Beauty and the Beast

Once Upon a Spell #1

by Vivienne Savage

Princess Anastasia Rose dreams of attending school, but her plans are put on hold when war begins between her father and the beastly lord of a nearby castle in the mountains.

Prince Alistair isn’t an ordinary dragon. He’s a shifter afflicted by a curse, unable to become human again until he finds his true love. When a mortal king’s adventurers trespass in Alistair’s territory to steal a rare flower, the prince decides to steal a valuable prize of his own.

(Author's Note: This is a magical retelling of the beloved tale written for an adult audience. Reader discretion is advised.)

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Dragons, Fairy Tales, Beauty and The Beast, Retellings, Paranormal

270 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2016

About the author

Sign up at http://www.viviennesavage.com/newsletter to receive an exclusive, free novel.

Vivienne Savage is a resident of a small town in rural Texas. While she isn't writing fantasy or concocting ways for shapeshifters and humans to find their match, she raises two children and works as a nurse in a rural retirement home.

All works by Vivienne range from urban fantasy and sweet adult romance to spicy shifter fiction with an erotic kick. Visit her site to determine which series is best for you!

Official Site: viviennesavage.com
Facebook: facebook.com/savage.books
Twitter: twitter.com/msvsavage
Instagram: instagram.com/msvsavage
Email: vivi@viviennesavage.com

Reviews

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Not your average Disney Beauty and the Beast story, though I love that one too. Anastasia is absolutely the hero of this story and I love that. She is compassionate, smart and strong. Beast is just a sweetheart; underneath a beastly gruff dragon exterior, of course. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite classic fairytale and this rendition did not disappointe. I'll be looking for more books by Ms. Vivienne Savage. Happy reading!

[Page Grey (Editor) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Real thing is nothing like the books in my library. Nothing like anything you've ever read. It will be superior to any act you'll find in any book. In every way.

Though the quote above was when our Hero(Alistair) and Heroine(Anastasia) were talking about sex, and having sex, I think it speaks of the story this treasure of a book offers. Yes for me, this is a treasure hidden beneath the piles most of us call as TBR. lol :) Alas!!! there's more to a beast than what you see. There's more to a beast than what you've heard or read about him. Reality is far better and more exciting than the one's Anastasia knew and Alistair had proven that.

So far this year I've already read 99 books and 33 of them are historical romances. Once I started in one genre, I can't seem to get out of it and read more and more books with the same genre. Old setting, I learned that I loved it. And so I decided to shift my heart a little and find books with old settings and romantic , poetic languages. Thus Fairytale Retellings stepped in.

I loved and enjoyed this amazing retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The twists that the author did was amazing. It was a  calm  version of a tale old as time. :) Calm must be odd of a word to use but anyone who have read it will agree with me. It has lesser action than the other retellings of Beauty and the Beast I've read so far. The Romance was also milder and by the way, I loved how the author's unique idea on how the two fall in love with each other. And the passionate scenes are well...passionate enough for fairytales.

The only reason why I don't give this a five star is that there were times I found it hard to connect with both Alistair and Anastasia. Maybe that's the reason why I found the entire book calm .

Alistair, a dragon shifter who was cursed by his fairy godmother until he learned his lessons and of course, until his princess broke the curse, was too nice, I almost wanted to curse his fairy godmother for cursing him. :) And Ana, a brave princess, should have shown more proofs that she is indeed brave. Aside from willingly offering herself to come with Alistair in exchange for the safety of her kingdom, and fighting her betrothed Prince, I don't find her other acts as an acts of bravery. Except for the ending, of course. Though the story showed that they've grown as characters, I was expecting for more individually. But I love them anyhow as a duo. They're cute and there were plenty of times, they made me laugh.

So overall, this is a perfect read for me. It's raining here now and what an awesome time for reading such fun cute story that involves magic, romance and like I said an old setting. And DRAGONS!!!

I love you with all of my being, with all that I am.

----Alistair

 

 

 

 

[Rejane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm disappointed in this re-telling. I was hoping for a more "adult_ish" version of the fairy tale. It was more about the heroine adventures. It was almost child safe book if it wasn't for a almost rape scene caused by the heroine's fiancé (it was a scene just thrown in the book, maybe for a shock intention and to make the book the adult version. But instead of making me mad and disgusted I felt very annoyed by it because it was completely out of place) what made the heroine fight back and stab the man many times and the sex scene between the H/h in the end of the book. And honestly, I'm a sucker for epilogues. I love them. I wish for long epilogues. Here, we do get a long one, but completely disappointing. I never thought I'd be so unsatisfied with a long epilogue. Not worth the reading

[Treece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 stars

Another delightful retelling of La Belle et Beast featuring a pair of strong-willed, blue-blood gingers that come together in adventure, magic, and love. What happens is they both end up saving one another. Sprinkle in a kilt, a dragon, fairies, a not-so-charming prince, and what you have is a story that kept and held my interest until the end.

Fun fantasy and fine writing make this a must read for those who love their fairy-tales rebooted with style.

[Jewlsbookblog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty and the Beast was a fun read, but Beast as a Dragon shifter?! That just made my day:)

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of big words does not mean good.

[Tandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Kind of a meh retelling of Beauty & the Beast.

[Sana Zameer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly likable retelling of Beauty and the Beast, where beauty is a princess and a handsome Dragon Shifter prince as beast.

[Neeka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I loved this book. Hated the dad and thought he could get lost.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 🌟🌟 rounded up to 3

Beauty and the Beast with a twist.
Fairly likeable but....
The reader is forewarned that this is a fairy tale for adults and yet, I never expected attempted rape and murder in the very first chapters. And neither one nor the other sat very well with me.

That aside, the Beast is a Dragon shifter who is in fact a very big and grumpy sweetheart and not scary at all. And I did love him.

The princess is our usual Belle with the yearning to learn and independent spirit. But she is also a witch, which sets her out of the usual pattern.
As for her beauty, I am not really sure about that. Because in the beginning she is described as short of stature and with big thighs. But later on she is the most beautiful woman the prince had ever laid eyes on. So you'll have to decide for yourself.

I couldn't really place the story as it has elements belonging both to adult and children's tales and they didn't quite go together very well for me.

But still, I'm rating a 3 because it was not hard to read it and because... Sir Dragon!!!
I honestly loved him.

Check out this review and more over at The Magic Book Corner

[Danelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good one, closer to the actual fairytale than the Disney version, which is a great thing. Not that I don't love the Disney version however...I will stop here because I don't want to give anything away. I recommend it for anyone to read!

[Pamita Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book and enjoyable read!

[✶Rachelle✶ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

Yeah I didn't really get into this.

I felt like the dialogue was SUPER stilted, the heroine got on my nerves, and I felt almost no chemistry between the love interests.

The reason this book gets 2 stars though? DRAGONS DUH

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (11/6/2019)! 🎁

[Taylin Ashlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not enjoyed many beauty and the beast retellings except Stolen Heir but this was so beautifully done ✨

[Gladys Gonzales Atwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore fairy tale retellings. It helps us keep our love for the originals alive. With the renewed fascination of Beauty and the Beast, I believe that older fans would love this rendition of the original tale. Vivianne's portrayal of beauty, Princess Anastasia, and Beast, Prince Allister is impressive. She captured the change of emotions and created characters who are both likable and endearing.

In this rendition, a dragon is terrorizing Princess Anastasia's father's kingdom. With reason of course. The Queen is ill and needs a special rose that only blooms in the dragon's realm to save her. The King tirelessly sends scouts to retrieve this mythical rose but is thwarted by the dragon. Soooooooo... he does what he think is best and sends dragon slayers to bring down the beast and capture this elusive rose.

Faithful to the original story, we have magic, a mystical home that is alive and a surly beast that needs to find true love. In this, I was entranced. I did enjoy Savage's retelling and highly recommend it to the adult lovers of The Beauty and the Beast!!

5 Stars and a tip of my Nerd Girl hat.

*This review was done in conjunction with Nerd Girl Official.

[A.J. Tipton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a cute romp of a book. The writing style is simple, sometimes a little awkward, and there are multiple typos. The plot is also utterly predictable from beginning to end, with some Disney B&B nods that border on straight-up-copy, and the characters are pretty-much the cookie-cutter expectations of a fantasy heroine princess pushing against the gender expectations of her super conservative family, and the uber-warrior hero who must learn humility. The book also totes itself as "Adult", but the book is so closely parallel of so many identical YA retellings of B&B that when the "adult" moments appear (attempted rape, attempted murder, explicit sex, explicit murder, etc), it feels forced and jarringly out of place. And yet, despite ALL of this, I really did enjoy this book. It was cute and fun and a lovely distraction and escape from all the terrible news going on in the world. And three cheers always for authors who find ways to integrate shifter stories into classical fairy stories, with the tropes and expectations blending in delightful ways for a complete and exciting tale.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy* · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars

Tamika,

This was a rather nice retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Honestly, I really enjoyed most of it. The issues that took it to 3 stars instead of 4 stars is the ending. I felt the ending wasn't as well done as the rest of the story.

[Emmy Rayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was entertaining and through most of the story I couldn't put it down and kept turning the page to see what was next. The plot was mediocre, the writing was descriptive but kinda lackluster, the only character I liked was the beast (Prince Alistair) everyone else I didn't care about at all. I will say the one thing done right was that Anastasia though completely stupid and unable to pick up on clues and hints that were right in front of her and also completely unable to mind her own fucking business was strong at times and could defend herself in situations she needed to much and that I did appreciate. However, everything else was meh I didn't really care making this a two star rating.

[Elin Eriksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty And The Beast fantasy reimagination

Intriguing and compelling variation of Beauty And The Beast, I had a hard time putting it down.

The Beast is a shape-shifter that has lost his ability to shift after a fairy cast a spell on him, only true love can save him.

Princesse Anastasia's father, the King, sends countless warriors to slay the dragon because he wants the rose from his garden that can cure his wife from madness.

Recommend

Rated: M

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lackluster. Despite being a non-traditional take on the mythos, it relied heavily on the reader's presumed familiarity with the tale rather than doing its own legwork. Also, the protagonist assumes that she's murdered someone and has no real emotional response to that? He was a piece of shit, but still? And it's a sexually charged book from the start, but nothing actually happens until after the Kill The Beast segment of the book is totally over? What kind of pacing is that?

[Orsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddig talán ez volt a kedvenc Szépség és a szörnyeteg ihlette regényem. Volt néhány apróság amit erőltetettnek éreztem (ezért is vontam le egy csillagot) de összeségében könnyű és gyors olvasmány volt. Ha még látok az írónőtől regényeket valószínűleg örömmel veszem majd a kezembe. Aki szereti a Szépség és szörnyeteget az szerintem ezt is kedvelni fogja. 4/5⭐️


This may have been my favorite Beauty and the Beast inspired novel so far. There were a few things that felt forced (that's why I deducted a star), but overall it was an easy and quick read. If I see more novels by the author, I will probably be happy to pick them up. If you like Beauty and the Beast, I think you will also like this. 4/5⭐️

[✨AimaraBooks✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kinda liked it, I especially liked the magical aspects of the storyline though I wish that was a bit more developed.
The thing with this book, what made me give it 2 stars, besides the eye rolling in several occasions, is that for the most part it's just bland and quite frankly forgettable.

[BigComfyChairBookReviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting and fun read. I’ve probably read a dozen Beauty & the Beast retellings and this one stands out nicely. It maybe isn’t the best, but it is certainly unique and memorable. I liked both the main characters. I thought the author could've gone a little deeper with the feelings and darker with the action, but it held my interest. It's a light read. It has a very ya feel, but for 1 sex scene at the end and a hint in the middle. Something this author has done in several of her books, that I have read, is interrupt the sex with the insecurities or naïveté of the heroine. It completely takes you out of the mood when they have to ask "am I doing this right?" But, I enjoyed it and I'll read it again probably. WARNING: there is sex in this book, it is not erotica, but enough to be a steamy & hot adult romance. Blackstream usually sticks to just 1 scene towards the end of each book. Please do not read if you are looking for something PG. Romance-4/5 Steaminess-3/5 Explicitness-3/5

[Camille]

I was seduced into reading this Beauty and the Beast retelling by the beautiful cover and was unaware it contained mature content until I’d already become invested in the story, which required me to skip several scenes in order to progress the plot.

From the parts of the story I was able to read, the writing was lovely, and I enjoyed both Princess Anastasia and her magical powers, as well as the dragon shifter Alastair. Overall the plot was creative and their relationship cute, though the aspects from the dreams were too lust based for me, which I found problematic and uncomfortable, though I understand that this aspect of the romantic development is a matter of personal taste.

While I enjoyed the author’s writing style, unfortunately, the mature content will keep me from reading any more.

[Treena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good, fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with a dragon shifter prince as the Beast. Nicely done.

[Bella - · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best retelling of Beauty and the Beast, it was nice, an average romance story. Pros: I am a sucker for dreamwalkers, It smoothes me with pleasure. Also a dragonshifter; yes please!

[Chyina Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love fairy tale retellings. I have read many different versions of Beauty and the Beast but this is the first adaptation that includes dragons.

But hopefully not the last.

Prince Alistair was cursed to remain in his dragon form after he sought revenge for the devastation of his kingdom. Revenge is all well and good but his grandmother knows that many of the people he slaughtered were innocents, not the ones who murdered his parents. He is given 13 years to find someone who loves him. Find love or die.

Princess Anastasia has always longed to go to school, and her father has promised that he would allow it. Yet, when war begins thanks to her father's well-meaning and misguided attempts to save his wife from madness, he comes up with a new plan, marry her off to the prince of a family known for slaying dragons. Her new family doesn't allow women autonomy and they certainly don't allow women to attend school. Anastasia is heartbroken. And when her betrothed tries to rape her the night before their wedding, Ana takes matters into her own hands, stabbing him and escaping.

Where can she go?

This story is vibrant and poignant. It was so unique and captivating, I often forgot that it was meant to be a retelling, which is hard to do with a story as famous as this one. It was magical and whimsical and more heartfelt than other Beauty and the Beast stories I have read.

[Susan Harrowa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent version of an old favorite!

If you're a fan of retellings if the classic fairy tales or simply a fan of dragon lore, then I highly recommend this book. If you like both then I'd considered it an absolute must read. It has colorful characters, that range from good to evil. And the story telling itself is creative and elicits emotions ranging from happy, to sad to angry and despair. And a good dose of magic never hurts either. Pick it up and give it a read. I promise you won't be disappointed.

[Peg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adult version of the fairy tale

I enjoyed reading this newer version of Beauty and the Beast. I liked that Anastasia and Alistair worked slowly towards falling in love rather than the fast paced books that are on the market these days. It made the story more believable. You have strong women who aren't afraid to stand up and defend those who they love, and of course the alpha sexy shifter who loves them back. Great rendition of a childhood story. Yes, I recommend this book.