Beast of Blood & Roses

Dark Ever After Fairytales #1

by M. Guida

I've always known my father was a gambling man, but I never thought I'd be the final chip he'd push across the table.
One night. One high-stakes poker game with the most dangerous creature in New Orleans. One desperate father with nothing left to lose but me.

Now I'm being dragged deep into the bayou to a mansion hidden behind curtains of Spanish moss and secrets. My captor is nothing like any man I've ever known—because he's not a man at all. He's something impossible, something my rational mind struggles to comprehend.

And he's cursed.

Something twisted him into a beast that prowls his bayou fortress with barely contained fury. When I try to escape this nightmare, his threat is run, and my father pays with his life.

But as days blend into nights in this decaying paradise, I discover powers stirring beneath my skin—ancient magic that responds to his darkness. The beast may own my freedom, but he's unleashed something inside me that I can't control. Something that frightens me.

Beast of Blood and Roses is a dark, steamy enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance featuring a cursed vampire trapped in monstrous form and a captive with dormant powers she never knew existed.

Sometimes true love requires more than a kiss... it demands blood.

This sizzling Beauty and the Beast retelling delivers white-hot tension, forbidden desire, and a fated mates connection that neither can deny. With dangerous supernatural threats lurking in the bayou and a curse that can only be broken by true love, this thrilling tale of captivity and passion will leave you breathless until the very last page!



Enemies to Lovers
Forbidden Romance
Fated Mates
Touch Her and Die
Morally Grey Hero

Genres: Fantasy, Enemies To Lovers, Retellings, Vampires, Fantasy Romance, Beauty and The Beast

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 30, 2025

About the author

M Guida has always loved fantasy and romance, especially dragons. Growing up, she devoured fantasy books and all kinds of young adult books. And then she found romance and a whole new world opened up to her.

Now as an adult, she fell in love with academy romance and has blended all of her past loves into one compelling series. Dragons, vampires, elves, demons, and shifters all attend Legacy Academy.

When she's not writing, she lives in the colorful Rocky Mountains with her fur baby, Raven, and enjoys taking her for walks.

Would you like to become a Legacy? Sign up for her mailing list and enter a world of the supernatural. https://geni.us/akJn

You can also join her private Facebook page-Legacy Academy https://geni.us/aksDhUZ You'll become a legacy and find out about your special power and maybe even find some romance!

Reviews

[Thais • tata.lifepages • · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings (I have read many!!) but this one is a modern retelling with twist: he’s a vampire, and she’s a witch. 😍

Fierro is a wealthy and powerful vampire living a selfish, dark life in an urban fantasy version of New Orleans. But one fateful night, in a moment of cruelty, he kills a witch without mercy. In retaliation, the witch’s powerful sister curses him to live as a beast, and his servants are turned into stone statues by night. The only way to break the curse is through true love that is freely returned by a woman.

Rosalie’s father, after a night of gambling gone wrong, loses her to Fierro as payment for his debt. Now, Fierro owns her freedom, and that’s how this cursed romance begins, pulling me in even deeper. 😈 When Rosalie comes to live in Fierro’s mansion, her first feelings are fear and abandonment. But as she gets to know him, it’s satisfying to see how that fear slowly transforms, and how their feelings shift over time.

The author explores deep emotional themes like feeling inadequate, being deprived of love, and struggling with low self-esteem—along with the personal growth that can follow. These human emotions made the story resonate even more. A mysterious thread surrounding Rosalie’s background as a witch slowly unravels as the story progresses, and I found myself easily caught up in the circle of slow burn romance and suspense.🖤

[Maria Elena | pagesofmaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s your favorite fairytale and why is it Beauty and the Beast? This book is going to make fellow fans feral!

Beast of Blood and Roses is a Dark Romantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast and the first standalone book in the Dark Ever After series. If you loved King of Battle and Blood and A Ruin of Roses, this book is for you!

The story follows Fierro and Rosalie. He is a vampire and part of the supernatural mǎfia. As punishment for unaliving her sister, the witch Tinker Bell curses him to become a Beast. To break the curse, he must make someone fall in love with him before his portrait resembles a Beast entirely, or he will remain a Beast forever. Rosalie is given to him as payment of her father’s debt. Stuck in the bayou with the Beast, Rosalie dreams of freedom. But while with Fierro, Rosalie understands things about herself she did not know, and as for Fierro, this may very well be his last chance to break the curse.

Do you feel the Beauty and the Beast vibes? This book is an example of how I like my retellings: full of details that call back to the original but still new. And there isn’t just Beauty and the Beast in here, but other details reminiscent of other stories too. The portrait, for example, feels like a reimagined version of Dorian Gray’s portrait. (And if you’ve read Chains of Blood and Darkness by this same author, you might also catch some references to that book!) This might be my favorite book by this author for this reason alone, but also because the chemistry between Fierro and Rosalie is spectacular!

Here are some tropes:
🥀 Romantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast
🩸 vampires and supernatural mǎfia
🔥 slow burn with high stakes
❤️‍🔥 forced proximity
🩶 morally gray monster MMC

Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy. Opinions are my own.

[Alex Albanese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beauty and the Beast is my absolute fave. This book started out really good. I felt like it was rushed towards the end and things were thrown together. A good quick read, but definitely could use more in the second half. I felt like they just fell in love out of no where with almost no interactions. Good read though.

[Anna Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

If you like beauty and the beast retellings you definitely are going to want to check this one out. I could not put it down.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a Disney tale this is not your scene. If you like things on the darker side more Grimm like then you’ll enjoy this story. From the title you may have guessed it’s a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It’s set in a paranormal world with vampires and witches etc. it’s pretty cool with the basics of the story but in a unique take. I will say it’s a bit graphic so be aware. A more mature version and an intriguing take I enjoyed.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Chiara | wordsbychiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for gifting me a paperback copy. Opinions are my own.

BEAST OF BLOOD AND ROSES is a standalone romantasy Beauty and the Beast retelling that quickly established itself as a favorite (and with all the BATB retellings around, it's not an easy feat!)

It follows Fierro and Rosalie. He is a vampire (and part of the supernatural m@fia) who is cursed by a witch (Tinker Bell 🤭) to become a Beast after he unalives a her sister. Either he makes a girl fall in love with him and she willingly gives him her blood before his portrait also resembles a beast, or he stays this way forever. Rosalie is a girl given to the Beast as payment for her father's gambling. Now a prisoner, Rosalie wants to reclaim her freedom. But living with the Beast, she uncovers truths about her heritage she never knew, and for Fierro, this might be his last chance to break his curse.

It's been a while since I read a Beauty and the Beast retelling that had me this hooked, but OH WAS I HOOKED! In many ways, this story remains faithful to the one we all know and love, but it's the little details that set it apart and the addition of the dangerous New Orleans supernatural underworld that keep it teetering on the edge of comfort read and page turner. I absolutely loved the characters! Not just the main couple, but also the secondary characters. The author did a great job at weaving many interesting storylines to the main plot. AND THE ROMANCE 😩👌 The chemistry between Fierro and Rosalie delivered peak "touch her and 💀" enemies to lovers brilliance.

Also fun fact: this series is a spinoff of Chains of Blood and Darkness! Reading this series isn't necessary to understand Beast of Blood and Roses, but it's fun to catch the references (plus it's a great vampire romance so highly recommend!)

Tropes:
- enemies to lovers
- forced proximity
- powerful magical objects
- morally gray monster hero

Rating: 4.5 stars

[Christina Bellows · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wouldn't be a bad book for someone who's just starting to read fantasy.. But I thought it was boring

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beast of Blood and Roses is a refreshingly new retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I've never read a a retelling like this one. The addition of Vampires and Witches combined is a compelling twist to an old favorite of mine. The mixture of Beauty and the Beast with Vampires is this fantasy romance lovers heart some good.
The twists in here keeps the pages turning. TBR addition worthy!

It's actually a 4.5 stars

[Piros OlaSz · Rating 2 out of 5]

What can I say.
It had a good start but than beside the roles it lookes very disney-like story in a different background…
There is a lot of fur
A lots of growling
Than flour?
So witches are there and than vamprie maffia?!
Badboy (but of course utterly handsome) maffia enforcer just kills a gal (so a shameless murderer without remorse) gets furry by poweful witch
Then comes poor Cinderella aka Bella aka Rosalie (etc.) who is deemed to servitude
Then there are more growling, lots of trembling…
Some gets stoned (haha I couldn missed this)
After a lots of I dunno what comes suppressed feelings and vulberabilities….
Some wolf-boys and bad witches
Then love, almost death of once kissed than back to furr love of life who was a ruthless killer a year ago got carantined and became a good man and fells in live with the only person whom he sees after a year of isolation.
Our Bellerella has a Sockholm sydrome as she loves this furry prisoner of her as he cannot bake but tries as she was not loved before…
Then more happily everafter with steam and no fur ❤️‍🔥and some family reunion.
Well… maybe its not my fav B&B retelling but I could make it thru!

[Nessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

#cleanromanceisabore #zerooriginality #wasteoftime

This felt like a RIP OFF of the Disney version, and I'm not impressed when authors don't tell it with an original twist. The highlights and memorable scenes from the cartoon were used here to keep the story boring...I was bored BECAUSE I already knew what would happen, and Second - THIS WAS A CLEAN ROMANCE. The only thing that made it different was Beast = a Vampire, where as Rosalie (Belle) was a Witch. NOT SURE HOW THAT MAKES THE STORY ANY BETTER WHEN EVERYTHING ELSE WAS MEH.

Frankly? ZERO SPARK OR CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE MCs. Even the Disney cartoon had BETTER CHEMISTRY and likely because it's a musical, and an ANIMATION.

For the most part it felt like ROSALIE was fearful and weary of BEAST, whilst BEAST was just well...a BEAST.

OVERALL don't mind me if you're fine with whatever I just rattled above, and you're a fan of clean romance. Personally, it's like entering a candy shop and not finding the treat I want.

[(⁠｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡⁠)⁠➜ Mirena ✧⁠*⁠。 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um reconto de A Bela e a Fera, só que com vampiros e bruxas. Fierro é um vampiro cruel, mata por prazer, não se importa com ninguém. Um dia, ele comete um erro terrível: bebe até a última gota do sangue de uma jovem que apenas lhe pediu ajuda. Mas ele não sabia que a tal jovem era irmã de uma bruxa muito poderosa, Sininho.

Sininho, então, furiosa, lança uma maldição sobre ele: até que se redima de seus pecados, perderá seus poderes vampíricos e se tornará uma fera horrenda, enquanto seus dois servos virarão pedra do pôr do sol ao amanhecer, todos os dias. E, no lugar de uma rosa, há o retrato do vampiro que um dia Fierro foi, sendo tomado pelos traços da besta que se tornou.

Até que um dia uma jovem apareça e o ame verdadeiramente, cedendo seu sangue de boa vontade e, assim, quebrando a maldição. Mas quem amaria uma fera que, antes de ser fera, já era um monstro?

Beast of Blood & Roses é uma história encantadora, com traços sombrios, aceitação, mistério e um amor avassalador.

[Jim Anderson-Greenover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beast of Blood and Roses is a dark, lush, and intoxicating blend of gothic romance and brutal fantasy. The prose drips with atmosphere—every page smells of roses and iron, beauty and death entwined. The world feels alive, dangerous, and unapologetically savage, where love is as much a weapon as any blade. Characters are flawed, magnetic, and impossible to look away from, caught in a dance of desire, betrayal, and survival. It’s not a gentle story—it’s a storm, and it leaves you both breathless and bleeding. A brilliant read on vacay at Fire Island, where the salt air and crashing waves only amplified its wild, dangerous magic.

[Gerbera_Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a surface level depth fantasy romance with one dimensional characters and a plot twist that was seen a mile away. I read it to make sure I was right about the twist and I was. There was Beauty and the Beast, Tinkerbell, a hint of Portrait of Dorian Grey and a smidgeon of Cinderella. I mean it was a rushed mash up of things with simplistic dialogue and insta love. It all happened in the span of a few days. The author actually used the lines from the Disney movie The Beauty and The Beast in the book. I did not like the writing or the MCs. The story was very unimaginative and boring. I will not read this author again.

[Rachel’s Coffee & Rain Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ This was a decent quick read that was pretty fast paced, with good chemistry, likable characters and an engaging plot. It just wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders. I really like Rosalie (Aurora) and Fierro, their slow burn chemistry was good and the side characters were great! I honestly loved how this retelling pulled so many iconic scenes from the original we know and love. But I just wanted a bit more. More darkness. More spice. And there were some editing issues (repeated lines and phrasing) that took me out of the story occasionally.

[Candice Willman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This new Beauty and the Beast retelling is magical, dark and refreshing! I am hooked. I haven’t finished yet but man is it good. We have all sorts of supernatural creatures. Set in New Orleans. The Beast was a vampire who was cursed by a witch named Tinker Bell! Which omg love. We have magical amulet. Our damsel who was gambled away by her father and is now at the mercy of the Beast. It has all the vibes of the OG with so much more. If you love b&b you have to pick this one up asap!

[Lisa Bing · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a gripping and unique twist on a Beauty and the Beast retelling and it was a page turner for me. I loved the mix of vampires and witches, giving this tale a fresh spin. I loved following the action, drama and suspense that flowed around Fierro and Aurora as they worked their way to a fab and steamy HEA. Good fun!

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s started off incredibly slow and almost moment for moment taken from the Disney version of beauty and the beast. But about 60% of the way it picked up and gained some originality. Little too late? Not entirely sure.

[Kerin Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am definitely a retelling book girly I’m obsessed with them and I love this one. Stuff happens you least expect and the author does such a good job where you feel like you are living in the story with these characters. Loved

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written fated mates, forbidden romance, enemies to lovers PNR that was so good. I loved the plot and storytelling. Adventure, drama, danger, amazing characters and wonderfully told.

[Mona Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

good story telling

Good story. Quick read.
I was captivated by the immediate attraction they had for each other. It really held my attention.

[Missy Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beauty and the Beast retelling

I really enjoyed this book! It is written very well. I hope you give it a read. I highly recommend!

[Lindsey Compton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't get past the way it was identical in certain words to beauty and the beast. If you like that, then this book is for you. It is written well but I DNF at 15%.

[Vi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐️

[Autum thorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting..

[Angelica Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. And I’m here for it. The twist of vampire and witch was a nice switch.

[Ve (ve_xo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read a lot of M. Guida’s books, but Beast of Blood and Roses might just be my favorite yet. This one had me hooked from page one. Perfect for lovers of Beauty and the beast retelling, dark, sensual, romantic, and paranormal escapism.

When her father gambles her away in a poker game (yes, you read that right 😭), our heroine is thrown into the clutches of a creature straight out of legend, a cursed vampire-beast ruling his bayou mansion like a gothic ghost. I'm obsessed with the setting... The Spanish moss, the mist, the eerie beauty, it was so magical and dangerous.

I loved how fierce and vulnerable she was, discovering her own powers even while trapped with this beastly, morally gray hero who radiates both menace and heartbreak. The chemistry was perfection. Their enemies-to-lovers tension simmers until it bursts into pure obsession and fate-tied devotion.

Tropes you’ll find:
🩸 Enemies to lovers
💔 Forbidden romance
🦇 Fated mates
🔥 “Touch her and die” energy
🌹 Beauty & the Beast retelling
🌒 Morally gray, cursed hero
✨ Hidden powers in the heroine
🏚️ Gothic bayou setting

If you love your Beauty and the Beast retellings twisted with vampire curses, blood magic, and an unforgettable slow burn, add this to your TBR. huge thanks to the author for gifting me a copy. All opinions are my own.