Pastorino · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this gorgeous book Sandas pens the story of a great love and the journey of two wounded characters with a difficult past toward acknowledging their feelings. This is a slight different version of the marriage of convenience, my favorite trope, with both characters already in love with each other from the beginning. I felt for them deeply and I enjoyed seeing them come together. There was angst, of course, but it was never overwhelming. Excellent writing and attentive analysis of the characters’ feelings. Perfection.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This can be read as a standalone.

I thought the characters were boring and cliche. Skip this book.

Nothing happens in this book. Margot Spencer and Nicholas Vane sleep together. (Margot's cousin is married to Nicholas' twin brother.) Margot goes to Nicholas a few weeks later to tell him that she is pregnant. They get married. She tells him she can't love him because reasons, and he doesn't think he can love her because reasons. Also, she's a hoarder and likes to collect random items. What a weird book.

[Aspoon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I regret buying this series as a bulk package. Never again with this author. This last book was equally as worse as the previous 4 books in the series. Nicholas and Marfot BARELY spoke for half pass the story...when they did speak it was of no substance and and one or two sentences total and then 10 pages of thoughts...every single time. So the book is 85% inner dialogue.... NO THANK YOU!!

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

H = OK (more or less) 4stars just for him
h = annoying/emptyheaded/tedious
When female characters are so disappointing, seems a male author creation rather then a female