Beauty and the Beast
Timeless Fairy Tales 1
By K. M. Shea

Star Rating: 

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Fairy Tale Retelling
Number of Pages: 272

Date Started: July 6, 2017
Date Finished: July 6, 2017 

Synopsis: (From Amazon)
Once upon a time Elle made a mistake. A small miscalculation sends her through the roof of an enchanted chateau. Stranded until her broken leg mends, Elle is unwillingly forced to rely on the good will of the sour chateau owner —the cursed Prince Severin. Prince Severin—the commanding general and staunch supporter of his brother the crown prince—is cursed to look like a beast until a maiden falls in love with him. He has given up all hope of shattering the curse, and has only disdain for Elle. Unfortunately, the pair can’t seem to avoid each other thanks to the meddling of the chateau’s cursed servants. Eventually Elle’s playful manners and Severin’s hidden gentleness draw the pair together. But not all love stories can end that easily. After all, Elle is not what she seems, and Severin’s life is placed in danger when hostilities flare between his brother and the monarchs of a neighboring country. When Elle risks everything to save Severin, will he be able to forgive her for her lies?

Review:
I love that our Beast looks completely different than any other version of the story I have heard of or read. He’s unique, not entirely threatening, but definitely something that most people wouldn’t be willing to look past without the added bonus of his wealth.

The entwined bits of the original Beauty and the Beast story with Elle’s life made the story more enjoyable. I thought that her family and their life beyond the scope of the story was expertly described without actually being witnessed.

How the curse effected the servants was ingenious and intriguing. I enjoyed the one time encounter with a villager regarding the servants’ condition. Unfortunately, there were several mentions during the third part of the book that made it seem as if the curse wasn’t in effect, with smiles and the way someone’s mouth would turn mentioned.

I don’t enjoy what happens directly after the spell is broken. Severin is supposed to be intelligent, and he’s lived with this curse for years, repeating the stipulations of it to Elle, and yet doesn’t believe what it means.

To be completely honest– I don’t know what I really think of this novel. There were bits that seemed randomly thrown in, as if there needed to be one scene to describe/show something to tie everything together, though they seemed disjointed and not necessarily needed, but the overall story eventually got to where most would expect it to lead.

Author Biography: (From Amazon)
K. M. Shea is a fantasy-romance author who never quite grew out of adventure books or fairy tales, and still searches closets in hopes of stumbling into Narnia. She is addicted to sweet romances, witty characters, and happy endings.

She is also extremely committed to her readers—who have set up their base camp at kmshea.com—and lives in the idyllic Midwest with her furry pet, Perfect Dog.