Beastly Beauty

One last robbery. That’s all he needed. Fleeing the authorities, the group of bandits stumble upon a castle, where a feast is laid in a great hall. After the thieves had their fill, their greediness overtook their gratitude, and they began to pillage the great hall. When the beast showed up, it was every man for himself, and Beau was left behind, a sacrifice for the greater good.

What he found was a spoiled, selfish girl surrounded by a court of ladies who were the same. Escaping the way he’d come was out—the gang had destroyed the bridge as they fled. Looking for a way out and avoiding Arabella became his pastime… until… something changed. As he began to understand her past, filled with an interest in architecture and a disinterest in being a subservient wife, he began to see there was more to the beauty, and the beast.

The pacing starts slow, but if readers can make it a third of the way, the story picks up. The gender swap is intriguing, and the enemies to friends trope fits well. While this story follows more closely to Disney’s version than the original French tale, it is worth the read.