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Beauty and the Beast
As a child, Prince Leopold Villeneuve unleashed his aristocratic cruelty on an old woman by the bank of the River Chaud. On his eighteenth birthday, the old crone returns to find the same ignorant boy in the body of a beautiful young man. In a night shrouded in mystery, his parents King Alaric and Queen Adele died and Leopold himself disappeared. For years, villagers are frozen in fear of a mysterious and terrifying creature that haunts the town at night.
Armand Babineaux, once the wealthiest merchant in the village of Fontainbleu, must secure his daughter Jolie to the unpleasant but enormously wealthy Quentin Garamonde, or condemn her to a life of servitude and poverty. His eldest daughter, Mireille, has already married well, but Jolie will be left all alone in the world if he does nothing to safeguard her future. Once the task is done, he must travel to Port Lucerne to recover his last ship or face the same fate in his old age. On his return trip, he is caught in a winter storm and finds himself far from the beaten path, at the foot of Villeneuve Castle.
Armand seeks shelter in the castle, and once inside, he is forced to confront the reality of what happened to the royal family so many years ago. The next morning, when he picks a beautiful rose for Jolie, he is brought face to face with the creature of local legend and must make a decision that will change all of their lives forever.
Armand Babineaux, once the wealthiest merchant in the village of Fontainbleu, must secure his daughter Jolie to the unpleasant but enormously wealthy Quentin Garamonde, or condemn her to a life of servitude and poverty. His eldest daughter, Mireille, has already married well, but Jolie will be left all alone in the world if he does nothing to safeguard her future. Once the task is done, he must travel to Port Lucerne to recover his last ship or face the same fate in his old age. On his return trip, he is caught in a winter storm and finds himself far from the beaten path, at the foot of Villeneuve Castle.
Armand seeks shelter in the castle, and once inside, he is forced to confront the reality of what happened to the royal family so many years ago. The next morning, when he picks a beautiful rose for Jolie, he is brought face to face with the creature of local legend and must make a decision that will change all of their lives forever.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 14, 2016
41 people are currently reading
483 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Winter
7 books37 followersI'm Sarah Winter, and I am a thirty-something independent author living in Wyoming. After surprising everyone (especially me) by writing my debut romance novel in the winter of 2013, I spent the next six years pursuing my bucket list dream of becoming a professional author.
My debut novel Snowbound achieved Quarter-Finalist status in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest, and Over the Line won an Amazon Publishing contract through Amazon's Kindle Scout program in April 2015. I self-published my third novel, Beauty and the Beast, in February 2016 and my first published short story, The Journal, in October 2016. The story was included in the limited-release 2018 charity anthology, Somewhere Out There. My fourth full-length novel, paranormal romance The Cottage, released August 2018.
Beauty and the Beast and The Cottage were reviewed by InD'Tale Magazine in their July 2016 and April 2019 issues, respectively.
I wrote contemporary romance and one reimagined fairy tale with tough heroines and lovable heroes until November of 2019, when I made the hard decision to put my writing career on the back burner in favor of an education in nursing. As of November 30th, 2019, my books will no longer available for sale except through third-party sellers.
Thank you to everyone who read my books, and showed me such support on my journey. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.
My debut novel Snowbound achieved Quarter-Finalist status in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest, and Over the Line won an Amazon Publishing contract through Amazon's Kindle Scout program in April 2015. I self-published my third novel, Beauty and the Beast, in February 2016 and my first published short story, The Journal, in October 2016. The story was included in the limited-release 2018 charity anthology, Somewhere Out There. My fourth full-length novel, paranormal romance The Cottage, released August 2018.
Beauty and the Beast and The Cottage were reviewed by InD'Tale Magazine in their July 2016 and April 2019 issues, respectively.
I wrote contemporary romance and one reimagined fairy tale with tough heroines and lovable heroes until November of 2019, when I made the hard decision to put my writing career on the back burner in favor of an education in nursing. As of November 30th, 2019, my books will no longer available for sale except through third-party sellers.
Thank you to everyone who read my books, and showed me such support on my journey. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 13, 2016
I basically never write reviews. Something special has to happen for me to write a review. In this case, something especially terrible. Readers, know that this review is going to be more of a rant than a review, for there is a lot to rant about this book.
I'm going to start by saying that Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. I've read countless retellings with so many twists, so I'm not adverse to artistic license, but do you know what they all had in common? The Beast became a good person before he was changed back into a human. Seriously, isn't that the point of Beauty and the Beast?! The storyarc of the Beast is one of my favorite things about the story. This terrible person changes such that the outside matches the inside. Then he physically changes again when he changed as a person on the inside (Beauty being the catalyst for this because she recognizes the good person he becomes and loves him for it)! Not so in this version. Get this: the beast stays a terrible person and never changes. Yes, I'm serious. But we'll get back to this later.
Problem number 2. The timeline of this story and the Beast's supposed "change" is a little narrow in my estimation. Draw back the curtains of the story and it has been exactly 9 years and 11 months after the beast has been cursed, which means he has exactly 1 month before the curse becomes permanent (because this particular witch likes the number 10, I guess). Only a month for Beauty (or in this story, Jolie) to fall in love with him. Okay--tough odds--but whatever. Then, Jolie spends the entirety of the first two weeks in her room, having zero contact with the Beast (who's name is Leo). The reason for this is that she is pissed with Leo for having the price of stealing a rose be lifetime imprisonment (kinda harsh--it's true). What is Leo's reason for this harsh punishment? Is it because roses are the only thing left that he cares about? Nope. It is because her father stole from him. Apparently, stealing a fork would also have incurred the same punishment. That's really prideful, is it not? Has the beast learned nothing in his almost 10 years of beastliness? I guess not.
Okay, so by the time Jolie emerges from her room, the readers know we have two weeks before time runs out. A lot has to happen in two weeks for this story to end happily. After the first interaction between Leo and Jolie that goes fairly well (they exchanged pleasantries, clarified that Jolie would indeed be a prisoner for the rest of her life, and discussed how to get to the library), the readers think, "hey, maybe the beast isn't as big of a jerk as we initially thought."
Interaction number two: Leo walks in on Jolie crying about aforementioned lifetime imprisonment, and Leo is surprised to find out that Jolie had aspirations of her own (imagine that!). Upon finding out that Jolie wished to travel, Leo says "I see no reason for a woman to desire anything but what a husband can provide her." Yes, that is an exact quote. Jolie's response includes the words "you disgust me." Thank you, Jolie (Side note: the only redeeming thing about this book is Jolie's character. She stands up for herself and is not some meek damsel, but instead calls Leo on his chauvinistic garbage. I guess it comes with having red hair. Oh, and don't forget that Jolie also loves the library.). Are these harsh words the worst of their interaction? Nope. In response to Jolie's starkly realistic words, Leo gets so angry that he steps forward and clamps his hand around her upper arm before the valet's timely interruption. Never before have I read a story where the love interest was physically violent. I was appalled. I knew where this story was going. *sigh* Yes, they were still going to fall in love. At that point, I had four words for Jolie: Get the hell out. For me, this situation goes down in the books as irredeemable.
Do these toddler-level temper tantrums continue? Yes. They do. After the two decide to make a "new start" over lunch, Leo decides to go into a fit of rage at Jolie's attempt to sympathize with his loneliness. Then, he tells her how terrible a person her father is for allowing her to serve his prison sentence (talk about the pot calling the kettle black). And to top it off, he rage-throws the dinner table across the room. I'm not even joking.
Fast forward to 4 days before the deadline. How are they going to overcome all of these super negative interactions and fall in love? After another "new start" (how many new starts do you get? One after every temper tantrum?), Leo tells her the story of the curse (leaving out the part about how Jolie can break it), and is no longer upset when Jolie sympathizes with his loneliness (that's growth right?). A series of positive interactions ensue that the author would have us believe cancels out the previous three and a half weeks of atrocious. Since when does changing one's behavior for a couple days signify a character change? Anyone can control their abusive, raging tendencies for a couple days.
Aside from the fact that Leo never actually becomes a good person, there are other little things about this book that bother me, including the fact that for most of it, Jolie calls Leo "master" *shutter* like she's not just a prisoner, but a servant. She is even put to work doing things like bookkeeping for the house. Furthermore, what is the only thing that could make this book better? Dreams. Nightly dreams where Jolie walks into a room and a handsome man (who has no connection whatsoever with anyone Jolie knows in real life) asks her to marry him. That is all.
And finally, the valet, Willard. Willard cares about valet things, like that his master is well dressed. Willard, basically orchestrates every kind thing that Leo does for Jolie. From basic considerate things like making sure she knows where things are located in the castle to suggesting that Leo take Jolie for a walk around the grounds. Willard tells Leo that he should be kind and control his temper to win the heart of Jolie. He also calms his master down after his various temper tantrums, telling him to "take deep breaths." Willard congratulates Leo for cleaning his room, which, apparently, is a sign that Leo is changing. May I make a suggestion? I think that Willard is the one that Jolie fell in love with. It is Willard who is the man behind the beast. Willard is the reason that Leo behaves with the emotional maturity of an adult for short spurts of time. Unfortunately, the author doesn't see it that way. Raging toddler for the win.
I'm going to start by saying that Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. I've read countless retellings with so many twists, so I'm not adverse to artistic license, but do you know what they all had in common? The Beast became a good person before he was changed back into a human. Seriously, isn't that the point of Beauty and the Beast?! The storyarc of the Beast is one of my favorite things about the story. This terrible person changes such that the outside matches the inside. Then he physically changes again when he changed as a person on the inside (Beauty being the catalyst for this because she recognizes the good person he becomes and loves him for it)! Not so in this version. Get this: the beast stays a terrible person and never changes. Yes, I'm serious. But we'll get back to this later.
Problem number 2. The timeline of this story and the Beast's supposed "change" is a little narrow in my estimation. Draw back the curtains of the story and it has been exactly 9 years and 11 months after the beast has been cursed, which means he has exactly 1 month before the curse becomes permanent (because this particular witch likes the number 10, I guess). Only a month for Beauty (or in this story, Jolie) to fall in love with him. Okay--tough odds--but whatever. Then, Jolie spends the entirety of the first two weeks in her room, having zero contact with the Beast (who's name is Leo). The reason for this is that she is pissed with Leo for having the price of stealing a rose be lifetime imprisonment (kinda harsh--it's true). What is Leo's reason for this harsh punishment? Is it because roses are the only thing left that he cares about? Nope. It is because her father stole from him. Apparently, stealing a fork would also have incurred the same punishment. That's really prideful, is it not? Has the beast learned nothing in his almost 10 years of beastliness? I guess not.
Okay, so by the time Jolie emerges from her room, the readers know we have two weeks before time runs out. A lot has to happen in two weeks for this story to end happily. After the first interaction between Leo and Jolie that goes fairly well (they exchanged pleasantries, clarified that Jolie would indeed be a prisoner for the rest of her life, and discussed how to get to the library), the readers think, "hey, maybe the beast isn't as big of a jerk as we initially thought."
Interaction number two: Leo walks in on Jolie crying about aforementioned lifetime imprisonment, and Leo is surprised to find out that Jolie had aspirations of her own (imagine that!). Upon finding out that Jolie wished to travel, Leo says "I see no reason for a woman to desire anything but what a husband can provide her." Yes, that is an exact quote. Jolie's response includes the words "you disgust me." Thank you, Jolie (Side note: the only redeeming thing about this book is Jolie's character. She stands up for herself and is not some meek damsel, but instead calls Leo on his chauvinistic garbage. I guess it comes with having red hair. Oh, and don't forget that Jolie also loves the library.). Are these harsh words the worst of their interaction? Nope. In response to Jolie's starkly realistic words, Leo gets so angry that he steps forward and clamps his hand around her upper arm before the valet's timely interruption. Never before have I read a story where the love interest was physically violent. I was appalled. I knew where this story was going. *sigh* Yes, they were still going to fall in love. At that point, I had four words for Jolie: Get the hell out. For me, this situation goes down in the books as irredeemable.
Do these toddler-level temper tantrums continue? Yes. They do. After the two decide to make a "new start" over lunch, Leo decides to go into a fit of rage at Jolie's attempt to sympathize with his loneliness. Then, he tells her how terrible a person her father is for allowing her to serve his prison sentence (talk about the pot calling the kettle black). And to top it off, he rage-throws the dinner table across the room. I'm not even joking.
Fast forward to 4 days before the deadline. How are they going to overcome all of these super negative interactions and fall in love? After another "new start" (how many new starts do you get? One after every temper tantrum?), Leo tells her the story of the curse (leaving out the part about how Jolie can break it), and is no longer upset when Jolie sympathizes with his loneliness (that's growth right?). A series of positive interactions ensue that the author would have us believe cancels out the previous three and a half weeks of atrocious. Since when does changing one's behavior for a couple days signify a character change? Anyone can control their abusive, raging tendencies for a couple days.
Aside from the fact that Leo never actually becomes a good person, there are other little things about this book that bother me, including the fact that for most of it, Jolie calls Leo "master" *shutter* like she's not just a prisoner, but a servant. She is even put to work doing things like bookkeeping for the house. Furthermore, what is the only thing that could make this book better? Dreams. Nightly dreams where Jolie walks into a room and a handsome man (who has no connection whatsoever with anyone Jolie knows in real life) asks her to marry him. That is all.
And finally, the valet, Willard. Willard cares about valet things, like that his master is well dressed. Willard, basically orchestrates every kind thing that Leo does for Jolie. From basic considerate things like making sure she knows where things are located in the castle to suggesting that Leo take Jolie for a walk around the grounds. Willard tells Leo that he should be kind and control his temper to win the heart of Jolie. He also calms his master down after his various temper tantrums, telling him to "take deep breaths." Willard congratulates Leo for cleaning his room, which, apparently, is a sign that Leo is changing. May I make a suggestion? I think that Willard is the one that Jolie fell in love with. It is Willard who is the man behind the beast. Willard is the reason that Leo behaves with the emotional maturity of an adult for short spurts of time. Unfortunately, the author doesn't see it that way. Raging toddler for the win.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2016
For anybody that knows me well they know that Beauty and the Beast is my favorite story of all time. Compared to any other fandoms I enjoy this one I come back to again and again. Of course it may have something to do with the fact that my favorite movie is Disney's Beauty and the Beast and I fell in love with it the first time I saw it as a child. Of course since then I have read the original tale and I happen to love that one as well. Probably even more so than the Disney version.
I love how this version of the story mixes both the Disney version and the original. Of course there are some changes. For one while she does have the dreams like in the origin story the beast doesn't ask her to marry him each night. The chateau takes care of the remaining servants and the Prince quite well. I believe the reason that the majority of the servants being gone was because they looked down on the Sorceress before she revealed who she was. The idea of killing off the King and Queen because they couldn't change their son was a little extreme but I guess she had to make a point somehow. Of course how can the Prince change when the parents often contradict each other as to how a situation should be treated? It's no wonder Leopold didn't change at all. I did like how she changed Leo's age from 11 to 18 when he was cursed. No offense to Disney but why would a child let a complete stranger into his home? I applaud him for doing what was right. Yeah he could have handled the situation better but again he was a CHILD. With him being older in this story he should have known better.
I also loved how in this tale our resident beauty is not that beautiful at least according to her cruel sister and the narrow sighted village men. She is not the slender beauty that most people write about when describing a heroine. As a bigger girl myself I love when the heroine of the story is not stick thin. Between having to deal with almost no suitors or suitors who just want her family's connections or her now nonexistent dowry she has a lot on her plate. Oh and we are not even going to get into the issue of the resident Gaston in this story. He is her worst suitor of them all. He has laughingly only met her once and already considers her his fiancee. The only reason he wants her is because of her family's wealth and the fact that he doesn't want to be sent to Jamaica to work at the family plantation. At least I believe it was Jamaica. I don't want to spoil the book so I won't say anymore.
If you enjoy Beauty and the Beast this new story as old as time will leave you positively enchanted and begging for more. And I want more.
Rating: 4½ stars out of 5
I love how this version of the story mixes both the Disney version and the original. Of course there are some changes. For one while she does have the dreams like in the origin story the beast doesn't ask her to marry him each night. The chateau takes care of the remaining servants and the Prince quite well. I believe the reason that the majority of the servants being gone was because they looked down on the Sorceress before she revealed who she was. The idea of killing off the King and Queen because they couldn't change their son was a little extreme but I guess she had to make a point somehow. Of course how can the Prince change when the parents often contradict each other as to how a situation should be treated? It's no wonder Leopold didn't change at all. I did like how she changed Leo's age from 11 to 18 when he was cursed. No offense to Disney but why would a child let a complete stranger into his home? I applaud him for doing what was right. Yeah he could have handled the situation better but again he was a CHILD. With him being older in this story he should have known better.
I also loved how in this tale our resident beauty is not that beautiful at least according to her cruel sister and the narrow sighted village men. She is not the slender beauty that most people write about when describing a heroine. As a bigger girl myself I love when the heroine of the story is not stick thin. Between having to deal with almost no suitors or suitors who just want her family's connections or her now nonexistent dowry she has a lot on her plate. Oh and we are not even going to get into the issue of the resident Gaston in this story. He is her worst suitor of them all. He has laughingly only met her once and already considers her his fiancee. The only reason he wants her is because of her family's wealth and the fact that he doesn't want to be sent to Jamaica to work at the family plantation. At least I believe it was Jamaica. I don't want to spoil the book so I won't say anymore.
If you enjoy Beauty and the Beast this new story as old as time will leave you positively enchanted and begging for more. And I want more.
Rating: 4½ stars out of 5
May 10, 2016
My favorite!
For whatever reason, I can't get enough of Beauty and the Beast stories and this is my favorite so far. I was drawn in from the beginning and fell in love with the characters jolie and Leo. I only hate that the story had to end.
For whatever reason, I can't get enough of Beauty and the Beast stories and this is my favorite so far. I was drawn in from the beginning and fell in love with the characters jolie and Leo. I only hate that the story had to end.
July 20, 2016
3.5/5.0
Sarah Winter's retelling of the classic fairy tale is not much different than the original.
Read full review in the 2016 July/August issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Sarah Winter's retelling of the classic fairy tale is not much different than the original.
Read full review in the 2016 July/August issue of InD'tale Magazine.
April 9, 2016
Didn't finish. Great premise- and I love me some Beauty and the beast retelling, but was poorly written with a disjointed plot and underdeveloped characters.
June 27, 2017
I loved this book!!! You can't go wrong with a retelling of beauty and the beast....it's one of my most favorite stories! Can't wait to read more of Sarah's stuff.
October 22, 2017
Jolie's Beast
This was a hard read for me, by chapter nine I was ready to give up and just not finish it. To say this is a "slow burn romance" would be a understatement, it was more like a snail's pace. I also found it hard to get past the "Disney" elements embedded in it. In the "author's notes" it all falls into place.... It makes sense. And to me this would have been greatly insightful to have known the author's inspiration for the story beforehand, it would have kept me from constantly trying to figure out why this sounded so familiar while reading it. My hope for a retelling of a story is to have some hint of the basic story with a new angle, maybe it's just me but it was all too close to what we know as your basic Beauty and Beast story line. I have high hopes for her other books.
This was a hard read for me, by chapter nine I was ready to give up and just not finish it. To say this is a "slow burn romance" would be a understatement, it was more like a snail's pace. I also found it hard to get past the "Disney" elements embedded in it. In the "author's notes" it all falls into place.... It makes sense. And to me this would have been greatly insightful to have known the author's inspiration for the story beforehand, it would have kept me from constantly trying to figure out why this sounded so familiar while reading it. My hope for a retelling of a story is to have some hint of the basic story with a new angle, maybe it's just me but it was all too close to what we know as your basic Beauty and Beast story line. I have high hopes for her other books.
March 14, 2016
I love Beauty and the Beast retellings, I read them all the time. I found this story to be great with few flaws. The fathers part seemed to be a bit shaky and the author failed to tell what happened to each character in the end, I can't stand that! Overall the novel was great, Leo is a true beast in the beginning, at one point he flips the dinner table in response to his lovely prisoners comment. I love that because some authors make the Beast a total sweetheart...it's called "Beast" for a reason lol. Any who it is worth the read!
December 26, 2016
Good
Clean and sweet, but I never really felt the connection between the characters until later. It was original with a few similarities between this, the original story, and Disney. I wanted more of a conclusion to wrap up the end, but we ended up with more of a "the story continues" vibe.
Clean and sweet, but I never really felt the connection between the characters until later. It was original with a few similarities between this, the original story, and Disney. I wanted more of a conclusion to wrap up the end, but we ended up with more of a "the story continues" vibe.
May 8, 2016
Wow.... Its all I have to say.
July 11, 2022
this could have been a 5 star instead of a 3.5 star book. I liked the characters and the way the curse went about and all that but a few things kept me from being truly in love. first, though she spends a month or so with him we only experience a few days of them interacting, and though they have some truly heartfelt moments, especially since only 2 or 3 don't have him smashing something or yelling up a storm. He truly only changes a day or two before the end of the curse I don't think it's enough to truly be in love. But I suppose that could be just my opinion. Two it ended very abruptly. As in, the curse is broken and then....nothing. No them getting married or even engaged, or him coming back into the world view after a decade away. just nothing. and thirdly the POV changes often, which is fine, except there is no indication it happened. it just changes and you need to just know it without questioning it. I love POV changes, getting lots gives a more dynamic story but if you are going to change the POV 3 times on 1 page you better have spaces, names, or something, anything to indicate the change.
April 27, 2023
This book, while not extraordinary, is a fun, light read. Being a retelling of a beloved story, the plot is expected and predictable, but there's some unique moments in there too. I liked the unique aspects of the castle being enchanted to keep people out. I'm not sure if I like the idea of, "To curse the prince to be ugly, I'm going to inflict him with genetic disorders" but at least it wasn't another wolf/bear/lion hybrid. I also don't think that I liked the 3rd person omniscient. It got very overwhelming reading a a scene from five different perspectives, and I feel like it didn't allow us to connect to a singular character since we were bombarded with everyone's thoughts. Leo's change seemed sudden, but also I guess if he's been sitting there for 10 years his character development would happen quicker. I kept reading "Jolie" as "Julie" but I think that's because it was 3am. Also, I think this book really could've benefitted from an epilogue. Especially since it is implied that the story takes place around the 1770s, that sets the scene historically close to us so we need closure for what happened. But like I said, it was cute and fun.
October 1, 2020
Beauty and the Beast Retold : My favorite fairy tales as a youngster were 'the 12 Dancing Princesses 'and Beauty and the Beast '. I thought this fall that I'd like to compare retelling by various authors. Ms. Winter's is the 5th , so far. I enjoyed the way she diverged from the story as I'd first heard it. (Okay, I missed the 2nd sister ). The ones I like best are the ones I don't expect. (I've read an average of 100 books a year since I was a teenager so I'm good at figuring out what twists are coming.)
What I didn't expect: Papa' s personality and motives.
The lack of "Beauty, will you marry me?"
The balcony scenes.
What I didn't like: grammar mistakes!
Calling the beast 'Master '
Calling the beast 'Leo'
Mirielle's personality continuity
Josie being reminded (again and again) that she was a prisoner
All of these negatives put aside, it was an entertaining tale. I would recommend it to all of those romantic young folks out there.
What I didn't expect: Papa' s personality and motives.
The lack of "Beauty, will you marry me?"
The balcony scenes.
What I didn't like: grammar mistakes!
Calling the beast 'Master '
Calling the beast 'Leo'
Mirielle's personality continuity
Josie being reminded (again and again) that she was a prisoner
All of these negatives put aside, it was an entertaining tale. I would recommend it to all of those romantic young folks out there.
April 12, 2017
This was a bit of a mash-up of Disney’s version and the original tales made into one cohesive story and you really have to give credit to the author for making all of that work.
I probably should have enjoyed it more because she did include all the things that you know and love.
What held me back a little, was some of the characterizations. A little rounding out would have improved my connection to them and also helped with some of the inconsistencies- especially with the sister, which to be fair followed the old tales of her being jealous and spiteful towards our Beauty (Jolie in this case) but wasn’t delved into enough for us to have any understanding of where the spite was coming from.
Other than that, and a little head hopping at the beginning, the story was pretty solid. I just needed that little more to make it special to me.
2.5
I probably should have enjoyed it more because she did include all the things that you know and love.
What held me back a little, was some of the characterizations. A little rounding out would have improved my connection to them and also helped with some of the inconsistencies- especially with the sister, which to be fair followed the old tales of her being jealous and spiteful towards our Beauty (Jolie in this case) but wasn’t delved into enough for us to have any understanding of where the spite was coming from.
Other than that, and a little head hopping at the beginning, the story was pretty solid. I just needed that little more to make it special to me.
2.5
May 4, 2016
This book is more a 2.5 star read.
The book was quick and easy to read. It had some enjoyable moments. I liked that in this version the main characters did not immediately find themselves in an easy relationship. The author made them work at it and had real problems up even toward the end. Even if their courtship was a mere three weeks long.
The major problem I had with this book was that the writing felt rushed and sloppy in a way.
The book was quick and easy to read. It had some enjoyable moments. I liked that in this version the main characters did not immediately find themselves in an easy relationship. The author made them work at it and had real problems up even toward the end. Even if their courtship was a mere three weeks long.
The major problem I had with this book was that the writing felt rushed and sloppy in a way.
July 27, 2016
This book took a little time to get into it at first but once I found my place, I found it to be an enjoyable read. The Characters were portrayed in a good way and gave a different outlook on the stress of family bonds and the Trials that Love takes until you find the one no matter their appearance. It also reminds us That a Home is were you make it and not Where you have spent most f your life. A good read That I give 4 Stars.
April 11, 2020
Had some really interesting elements;a cruel sister, a Belle with red hair, green eyes and curvy frame, the enchantress was my favorite though. However lacking the rest of the story and characters were; I loved the enchantress. Reading this just after reading The Beast's Enchantress by Elizabeth Kitchens made me long for a blending between the two books' interpretations of the bewitcher
May 6, 2016
Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale! This book was great. I really enjoyed reading it.
May 15, 2016
This is a cute book, but there were a lot of mistakes and missing words. Overall a very cute story.
August 22, 2016
Solid re-telling w/ good characterizations. Would have been 4 stars except the passive construction irked me. Sorry.
July 17, 2016
A good basic retelling of the classic beauty and the beast story.
April 4, 2017
Great retelling of the classic fairytale.
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