Carol Beth Anderson

This is a hard book to rate. The beginning is not good. I got the book based on the synopsis, but when I started reading I was not impressed. I read a few reviews trying to figure out why it was so highly rated. A large number of them said if you can get past the beginning, it's a really good book. They were right. The beginning was cheesy. I did not care about the characters at all and couldn't believe anyone could be as naive as the princess. I was ready to throw in the towel around 40%, but I kept going. It was like a different book from the halfway point forward. The action picked up and I was involved in the story. That part of the book gets 4 stars. I settled on 3 just because the whole book wasn't that strong. I haven't decided if I will continue with the series or not.… (más)

I am still listening right now, but this book is fantastic! I love the spin on the normal tale of Beauty and the Beast and to be honest (for me) makes it much more interesting! Beast is ACTUALLY hideous, "Belle" (Aeryn) isn't this magically amazing fantasitcal girl that Disney made her to be. I loved her relationship with her father and how real the author made her feelings to actually be.

The author narrated the story and she did a great job. I loved her voice and hope to see her break more into narration AND writing.

(I was given the audio book for a review, just wish to be transparent!)… (más)

Imagine The Selection, except the prince is a beast and the other contestants are all fae. Of course, we will root for the lone human girl. Because there are fae, you never know who you can trust, but some characters proved to be good and true while others were exactly what you might expect. There were also several love triangles, not my favorite trope, but they absolutely worked for this story. There were moments that felt a lot like The Selection and others that reminded me of Austenland. Were some of the characters planted to weed out deception and unlikely love interests? Or are they all who they say they are?

The world building was very fun. The castle grounds are a bit of Fairie that was transported to earth and hidden from the rest of the world. Fairies have four types of magic, and the first spell a faerie casts determines their specialty. And Aeryn, our favorite human girl, is sensible and loves research. Not quite your typical Belle character, but her love for books is very real.

This was a captivating tale with twists and turns that went all over the place. I found quite a few surprises at the end (even after all the backstabbing was finished). And for those of you concerned about the steam, it's mostly hinted at except for one open door bedroom scene that occurs just after a wedding (and you can easily skip over it if you want to). It was a delightful story. I'm thankful to have been given the opportunity to listen to it.

I was gifted an audio-ARC by the author who did a fabulous job narrating as she does with all of her books. I am reviewing willingly.… (más)