Author: Ashley Poston
Publication Date: 4 August 2020
Publisher: Quirk Books
Page Count: 288
Reading Method: Physical ARC
Synopsis:
Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.
On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he’s forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.
When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual.
But as Vance and Rosie begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off—and they may just find that there’s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening their hearts.
Review:
A Beauty and the Beast re-imagination with the perfect amount of nerdy references and enemies to lovers vibes. Rosie and Vance’s relationship was so fun to experience. There were so many little moments that gave me the warm and fuzzies. While there were some nods to the Beauty and the Beast story, it wasn’t overwhelming. At times, I forgot the connection was there at all. Looking back, I can definitely see the parallels and am feeling rather silly that I didn’t catch it as I was reading.
Rosie (our Belle character) is a lover of books, a girl who can stand up for herself, and takes no nonsense. Vance (the Beast) is… a jerk. But of course there is more going on beneath the surface. Thought they don’t get along at first, it was really fun to watch their relationship change and grow. Rosie isn’t about to put up with his BS, and he doesn’t know how to handle that.
What Beauty and the Beast story would be complete without an excellent cast of side characters? Garret (Gaston) is absolutely insufferable. His quest to get Rosie to go to homecoming with him is infuriating. But we are blessed with Rosie’s best friends Annie and Quinn, as well as a caring and charismatic father, and Vance’s guardian, Elias. Each of these characters brings a little something special to the story. But my favorite side character HAS to be Sansa, though I have a soft spot for German Shepherds.
I don’t want to get into to too much because I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but I really enjoyed this story and would recommend checking it out! It was so fun and light and easy to read, while serving up all the feels.
You can purchase a copy of Bookish and the Beast here
