What do you think?
Rate this book
His Beauty
An act of sacrifice and the consequences that follow.
When Isla’s father doesn’t return home on time, she’s certain something is wrong. A deft pickpocket his whole life, it’s unlike him to take so long on a run. It isn’t until her sister informs her of where he went that Isla understands just how much danger he’s put himself in.
Highburn Hold.
The castle no man or woman dare enter on their own. Ruled by a bloodthirsty abomination with a cruel streak and penchant for imprisonment. Finding her sickly father locked in one of the cells in Highburn’s dungeon, she knows in order to save him, she must offer the beast something else.
Something her father cannot.
Something the beast is hungry for.
When Isla’s father doesn’t return home on time, she’s certain something is wrong. A deft pickpocket his whole life, it’s unlike him to take so long on a run. It isn’t until her sister informs her of where he went that Isla understands just how much danger he’s put himself in.
Highburn Hold.
The castle no man or woman dare enter on their own. Ruled by a bloodthirsty abomination with a cruel streak and penchant for imprisonment. Finding her sickly father locked in one of the cells in Highburn’s dungeon, she knows in order to save him, she must offer the beast something else.
Something her father cannot.
Something the beast is hungry for.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 17, 2020
74 people are currently reading
1929 people want to read
About the author
Jack Harbon
23 books407 followersJack Harbon (she/they) is a nonbinary transfem author writing everything from romance to erotica to horror—or sometimes a mix of all three. If she’s not scribbling down notes on one of her thousands of book ideas, she’s shopping for yet another doll to add to her collection, crocheting, or watching scary movies. Follow her on all socials @JackHarbonBooks!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 266 reviews
December 20, 2020
this sexy beauty and the beast retelling saved 2020
March 29, 2021
This was so fun! It's a quick novella and a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Isla trades her life for her father when he's caught trespassing and taken prisoner by the beast. Beast is an actual beast, fur and all, which was new for me. I actually forgot he was a literal beast most of the time, so I didn't mind. This was pretty steamy and I was actually rooting for Isla and the beast to be together in the end!
November 27, 2020
SO GOOD!! This was such a great Beauty and the Beast retelling. I’ll admit it wasn’t quite as smutty as I was expecting, but the sex was still fire. I’m gonna need Jack Harbon to write more fairytale retellings please!
July 19, 2021
If you liked the beauty and the beast movie I’m almost certain you will like this. This version of Belle (Isla) is a badass btw 😌 however I totally think it should have been longer I found the relationship development a bit lacking.
May 23, 2021
This is nothing like the Disney version and honestly I am glad for it.
A Beauty and the Beast retelling where Beauty (Isla in the book) kicks ass and takes names, has agency, there aren't evil (step)sisters, and the Beast is still broody and grumpy AND apologizes for being an abusive jackass?! Sign me up. AND IT HAS A LOVELY LIBRARY SCENE 😭🥺
The only thing that kinda confused me was all the references to God/a holy power. This is FAR from religious fiction and I am not sure which time period the book is set (1800s???), so maybe I am just clueless about the genre.
And His Beauty is a monster/dark romance, so it definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea. I didn't even know it was MINE, until now.
Content warning: violence, on-page sex, interspecies sex, murder (it's justified tbh), kidnapping, animal death (off page), familial death, gendered slurs, and threats of sexual violence
A Beauty and the Beast retelling where Beauty (Isla in the book) kicks ass and takes names, has agency, there aren't evil (step)sisters, and the Beast is still broody and grumpy AND apologizes for being an abusive jackass?! Sign me up. AND IT HAS A LOVELY LIBRARY SCENE 😭🥺
The only thing that kinda confused me was all the references to God/a holy power. This is FAR from religious fiction and I am not sure which time period the book is set (1800s???), so maybe I am just clueless about the genre.
And His Beauty is a monster/dark romance, so it definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea. I didn't even know it was MINE, until now.
Content warning: violence, on-page sex, interspecies sex, murder (it's justified tbh), kidnapping, animal death (off page), familial death, gendered slurs, and threats of sexual violence
April 25, 2021
This Beauty and the Beast retelling was def NOT what I was craving 💀
July 16, 2021
✨Beauty and the Beast retelling where the beast stays a beast✨
(Coincidentally, I'm watching season 2 of Beastars, an anime about anthropomorphic animals 👀)
I wouldn’t want to be on this heroine’s bad side during a fight, that’s for sure. The amount of violence in this was surprising... but I liked it.
Also, Jack Harbon thanking ExpressVPN in the acknowledgments for his questionable Google searches is GOLD. I need to read more from him!!
(Coincidentally, I'm watching season 2 of Beastars, an anime about anthropomorphic animals 👀)
I wouldn’t want to be on this heroine’s bad side during a fight, that’s for sure. The amount of violence in this was surprising... but I liked it.
Also, Jack Harbon thanking ExpressVPN in the acknowledgments for his questionable Google searches is GOLD. I need to read more from him!!
February 13, 2021
:(((((
November 12, 2020
I deeply enjoyed this. Jack instantly caught my attention because somehow I just couldn't stop reading it. Isla and Beast were so layered and interesting since the beginning, it was nice to see them piece by piece with every chapter that I read.
As soon as Jack said His Beauty was a Beauty and the Beast retelling with no "turning himself into a human at the end" kinda romance, I was LETS GOOOOO. Yup, monster romance right here. Beast is... a beast. I think I screamed "OMG!!!" so much while I was reading this book and it was the best experience ever. I needed this book in my life! Thank you Jack for writing this and making my day.
I love Isla just want to point that out. The journey!! HER JOURNEY IN THIS BOOK!! My beastly queen.
As soon as Jack said His Beauty was a Beauty and the Beast retelling with no "turning himself into a human at the end" kinda romance, I was LETS GOOOOO. Yup, monster romance right here. Beast is... a beast. I think I screamed "OMG!!!" so much while I was reading this book and it was the best experience ever. I needed this book in my life! Thank you Jack for writing this and making my day.
I love Isla just want to point that out. The journey!! HER JOURNEY IN THIS BOOK!! My beastly queen.
June 4, 2021
I am a sucker for any type of beauty and the beast retelling. Here The beauty( Elsa) makes a deal with the beast to save her father. I am not sure of the era but the setting and dialogues look pretty modern. I liked the feisty Elsa and surprisingly we do not get any transformed prince in the end.
It was a decent read for a novella but nothing special for a ' Beauty and the Beast retelling '.
It was a decent read for a novella but nothing special for a ' Beauty and the Beast retelling '.
November 23, 2020
This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling where the Beast stays a beast. That premise will either immediately hook you or it won't. I was in the “need it now” camp when the author announced it on Twitter and I’m thrilled to say this was a magnificent monster romance.
The Beast was so beastly in every way and I absolutely wanted him. I suspect my childhood crush on the Fox in Robin Hood plays a part in this, along with the Disney version of BATB. There’s just something compelling about literal animal instincts and I’m not going to question my love of monster romance. Team Horns is going to be very happy about one specific scene. This novella is HOT!
Now, are there loose threads and underdeveloped plot lines? Yes. But it mattered not because of the hotness and because of the heroine’s arc. Her evolution is the reason for reading this story. I bow down to Isla! I don’t want to spoil one part of what happens so just enjoy the ride.
This was a bit more violent than I expected. There are two men who threaten to rape Isla but she manages to escape and kill them. Then there’s a violent mob storming the manor and those descriptions got a bit gorey for my taste. But it was cathartic to watch them kill the bad guys so the way it was written made complete sense.
This did not adhere to every beat of BATB, for which I was glad. But Harbon still gives us a great library scene and so many great moments of the Beast in all his glory. I absolutely loved it!
Character notes: The Beast of Highburn (also known as Lowen Lovell) is described as having a “lion-like head, protruding snout, downward curved white horns, and startlingly human eyes.” His eyes “glow an unnatural shade of yellow” and he has black claws that retract into his paws. He is indeed a beast.
CW: death of father on-page (some kind of stomach ailment), grief, imprisonment, sexual harassment, threat of rape, murder in self-defense, attempted strangulation (heroine is able to break away), mob violence, bestiality (although is it bestiality if the beast is sentient and consents?), gaslighting and threat of institutionalization by secondary characters, sword fight, reference to possible infertility due to cross-species issues, threat of suicide, wolf attack (one wolf is killed in self-defense), past death of parents, hero’s father abused his mother, reference to past death of a child
The Beast was so beastly in every way and I absolutely wanted him. I suspect my childhood crush on the Fox in Robin Hood plays a part in this, along with the Disney version of BATB. There’s just something compelling about literal animal instincts and I’m not going to question my love of monster romance. Team Horns is going to be very happy about one specific scene. This novella is HOT!
Now, are there loose threads and underdeveloped plot lines? Yes. But it mattered not because of the hotness and because of the heroine’s arc. Her evolution is the reason for reading this story. I bow down to Isla! I don’t want to spoil one part of what happens so just enjoy the ride.
This was a bit more violent than I expected. There are two men who threaten to rape Isla but she manages to escape and kill them. Then there’s a violent mob storming the manor and those descriptions got a bit gorey for my taste. But it was cathartic to watch them kill the bad guys so the way it was written made complete sense.
This did not adhere to every beat of BATB, for which I was glad. But Harbon still gives us a great library scene and so many great moments of the Beast in all his glory. I absolutely loved it!
Character notes: The Beast of Highburn (also known as Lowen Lovell) is described as having a “lion-like head, protruding snout, downward curved white horns, and startlingly human eyes.” His eyes “glow an unnatural shade of yellow” and he has black claws that retract into his paws. He is indeed a beast.
CW: death of father on-page (some kind of stomach ailment), grief, imprisonment, sexual harassment, threat of rape, murder in self-defense, attempted strangulation (heroine is able to break away), mob violence, bestiality (although is it bestiality if the beast is sentient and consents?), gaslighting and threat of institutionalization by secondary characters, sword fight, reference to possible infertility due to cross-species issues, threat of suicide, wolf attack (one wolf is killed in self-defense), past death of parents, hero’s father abused his mother, reference to past death of a child
January 25, 2021
OKAY, this was such a great beauty and the beast retelling!!
I love how unique the author made this story, but also added little elements here and there from the original tale!
This was my first Jack Harbon book, and it for sure won't be my last!
I love how unique the author made this story, but also added little elements here and there from the original tale!
This was my first Jack Harbon book, and it for sure won't be my last!
Read
December 15, 2021I don't know how to rate this.
It was entertaining tho.
It was entertaining tho.
April 12, 2021
Una lectura... distinta.
Es el primer retelling de La Bella y la Bestia que leo donde la bestia permanece en ModoBestia© hasta el final. En la teoría esto da para un romance más sincero; no hay expectativas de cambio, rupturas de maldiciones ni transformaciones físicas mágicas. Sólo amor desinteresado y alejado de la banalidad.
En la práctica, se parece demasiado al bestialismo. Sobre todo considerando que hay algunas escenas con descripciones anatómicas que rayan lo bizarro.
No es el peor retelling que he leído, ni de lejos, pero honestamente podía vivir el resto de mi vida sin saber como se esconden los testículos "humanoides" de la Bestia en su pelaje. Gracias.
Es el primer retelling de La Bella y la Bestia que leo donde la bestia permanece en ModoBestia© hasta el final. En la teoría esto da para un romance más sincero; no hay expectativas de cambio, rupturas de maldiciones ni transformaciones físicas mágicas. Sólo amor desinteresado y alejado de la banalidad.
En la práctica, se parece demasiado al bestialismo. Sobre todo considerando que hay algunas escenas con descripciones anatómicas que rayan lo bizarro.
No es el peor retelling que he leído, ni de lejos, pero honestamente podía vivir el resto de mi vida sin saber como se esconden los testículos "humanoides" de la Bestia en su pelaje. Gracias.
April 4, 2021
Beauty and the Beast retellings are my favorite fairy tale retellings and this one sadly didn’t live up to the hype I had heard for it. This is a very scene-by-scene retelling almost of a BaTB movie, and since it’s a novella the scenes just felt like a lot happening & not fully developed for me to enjoy. The character development and dialogue were also lacking for me. I had read this author’s previous story, Meet Cute Club, last year and had really enjoyed it so I was expecting more here. The Beast was actually the best part of this novella...I didn’t mind that he was actually a Beast the entirety of the story.
September 25, 2021
Weirdly nice.
June 26, 2021
This is a really great BATB retelling with an interesting twist: the beast stays a beast. I’m so here for this monster romance twist on a story we all know and love, with plenty of 🔥🔥🔥 thrown in as well. I also loved how fierce Isla is. She’s probably the strongest “Belle” character I’ve ever read about. Highly recommend and I can’t wait to read more from Jack Harbon ASAP!
Read
June 8, 2021DNF 67%
January 6, 2021
Leigh convinced me to read this as a newly minted member of the Horns and Claws Club and it did not disappoint. Give me more BatB retellings in which the Beast is actually beastly and doesn’t turn into some boring hornless man at the end!
Seriously though, this isn’t just worth checking out for the horny bedroom scenes (haha don’t mind me I’m obsessed this morning) but also for the stellar handling of Isla’s character development. The way she processes her situation is complex and satisfying - this is a story that puts power dynamics front and centre. She understands that she is extraordinarily vulnerable, that her determination to be herself, to *own* her choices comes at risk, not only from the Beast but from the world at large. This version of the story puts that front and centre, and gives her a way to fall in love without sublimating her selfhood or her agency that I adored. It’s violent and gory at the end, but Jack Harbon gets the balance of love and anger just right.
It only loses something for me in the prose style which ebbs and flows in terms of quality and control. I know from my previous Harbon read that this can be a deal breaker if the story doesn’t work for me. But His Beauty has convinced me I should keep reading him, and finding the books of his that do work for me.
Seriously though, this isn’t just worth checking out for the horny bedroom scenes (haha don’t mind me I’m obsessed this morning) but also for the stellar handling of Isla’s character development. The way she processes her situation is complex and satisfying - this is a story that puts power dynamics front and centre. She understands that she is extraordinarily vulnerable, that her determination to be herself, to *own* her choices comes at risk, not only from the Beast but from the world at large. This version of the story puts that front and centre, and gives her a way to fall in love without sublimating her selfhood or her agency that I adored. It’s violent and gory at the end, but Jack Harbon gets the balance of love and anger just right.
It only loses something for me in the prose style which ebbs and flows in terms of quality and control. I know from my previous Harbon read that this can be a deal breaker if the story doesn’t work for me. But His Beauty has convinced me I should keep reading him, and finding the books of his that do work for me.
December 29, 2020
I am such a sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings and when I saw that Jack Harbon wrote one, a novella no less, I knew I had to read it for Smutathon.
It did not disappoint.
This book stood apart from all the other retellings I've read. It was short and steamy and graphic and even brutal sometimes, and I loved every second of it.
Did I mention that The Beast was never a human in this book? Nope. He was full beast the entire time. We love a good taboo Beauty and the Beast retelling that somehow works. Perhaps my favorite part of the book was when Jack thanked Katee Robert in the acknowledgments for giving him the inspiration to write and publish a novel that tapped into his dark and taboo side.
It did not disappoint.
This book stood apart from all the other retellings I've read. It was short and steamy and graphic and even brutal sometimes, and I loved every second of it.
Did I mention that The Beast was never a human in this book? Nope. He was full beast the entire time. We love a good taboo Beauty and the Beast retelling that somehow works. Perhaps my favorite part of the book was when Jack thanked Katee Robert in the acknowledgments for giving him the inspiration to write and publish a novel that tapped into his dark and taboo side.
December 9, 2020
4 1/2 STARS Horny yet sweet BaTB and he never returns to a human form? Yes, please.
did-not-finish
June 19, 2021dnf @ 42% | idk man i just cannotttt bring myself to care, so rather than skimming through this and leaving a bad rating i‘m just gonna DNF right here
April 11, 2021
I loved this so much more that I was expecting to!!!
Considering how much I love Fairytale Retellings, and how harsh I can be with Beauty and the Beast titles in particular, I went into this one hopeful, but not expecting much. I GOT A MUCH BETTER BOOK THAN I EXPECTED AND I AM HAPPY TO BE WRONG!!!
Isla is an amazingly strong Belle type character. Not only is she mentally and emotionally strong, she is also physically strong, and I adore the way her character was written for that. So often, the Belle type characters are written so helpless and "damsel in distress" that I have a hard time with them. Harbon did an amazing job with Isla, and I was truly surprised by that.
Beast was also really well depicted. You see how he came to be the way that he is of course, but you also see his hurts, and the way he defended himself to a point that he became beastly before the curse throughout the course of the novel. I also feel like we truly start to see him change and grow throughout the story, and I feel like that part isn't always so clear and easy to see as it was here. You see him truly listen to Isla and start to make changes in not only how he treats her, but how he treats others around him. and I loved that so much. I also love that Beast isn't magically turned back into a human. The more permanent nature of his curse is something that I think is better suited to the story.
So, thank you Jack Harbon for truly giving me characters to love and root for, along with some amazing smutty scenes! I will definitely be reading more from this author!
Considering how much I love Fairytale Retellings, and how harsh I can be with Beauty and the Beast titles in particular, I went into this one hopeful, but not expecting much. I GOT A MUCH BETTER BOOK THAN I EXPECTED AND I AM HAPPY TO BE WRONG!!!
Isla is an amazingly strong Belle type character. Not only is she mentally and emotionally strong, she is also physically strong, and I adore the way her character was written for that. So often, the Belle type characters are written so helpless and "damsel in distress" that I have a hard time with them. Harbon did an amazing job with Isla, and I was truly surprised by that.
Beast was also really well depicted. You see how he came to be the way that he is of course, but you also see his hurts, and the way he defended himself to a point that he became beastly before the curse throughout the course of the novel. I also feel like we truly start to see him change and grow throughout the story, and I feel like that part isn't always so clear and easy to see as it was here. You see him truly listen to Isla and start to make changes in not only how he treats her, but how he treats others around him. and I loved that so much. I also love that Beast isn't magically turned back into a human. The more permanent nature of his curse is something that I think is better suited to the story.
So, thank you Jack Harbon for truly giving me characters to love and root for, along with some amazing smutty scenes! I will definitely be reading more from this author!
April 24, 2021
4.8⭐
I love it in all its weirdness, I only wish the epilogue was longer, the whole book actually 😂😂.
I love it in all its weirdness, I only wish the epilogue was longer, the whole book actually 😂😂.
December 24, 2021
This was so cute! Genuinely surprised by how much more story there was than smut but I’m not complaining. It was really good and took me by surprise!
February 25, 2021
4 “more sweet than spicy” stars
Ok confession I expected to pick this up and have it be spicy. I mean come on, a beauty and the beast retelling but the beast stays in his beast form when they get their freak on? We’ve all thought it. We have. Dont you dare deny it.
But this was surprisingly sweet. Like honey sweet. I needed more spice. And this author definitely is a good writer, I was captured into the story from the start. I wish this was just more porn and less plot. Also it was so quick and I wouldn’t have minded exploring more of this universe.
Ok confession I expected to pick this up and have it be spicy. I mean come on, a beauty and the beast retelling but the beast stays in his beast form when they get their freak on? We’ve all thought it. We have. Dont you dare deny it.
But this was surprisingly sweet. Like honey sweet. I needed more spice. And this author definitely is a good writer, I was captured into the story from the start. I wish this was just more porn and less plot. Also it was so quick and I wouldn’t have minded exploring more of this universe.
December 19, 2020
A lot more story and a lot less smut than I was expecting, but a very enjoyable retelling with an actual beast.
February 20, 2021
I had a good time reading this. I am a total sucker for beauty and the beast trope/retellings set ups. This delivered in a delightful way also he stays a beast so I just love that even more.
July 8, 2021
4.5 stars
I'm just a sucker for retellings holy shit
I'm just a sucker for retellings holy shit
Read
July 4, 2021My first monster-fucking romance and it was... something!
This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling in every sense of the word, you can recognize each scene as it goes by and you can kind of guess what's going to happen next. However, this story is explicit, much more adult, and here, the Beast does not turn back into a human.
Because of the length of the book it was a bit hard for me to see the relationship between the Beauty, Isla, and the Beast evolve from captor/captive to love. I think it shifted a bit too quickly, and the Beast himself was very cruel at first. By the end I did believe in their romance, but perhaps a longer story would have been better.
Call me weird but the sex scenes were really well written? Despite him being... well a Beast, the author described everything well enough that I guess my mind didn't immediately go "beastiality" lol. The two definitely had a lot of sexual chemistry.
All in all, this is an easily recognizable Beauty and the Beast retelling. It was a quick read, with steamy scenes, and I rooted for the protagonist every step of the way. I think perhaps a longer novel would have given proper character and romantic development.
CWs (these are provided at the beginning of the book as well): graphic violence, on-page sex, interspecies sex, murder, kidnapping, animal death, familial death, gendered slurs, and threats of sexual violence.
This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling in every sense of the word, you can recognize each scene as it goes by and you can kind of guess what's going to happen next. However, this story is explicit, much more adult, and here, the Beast does not turn back into a human.
Because of the length of the book it was a bit hard for me to see the relationship between the Beauty, Isla, and the Beast evolve from captor/captive to love. I think it shifted a bit too quickly, and the Beast himself was very cruel at first. By the end I did believe in their romance, but perhaps a longer story would have been better.
Call me weird but the sex scenes were really well written? Despite him being... well a Beast, the author described everything well enough that I guess my mind didn't immediately go "beastiality" lol. The two definitely had a lot of sexual chemistry.
All in all, this is an easily recognizable Beauty and the Beast retelling. It was a quick read, with steamy scenes, and I rooted for the protagonist every step of the way. I think perhaps a longer novel would have given proper character and romantic development.
CWs (these are provided at the beginning of the book as well): graphic violence, on-page sex, interspecies sex, murder, kidnapping, animal death, familial death, gendered slurs, and threats of sexual violence.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 266 reviews