Welcome to my stop for Beauty’s Beast by Amanda Ashley. Please be sure to check out the other tour stops and don’t forget to enter the Tour-Wide giveaway where you could win one of Three Paperback Copies of BEAUTY’S BEAST by Amanda Ashley.
Book Review:
A paranormal retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairytale, Amanda Ashley adds a few twists to the characters and events to present her story.
Kristine was a victim of unfortunate circumstances, and awaiting her own hanging on charges of murder. At first her motives are a bit self-serving, willing to take a chance on the man who purchases her freedom, even though he is behind a mask. But, her outlook and her attitude are solidly immature, bemoaning her shorn hair and looks, and her initial emotional depth is that of a puddle. She does improve, slightly, but she should have demanded I see her as smart, confident and strong from the start.
Eric is a bit of a dichotomy as well – his initial curse and ‘resolution’ just don’t mesh, and he doesn’t seem to have a preponderance of ‘deep thoughts’ about his situation or remedying it: except impregnate Kristine and thus be able to return to his solitude. There wasn’t a clear solid path for redemption for him that ever appeared, unlike the fairy tale it references.
Their relationship, early on, was well developed and realistic: their conversations seemed to work even if the intimacy was strangely absent, and Kristine was starting to see a Man behind the strangeness in her new life. And then – it went left. Or right. Random magical and paranormal events and elements that only served to take from the growing relationship, either overblown in their influence or left without explanation or conclusion. If there isn’t a conclusion or a purpose – it had no business in the story. Unfortunately, with so much being thrown in and added to the story with just a third or so left, the relationship and it’s development halted when these elements appeared to take precedence, and the relationship started to feel stilted and forced. Conversation deteriorated and felt unnatural, the loose ends in the story were frustrating, and the conclusion was an expected one, without any twist or surprise. What could have been a great story had the majority of the paranormal / magical elements been utilized earlier, properly and were well explained, stuck in a mostly enjoyable but not without issues level.
Title: Beauty's Beast
Author: Amanda Ashley
Genre: Historical Romance
Published by: Kensington, Zebra
Format:eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Pages: 352
Rated:
Heat:
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Fair of face and figure, Kristine is young, innocent, pure. Yet she has been condemned to the gallows for killing a man. The only one who can save her is a lord so infamous that some say he is the son of the Devil himself…
And the Beast
Erik Trevayne is called the Demon Lord of Hawksbridge Castle, but few know of the curse he lives under. Or the terrifying changes slowly gnawing away at his humanity. When he weds her, all he wants of Kristine is a son. But when he beds her, a wild hope is born—that love that can tame even the most monstrous of beasts...
A copy of this title was provided via Publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
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