Wendy reviews The Beauty of the Beast by Gabbi Grey. Self published May 14, 2024, 312 pages.
Dean
All my life, I dreamed about making the long trip from Australia to Canada to study forestry amid the old-growth stands of the Pacific Northwest. Now here I am, living the dream. Of course, nothing’s perfect. The only housing I can find is renting a room from a grumpy, reclusive guy who doesn’t seem to want me around. I should keep out of his way and focus on my studies, but there’s something about him that keeps drawing me in. I feel less homesick when I’m with him, and maybe I can make a difference for more than just the trees.
Adam
Life as I knew it ended with my horrific accident ten years ago. There’s no point to my existence now, but I can’t seem to stop living, so I hide my battered carcass in my mountain home. There, I can wander from room to room and no one stares, no one laughs, no one even remembers I exist. Until I make the mistake of offering a stranded Aussie a room to rent. It should’ve been a simple favor—two men with our own spaces, ignoring each other. Instead, he’s always close by, and he won’t let me wallow, and what’s worse, I think I’m starting to like that. But there’s no way someone like me can have a future with someone like him. Right?
The Beauty of the Beast is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in the wilds of British Columbia, where an Aussie forester a long way from home falls for the untouchable man he shouldn’t want. The novel has moderate angst, a feisty foreigner, and what happens when someone trusts again.
*A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review
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The engine in my little rental car revved as I pushed her harder.
Maybe I should’ve left her on the street. Except we continued to climb. I was decent at judging distances, and by the time we pulled into a clearing, I’d say we’d gone several hundred meters, if not half a kilometer. Was this a road? I hadn’t seen any pull-offs or other driveways. So the guy owns all this land?
Wow.
The house was…spectacular. Like it had stepped off the pages of a French Gothic novel. It resembled a chateau with gray stone walls, a dark-gray slate roof, and even a turret. Here? In a British Columbian forest? Someone had way too much time and money on their hands.
Maddox pulled into a mini parking lot next to an SUV.
I parked next to him and got out.
We met behind the vehicles.
He met my gaze. “So Ravi told me that he said a bit about Adam’s past. Just…don’t ask questions. I’d say don’t search either, but you seem like a curious guy.”
I wasn’t certain how to take that. I could certainly be respectful, if that was what was required of me.
“Ravi and the kids aren’t getting out. The fewer people Adam sees, the better, I think.”
“Ah.” At that moment, I was tempted to drive back to Mission City and take a room in the Grand Hotel. A strange sense of foreboding overtook me.
The massive oak front door opened, and a man stepped out, his head turned, looking sideways at us.
I tried to take him in all at once, while also not staring.
He was fair, with almost an English complexion, rosy cheeks and pale skin. His medium-brown hair was shaved close at the sides, but long on top—brushed back from his forehead in an artless manner. He’d left his sideburns long, which made me tingle at the masculine contrast on his fair skin. He hadn’t shaved in a while, and I wondered how prickly that scruff would be. His nose was almost cute on his face, but those lips were full. Kissable. Pillowy puffy redness. All in all, he was handsome—but in an utterly masculine way. Then he faced us, and I realized what Maddox had been hinting at.
An angry, mottled scar, probably from a burn, twisted most of the left side of his face.
Why I read this book: Anytime I have the chance to read a Gabbi Grey book, you bet I’m jumping all over that. Bonus… I get to revisit some of my most favorite characters from Mission City!
This fairytale retelling is probably one of the best stories I’ve read in a long time. It’s very well thought out and written in a way that is truly head and shoulders above so many others that I’ve read. Some of Gabbie’s best work right here folks!
Dean is an absolute charmer. I hope this will come out on audio so I can hear his Aussie accent and see if it fits what I have going on in my head for him hahaha. I try really hard to not give away spoilers, but I have to share a scene that really stuck with me. It was at the beginning of the book, so it shouldn’t give too much away… Dean is newly arrived to Mission City for a job that he’s come overseas for. He’s tired and hungry and thinks he can go to this diner and grab a bite before going to the basement apartment that he’s prearranged months ago and collapse. That doesn’t happen. He gets bad news from his landlady and this… this is the part that stuck with me… I could actually feel his dread and anxiety when he finds out he has no place to stay and no good prospects for a replacement. I mean, I really sucked in my breath and held it because I was worried. That’s how connected I felt to him right away from the beginning. He’s a really great character.
Well, things take a turn to his favor and we’re off!
Adam was a little different than Dean and by that I mean total opposite lol. He struck me as spoiled, vain and arrogant and while I felt for his situation, I needed to warm up to him a little bit. I knew that he must have redeeming qualities because he has this incredible puppy named Chip that he loves and takes care of and really, if you have it in you to give that kind of care to your furbaby then you can’t be all bad. But let me tell you just in case you don’t already know this… Gabbi is the Queen of tragic characters and Adam had more going on than a scar or two. Watching him grow into friendship and then more with Dean as well as seeing him heal and learn to live again was a bit of magic all on its own.
This story right here should be your next weekend read. If you’re close to the beach and it’s warm where you are then it should be your beach read.
10/10 Pots of Gold or 100% recommended
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
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