The Beast's Heart

Ever After #4

by T.L. Gehr

An ex-wrestler, four foster children, a Scottish estate and the teacher who isn't supposed to be there.

Jonathan
My father is ill, but he was determined to take up this post as private tutor to four children in The Middle of Nowhere, Scotland. When I couldn't convince him not to, I stole his identity and replaced him. I'm a teacher too, we share the same name, and PR projects like this have hundreds of staff, don't they? So I'm sure no one will notice.

Adam "the Beast" De
My late husband dreamed of changing the US foster system, but we never got the chance while he was alive. Now it's up to me. The only problem? These children scare me more than I scare them (which, given my reputation in the ring, is a lot). I feel like I'm operating blind and the last thing I need is another complication. Such as this young teacher. He was not invited to my estate, and he certainly wasn't invited into my heart.

An atmospheric mm romance featuring a jock/nerd dynamic, single dad vibes and finding joy after grief. Loosely inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Please note this is not a shifter romance.

Genres: M M Romance

383 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 10, 2025

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good Beauty and the Beast inspired story, although I may be biased because it’s one of my Disney faves. I actually thought the series had been abandoned as I read the rest of the series back in 2021/2022 so it was a surprise to see this released. The premise is a cute twist on the traditional story.

Yes maybe things get a little unrealistic but no more than the original and there isn’t any magic curses, talking utensils or musical numbers so really it’s almost mundane in comparison. I was half expecting the wardrobe to start singing and was somewhat disappointed that it didn’t. This was an easy read and everything ties up neatly for a nice little happy ending.

Something a bit different about this is it’s set during the Covid pandemic so people are in lockdown and there are quarantines and restrictions in place.

Sensitive exploration of grief surrounding suicide.

This could be read as a standalone but there are some cameos from the previous couples that I had to stretch my brain to remember and Jonathan and his dad initially featured in the book prior to this.

[Marthea · Rating 5 out of 5]

4+
Wyjątkowo lubię tę serię T.L. Gehr - nawet, jak mam jakieś zastrzeżenia, to i tak dobrze mi się czyta. Wszystkie tomy to współczesne wariacje na temat klasycznych baśni - niektóre raczej luźne, inne dość wyraźne. Ta historia należy do tych drugich - nie ma wątpliwości, że chodzi o "Piękną i Bestię".

I choć to nie jest książka zmieniająca świat, to podejmuje trudne tematy, które wcale nie są potraktowane pobieżnie. Znowu czytało mi się super i zastanawiałam się, czy dać 4 czy 5 gwiazdek, bo w końcu jednak jakieś tam uwagi mam (ale nie będę ich wyliczać, bo w ogólnym rozrachunku nie widzę sensu - jak ktoś inny przeczyta i będzie uważał, że jest ich dużo, to na pewno to ujmie w swoim komentarzu 😁). Ale jedna rzecz zaważyła na zaokrągleniu w górę - to pierwsza historia, którą czytałam i która nie udawała, że nie było pandemii. Że nie poharatała ona planów i żyć. Że nie przewróciła wszystkiego do góry nogami. Tak, pandemia też jest bohaterem tej książki - nawet, jeżeli nie pierwszoplanowym, to jednak ważnym i zauważalnym.

[Abigail Beckwith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's TL Gehr's "The Beast's Heart." It's the fourth book in their Ever After series, and it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling.

["An ex-wrestler, four foster children, a Scottish estate and the teacher who isn't supposed to be there.

Jonathan
My father is ill, but he was determined to take up this post as private tutor to four children in The Middle of Nowhere, Scotland. When I couldn't convince him not to, I stole his identity and replaced him. I'm a teacher too, we share the same name, and PR projects like this have hundreds of staff, don't they? So I'm sure no one will notice.

Adam "the Beast" De
My late husband dreamed of changing the US foster system, but we never got the chance while he was alive. Now it's up to me. The only problem? These children scare me more than I scare them (which, given my reputation in the ring, is a lot). I feel like I'm operating blind and the last thing I need is another complication. Such as this young teacher. He was not invited to my estate, and he certainly wasn't invited into my heart."]

This book was heart-racing and heart-aching. It was beautiful and ugly. It was soft and harsh. It was sweet and devastating. It was a lot of real-life all at once with a ton of trauma and baggage and worries, but it was also a lot of HEAs. So basically TL Gehr's thing in general.

This story was just...I laughed and giggled, but I also cried and sobbed.

It was about healing, about putting yourself out there. It was about hoping, about going for it. It was about love and family, about second chances and HEAs.

Trigger Warnings: parental illness and potential death, child abuse, child neglect, suicide, grief, COVID pandemic, and more.

#thespindlescurse #thechristmaswishes #themidnightdance #kissoflife #thebeastsheart #tlgehr #everafter #everafterseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

[YonnoMaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, I really liked this. I'm glad it was released cause I didn't know it was in the works and thought it might've been abandoned by the author cause book 3 was released like 3 years ago. Anyways, I really loved the concept here. Until, unfortunately, the last 3 or 4 chapters. This book was great at first. But once Johnathan and Adam got together, there was less of the kids, which I didn't like. But I figured I'd give it a few chapters before the author concentrated on all six of them as a family. But then uncomfortably close to the end of the book, Johnathan's father got sick and the MCs had a fight. So the kids weren't taken off the back burner. But when Adam disappeared, I rejoiced, cause I honestly thought he was busy with the kids having brought them to New York so they could all be with Johnathan. Instead, there was that whole fake-wrestling mess. I really did not care for that at all, or for Geoff reprising the villain role. I wished he'd just stayed gone with the minor appearance via satellite he made and that the last pages were instead devoted to strengthening family ties. That ending would have really elevated the book I think. But aside from that, I really did enjoy it. There was no indication at the end of this book that there would be a book 5, but I would so read it or any other book TLG publishes.

[Jim Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was disorganized, and the timeline was difficult to follow. I reread the beginning several times to sort it out but finally gave up.

I think the character of Jonathon was well developed. However, he was a bit foppish. Adam was just a flat unidimensional character.

The plot? difficult to follow the timeline. It jumped from one piece of drama to the next.

[NTDan · Rating 3 out of 5]

its aight

the premise is interesting, but frankly the book felt a bit unorganized

especially geoff... what was the point of him as a character?

definitely not a bad read, but easily the weakest of the series

[Sarah☀️ Somerville · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice retelling of the classic tale

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and was sorry it came to an end. I would look forward to more from this author.

[Danna Iuliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Elise H · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25⭐️

Loved the hints to the Beauty and the Beast
Loved the relationship building with the kids
Loved the slow burn
Hated Geoff (truly an asshole)
A really good and sweet read