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Rosewood
Deep in the heart of the bayou lives a creature...
Rett
Created by curse, and shrouded in loneliness, the only thing standing between Everett Blackburn and an eternity of unending solitude and sameness, is the irresistible stubbornness of a soldier, lost in a storm.
Noah
Delivered by hurricane to a mansion in the swamps of Louisiana, Noah Hix first fights for his life and then fights for his heart.
Deep in the heart of the bayou, Noah and Rett find what most of us seek - a love the transcends time, and a magic that never really dies. Theirs is no ordinary fairytale, but it still ends with forever.
Rett
Created by curse, and shrouded in loneliness, the only thing standing between Everett Blackburn and an eternity of unending solitude and sameness, is the irresistible stubbornness of a soldier, lost in a storm.
Noah
Delivered by hurricane to a mansion in the swamps of Louisiana, Noah Hix first fights for his life and then fights for his heart.
Deep in the heart of the bayou, Noah and Rett find what most of us seek - a love the transcends time, and a magic that never really dies. Theirs is no ordinary fairytale, but it still ends with forever.
200 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 19, 2020
About the author
A.J. Lange
11 books19 followersAJ Lange pens romance and mystery novels in many sub-genres, but has the most fun writing m/m romance. She lives deep in the Southern Plains and when she’s not devising new ways to describe pectorals, she watercolors, reads, and naps.
She spends way too much time looking up at the stars.
She spends way too much time looking up at the stars.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 16, 2021
Love it ❤
August 9, 2022
DNF 38%
I absolutely didn’t like that the author pretty much detonated her whole premise on this being a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Said Beast wasn’t even beastly and canonically for the worst reason? The witch says she’s not going to punish him by making him too beastly because he’s hot? Like wtf is that
There are some editing mistakes, but the biggest two grievances are: a lot of headhopping and no sense of spatial writing. We flip flop between the three characters way too much that you have to reread the passage again, and more because it’s hard to picture where everything is in relation to each other since the writing is so vague or not specific. The man is under his car about to be alligator chow and suddenly he’s in his car without any thing to tell you how he got there, especially when a big birdman is looming over him. Nothing about the car brushing feathers or lunging into the seat or what
Finally had to give up when it was obvious Noah was just getting a hard on immediately for what was essentially a man made into an ‘angel’ and Everett’s despair/reticence/self loathing pretty much vanishing too fast that it cheapened the whole ‘punishment’ even more
I absolutely didn’t like that the author pretty much detonated her whole premise on this being a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Said Beast wasn’t even beastly and canonically for the worst reason? The witch says she’s not going to punish him by making him too beastly because he’s hot? Like wtf is that
There are some editing mistakes, but the biggest two grievances are: a lot of headhopping and no sense of spatial writing. We flip flop between the three characters way too much that you have to reread the passage again, and more because it’s hard to picture where everything is in relation to each other since the writing is so vague or not specific. The man is under his car about to be alligator chow and suddenly he’s in his car without any thing to tell you how he got there, especially when a big birdman is looming over him. Nothing about the car brushing feathers or lunging into the seat or what
Finally had to give up when it was obvious Noah was just getting a hard on immediately for what was essentially a man made into an ‘angel’ and Everett’s despair/reticence/self loathing pretty much vanishing too fast that it cheapened the whole ‘punishment’ even more
June 22, 2026
I really wish I could give this 5 stars. I loved the main characters and how things developed between them. The plot was interesting and, for most of the book, paced well. I noticed a few grammatical errors and the frequent shifting from one character’s thoughts to another’s made things a bit confusing at times, but that wasn’t a huge deal.
Things got a little rough in the last few chapters. Suddenly all of this new plot was being crammed in and it was chaotic and difficult to follow. The book is only about 200 pages, so it isn’t even approaching overly long, and I think that some space should have been dedicated to establishing those plot points earlier and fleshing them out more.
I still really enjoyed it and the epilogue made me cry. This is the third book that’s ever done that (and I read a lot). It’s a quick read and worth checking out, just be prepared for the last ~30 pages to get hectic.
Things got a little rough in the last few chapters. Suddenly all of this new plot was being crammed in and it was chaotic and difficult to follow. The book is only about 200 pages, so it isn’t even approaching overly long, and I think that some space should have been dedicated to establishing those plot points earlier and fleshing them out more.
I still really enjoyed it and the epilogue made me cry. This is the third book that’s ever done that (and I read a lot). It’s a quick read and worth checking out, just be prepared for the last ~30 pages to get hectic.
October 30, 2020
Wow. The curse, the rose, the pure heart, some wings, some pie, and some bayou magic. Yes please and thank you.
I went into this almost blind, only knew it was a quick read M/M Beauty and the Beast retelling. And you know what? It’s an ACTUAL retelling, not just a grumpy guy with war scars or something. There’s a whole witch curse backstory and everything, i loved it. The writing was choppy here and there but overall very atmospheric.
There’s a lot of tender feelings and yearning and kisses, but mostly fade to black sex scenes (pout)
The MCs are incredibly sweet, lonely boys. Gabe is this endearing odd third wheel to the story and i thought he had his own flame going on for a bit but... hmm.
It went off the rails a bit around the 60% mark, and had a few chapters of crazy-pants. And then the epilogue. Still wiping snot puddles off my face from the surprise tears.
Read this.
I went into this almost blind, only knew it was a quick read M/M Beauty and the Beast retelling. And you know what? It’s an ACTUAL retelling, not just a grumpy guy with war scars or something. There’s a whole witch curse backstory and everything, i loved it. The writing was choppy here and there but overall very atmospheric.
There’s a lot of tender feelings and yearning and kisses, but mostly fade to black sex scenes (pout)
The MCs are incredibly sweet, lonely boys. Gabe is this endearing odd third wheel to the story and i thought he had his own flame going on for a bit but... hmm.
It went off the rails a bit around the 60% mark, and had a few chapters of crazy-pants. And then the epilogue. Still wiping snot puddles off my face from the surprise tears.
Read this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Did Not Finish
July 19, 2022No rating DNF at 27%. The writing was just all over the place in this. The point of view changed from one sentence and paragraph to the next and I could not keep up with whose point of view we were getting. It was almost like third person present tense but not quite. Not sure how to describe it.
June 21, 2020
Started well but then the ending was so badly rushed
August 14, 2020
I love this
You made me cry, so 5 stars. I never cry. I'm gonna have a book hangover for sure. This was an awesome book and I wish I had more.
You made me cry, so 5 stars. I never cry. I'm gonna have a book hangover for sure. This was an awesome book and I wish I had more.
February 1, 2021
An intriguing retelling of Beauty and the beast with a great twist in the end. Characters are interesting, and their world is built well.
August 31, 2026
Absolutely fabulous read! Rett and Noah are so wonderful and I absolutely love their chemistry, story and love.
September 28, 2020
This is one of my absolute favorite Beauty and the Beast MM re-telling by AJ Lange with a twist. The book opens pre-Civil War with a storm preparing to flood the bayou where Everett Blackburn's plantation rests on. After a witch cursed him and his local priest, both men are left behind on the Blackburn plantation isolated from the rest of the world as time goes on.
Poor Noah's car breaks down in the middle of the swamps of Louisiana while he is trying to escape an approaching hurricane. He sees the old abandoned Blackburn House in the distance and tries to get help only to be turned away. After almost dying in the swamp, Noah is rescued by Everett aka "Rett" and taken back to the house to recover. While Noah is there, he discovers the truth about Rett's curse, magic and finds himself unexpectedly falling in love.
Noah has his own scars to deal with after leaving the military and he tries to hide his attraction to the mysterious Rett. I really enjoyed the different POVs of both Noah and Rett as they tried to fight their attraction to the other. The Beast in this story is unlike any other Beast from other re-tellings and Noah is certainly no Belle. His snark, attitude, and sense of humor keep Rett on his toes and provides him with some balance in his life. There is a hard fought HEA along the way. I really enjoyed this book and I think you will too!
Poor Noah's car breaks down in the middle of the swamps of Louisiana while he is trying to escape an approaching hurricane. He sees the old abandoned Blackburn House in the distance and tries to get help only to be turned away. After almost dying in the swamp, Noah is rescued by Everett aka "Rett" and taken back to the house to recover. While Noah is there, he discovers the truth about Rett's curse, magic and finds himself unexpectedly falling in love.
Noah has his own scars to deal with after leaving the military and he tries to hide his attraction to the mysterious Rett. I really enjoyed the different POVs of both Noah and Rett as they tried to fight their attraction to the other. The Beast in this story is unlike any other Beast from other re-tellings and Noah is certainly no Belle. His snark, attitude, and sense of humor keep Rett on his toes and provides him with some balance in his life. There is a hard fought HEA along the way. I really enjoyed this book and I think you will too!
November 17, 2024
Nah coz why was I in tears during that epilogue like wtf 😭😭😭
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews