#lyonneriley

5 Stars!!

Thanks to Lyonne Riley for an ARC of this book. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was so cute!!

I liked this spin on Beauty and the Beast, especially the way that Rupert stayed a monster and how that result came about.

I did roll my eyes a little at Rupert because dude became kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, even though he had both Kellen and Peony telling him to knock it off. But the flipside is that he had both Kellen and Peony telling him he was being a butt and then Peony didn't back down. I laughed at Kellen's behavior whenever Rupert messed up and how he told him off. I did like that before Rupert went sideways, and after Kellen kicked his butt about the dinner, he started trying to show stuff to Peony. He was still afraid but at least at the manor he was participating. The calm moments when they were cooking in the kitchen were so sweet, and I loved how playful he was with it.

Peony was great. It was unfortunate what happened with Andy, and I did like that she decided to start trying to reach out again, even if she was scared. I did like her determination to make it work, even if her aunt was a witch about "helping" (I liked Rupert's anger about it honestly...granted that was after he'd realized his feelings but he was still upset at her aunt). I liked the friendship she struck up with Kellen. And at the end, I liked her not walking away when Rupert was being stupid.

The situation with Andy felt both like it had been coming the whole time (I figured he was going to show up at some point), but also like it was slightly shoehorned in. I did think that things were going to go south when she ran into Mandy, but I really hope it was a slip because Mandy didn't know rather than an intentional "I found her for you". Even though it was bad, I liked the way Rupert handled the situation and the fact that he listened to Peony instead of doing what he wanted.

Book released March 20, 2026

Other reviews:

Storygraph