| Title | : | By the Book (Meant to Be, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1368053386 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781368053389 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published May 3, 2022 |
Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing right out of college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, living at home, still an editorial assistant, and the only Black employee at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves.
All she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. How hard could it be?
But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy. But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn't there before.
Best-selling author Jasmine Guillory’s reimagining of a beloved fairy tale is a romantic triumph of love and acceptance and learning that sometimes to truly know a person you have to read between the lines.
By the Book (Meant to Be, #2) Reviews
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I always wonder what those of my favorite fairytale characters do in modern world. Does Rapunzel open a hair dresser chains and Sleeping Beauty works for designer company or Snow White prefers a commune life with her dwarves?
Well, “Meant to be “series keep growing on me. Because it gave life to those amazing fairytale characters in the real world!
Firstly “if the shoe fits” attracted my whole attention :the plus size beauty, shoe designed Cindy’s story who works with her evil stepmother was written by Julie Murphy and now one of my truly favorite romance authors : the one and only Jasmine Guillory joins the series with fascinating retelling of my all time favorite Disney story: “Beauty and the Beast”
This time Isabelle ( called as Izzy, but she’s still Belle) works for TAOAT Publishing Company ( acronym for “ Take as Old as Time”)as aspiring editorial assistant doing everything in her power to get the promotion she truly deserves but it seems like the company’s diversity policy remained from ancient times just like its name. She’s the only black girl who tries to prove she’s doing great job as like the other employees of the company, dealing with ultra annoying Gavin’s antics.
When her boss Marta shares her problem about a very popular author who gives the company hard time by not turning his memoir manuscript on time, she accepts the challenge, going to the mansion of the author located in California to negotiate with him face to face!
Of course their first meeting gives us the vibes of two favorite tropes: enemies to lovers and the sunshine meets the grump. That isolated, grumpy, exhausted author Beau is adamant to be big challenge against her promotion. But luckily Izzy doesn’t give up so easily.
As they spend more time together, they realize both of them suffer from their own losses in the past. There are so many common points help them easily connect a true friendship bond. Izzy gets an extension for him to finish the memoir consisting of his bad boy years.
Their attraction and chemistry were palpable. The fairy tale references were perfectly inserted including a magical kettle, a marvelous library, rose garden, Wi-fi password.
The character development was good. Both of the MCs were dealing with their inner demons but they were still strong, likable, connectable characters.
I only get bored because of extra slow burn progression of their romantic involvement. But overall the author did a marvelous job to retell and also adapt this classic fairytale into our modern world love story with representing diversity, inequality at work space, mansplaining.
Giving my 4 magical, heartfelt stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts. -
In this reimagining of Beauty and The Beast, Izzy didn’t think she’d still be living at home, working as an editorial assistant at 25. To prove she deserves a promotion, Izzy takes it upon herself to give a jaded high-profile author a pep talk to push him to complete his late manuscript. Soon these two find they have more in common than they thought. Jasmine’s books are always a treat!
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books about books are like. double the goodness.
this is a rom-com that's also a retelling of a story is a fairytale that is a book that is about books. that's so much good in one thing.
and amazing news: the way this referenced beauty and the beast was really cute. that feels like the most risky part of a retelling. but guess what, flying colors alert, this was a blast.
unfortunately, tragically, and predictably because this is me we're talking about, i liked the beginning a lot and then felt it kinda dragged.
but that might have been me slumping. who knows.
bottom line: a perfect concept that still gave me something to complain about! the dream.
3.5 -
4.5⭐️
Have I told you guys how much I love retellings? There’s just something about seeing some essence of a classic story in a new story. I really really loved this book. Honestly, there’s just something about reading a book about characters who love books.
Izzy’s personality is so bubbly: the perfect match to Beau’s rude, gloomy personality. I loved reading the nice, well-written, transition from a really awkward first interaction to something so adorable by the end. I’m so glad they still both got a good backstory to amplify the romance! They both had struggles that were brilliantly interwoven to look similar, yet each was still unique. It’s essential to connect to characters individually to have a fantastic romance, and this definitely understood the assignment. I'm also a sucker for slow-burn romances, so if the romance was a bit boring for you because it did take a minute, this personally was not a problem for me at all.
Guillory's Wedding Date series has been on pause for me because I wasn’t really connecting with the romances but this one is certainly way up there. I hope to read more like this from her.
Fun fact: I read part of this book while waiting for help for my car that just decided to come to a stop in the middle of the road. So that’s how exciting this book got!! -
i probably should have surmised that this wouldn't be for me since i find books about books pretty boring and usually pretentious, but i needed to read it for a video.
i think i'm getting to know my taste pretty well, and i didn't enjoy this. characters bland. story lacked tension. no sex. -
4 stars
Isabelle is a very positive and optimistic person, but after two years of working her butt off at a publishing house without promotion and still living at home, she's not having the best time. When she overhears her boss complaining about an author who hasn't turned in a manuscript, she jumps at the chance to impress her boss and volunteers to help the author with his writing. Beau Towers is a recluse after having been in the public eye for many years, and when Izzy shows up at his mansion in Santa Barbara, he isn't too pleased. But then he strikes a deal with Izzy, she stays at the mansion with him and helps him, and he will write the book.
I really loved the first book in this series by Julie Murphy which was a Cinderella retelling. The minute I found out book two was a Beauty and the Beast retelling by Jasmine Guillory, I wanted it BAD. And while this book is sweeter than I usually like my romance, it hit all the soft and fuzzy feels in me. It's funny that this is a book about writing books, because Book Lovers by Emily Henry was released the same day and I adored both of these books. I think publishing within romance is a plot point that I really enjoy and wouldn't mind seeing more of in my books. I thought Izzy and Beau had great chemistry, I loved the tension in the beginning that blossomed into romance. And this had all the wonderful little Beauty and the Beast easter eggs sprinkled throughout the story which was such a cute touch.
I very much enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to more from this disney retelling series and hope the next one comes out soon! -
By the Book is the second novel in the Meant to Be series. This is a series of Adult Romance companion novels that are modern re-imaginings of well-loved fairy tales.
Each book is written by a different author and features its own cast of unique characters. These books do not need to be read in order.
With that minor bit of business out of the way, let's get into this story, shall we?
By the Book is Jasmine Guillory's modern-take on the classic Beauty and the Beast; think the Disney version. We follow 25-year old, Isabelle, who is just starting her career in the publishing industry.
Her first job out of college is as an editorial assistant at Tale as Old as Time publishing house. Isabelle, Izzy to her friends, is a charmingly-enthusiastic young woman who cannot wait to prove herself and move up the corporate ladder.
Unfortunately, achieving the success she dreams of is slow going; very slow going. Meanwhile, she's still living with her parents, commuting into the city and struggling to get her boss, Marta, to notice her.
When Izzy overhears Marta complaining about a young male celebrity, Beau Towers, who has failed to turn in a manuscript for his long-awaited memoir, Izzy sees it as an opportunity to get within Marta's good graces.
As luck would have it, she will soon be attending a work convention in California and the author in question happens to live in that state, in Santa Barbara. She hatches a plan and volunteers her services to Marta.
All she has to do is go to Beau's house, figure out what the deal is with his memoir and aide him in any way possible in order to get him to turn it in.
Due to some very personal issues, Beau has been locked away in his Santa Barbara mansion for the last year, seeing no one but a few personal staff members.
Izzy has a tough nut to crack, but she's determined. This could be sink or swim for her career. She makes her way into his home and eventually into his head and his heart.
By the Book was so cute. I really enjoyed this and am very happy that I made time for it right now.
This was exactly the ray of sunshine I needed as a palate cleanser between all my super dark recent reads. Thank you, Ms. Guillory! You have filled my heart.
I really enjoyed both Izzy and Beau as characters. I especially enjoyed the scenes where Izzy was coaching him through his writing. I thought that was so well done and a great, realistic way for them to form a bond quickly.
I also loved the set-up of her getting to stay at his Santa Barbara mansion while she is helping him. It was so fun. Izzy, an East Coast girl, was a little out of her element, but she adapted easily and actually was happy for the escape.
As always I appreciated how well-fleshed out these characters were. I always love how Guillory includes real-life struggles for her characters to work through. Even the characters who seem to have it all also have personal challenges.
Both Izzy and Beau were working through issues and watching them move through that and grow together was immensely satisfying. Even though this wasn't as steamy as some of her prior works, in my opinion the level of romance fit this story perfectly.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Hyperion Avenue, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was such a delight.
I'm such a Jasmine Guillory fangirl and look forward to her future works!
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I really loved the first book in this series from Julie Murphy, and as a life-long fan of Beauty and the Beast had high hopes for this. Unfortunately By the Book did not deliver. This was mediocre at best and sadly wasn't a very enjoyable reading experience. In this rendition, Belle (or rather Isabelle) is a book editor and the Beast (Beau) is a difficult celebrity who is struggling to write a contracted memoir.
Full disclosure, Guillory has been hit and miss for me as a romance author. That said, I have loved a couple of her books so I was hoping this would be in that vein. Instead we got a super slow burn that spends too much time on writing craft to actually have the "burn" and a "Beast" who is incredibly bland and one dimensional. Not to mention nods to the original Disney film that were both too on the nose (like Isabelle working at Tale As Old As Time Publishing house) and missing the point entirely (like Gavin as a Gaston stand-in who is just kind of a basic jerk and isn't remotely like Gaston).
I liked the concept here, but the execution felt so surface level. I felt far more passion about the food descriptions (many!) than I did about the romance. Which is unfortunate. The books spends a LOT of time on the nitty gritty of how Isabelle helps Beau write the memoir. I probably have a higher tolerance for that than most readers and I still found it to be very overkill, boring, and detracting from what we are actually here for which is the romance.
None of the characters felt fully developed and there wasn't much romantic tension until very late in the book. Then towards the very end, Guillory makes this very odd choice that I can only imagine is try to retcon that tension into existence. Beau sends Isabelle a copy of this notebook where he had written his feelings and reactions to her in the first weeks they were together. Now if this had just been about the first day or two, fine. Cute. But it went ON and ON for pages! WHY wasn't this just put in as his perspective back when this whole sequence of things was actually happening? After it's all over doesn't really work and I don't understand that choice.
I might sound like I hated this and I really didn't . While reading most of the time it was just meh. Not particularly good, but not terrible aside from a couple of specific places. But taken as a whole, I found the book to be so very underwhelming. Which is a shame because the idea had potential and Julie Murphy's take on Cinderella was everything I ever wanted. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. -
REALLY ENJOYED THIS!!
Third person POV is always something for me to get used to--definitely not my preferred POV to read 😵💫
But Izzy and Beau won me over!!
This book has LETTERS!! And not the "every book has letters" kinda thing. No, like actual "Dear___" letters! I'm a sucker for them 😮💨
So many sweet moments in here. That ending definitely made me tear up but from joy!! Because I was so excited about it.
Def recommend for a fast read! -
It's a tale as old as time. . .I still find myself humming that tune whenever this loosely-done retelling of Beauty and the Beast comes to mind. It's Jasmine Guillory's fault. She has our heroine, Isabelle, working at a publishing company with that very name. When Tale As Old As Time (TAOT) has difficulty getting a Hollywood star with a bad boy image to deliver his memoir, Izzy volunteers to go visit him in person and give him some encouragement. As you might have guessed, she ends up staying at his Santa Barbara mansion for an extended period of time. Included in the narrative are wonderful bits that recall the classic fairy tale. Beau is somewhat beastly in stature and temperament. The housekeeper's nickname is Kettle. Izzy finds herself having conversations with inanimate objects inside the home. One of my favorites was the library and how that room helps the two to bond. Oh, and the surfing was fun, too. This series is strong so far. I also really liked
If the Shoe Fits. Which fairy tale will be next? I'm rooting for Sleeping Beauty.
Thank you to Hyperion and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. -
This book was ok. I didn’t realize it was part of a series. The main characters personality got on my nerves at times but it was a cute romance. I loved that it involved writing and books.It was an easy quick read.
At twenty-five and still living at home, Izzy’s life hasn’t exactly turned out the way it thought she would. She is the only black employee at her job at the publishing house where she works too hard and doesn’t get paid enough. She teeters between being assertive and remaining quiet.
However, when she overhears that Beau Towers, a very successful, hard to work with author has not delivered his anticipated manuscript, she thinks this is her ticket to bigger and better things. After numerous pep talks and Izzy’s help, Beau is able to finish his manuscript.
All this time spent together made them both realize how alike they are and romance ultimately blooms.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review. -
4 stars
By the Book is a modern day fairy tale retelling (Beauty and the Beast- my fave) by Jasmine Guillory. This is one of this authors best books in my opinion. It started off a little slow for me, but once it picked up I really loved it. Izzy and Beau were both great and I had a huge smile on my face by the end. I love that it had a little enemies to lovers with a great slow burn thrown in.
Audio book source: Libby
Story Rating: 4 stars
Narrator: Sarah Hollis
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 9h 42m -
I felt really bad last year when Julie Murphy’s If the Shoe Fits didn’t end up being a fave of mine. I chalked it up to a swing and a miss due to me not being a fan of the Bachelor franchise and added my name to the library list for this second installment of the “Meant to Be” stories. Now that I’ve finished I think I can blame this one on the fact that I’m pretty sure there are only two types of people in this world. This kind . . . .
And me. I’m just not a Disney princess gal. At this point I’m pretty sure I’m not a Jasmine Guillory fan either. The writing/storyline/characters all here were so blah – and when you already have a popular tale that you’re basing your work off of that’s not a great thing. -
3.5 stars
By the Book is a really cute rom-com and Jasmine Guillory's writing style perfectly matches the tone of this modern fairytale, but unfortunately nothing about the story felt particularly original. Beauty and the Best is the most commonly retold fairy tale, so it's hard for B&tB retellings to stand out. This story was cute, the romance developed at a really great pace, and the final romantic gesture was really swoon-worthy, but I never felt like I was reading something I hadn't read before. Overall, I still think people will enjoy this novel and I wouldn't discourage anyone from picking it up, but I will say it is probably exactly what you imagine when you hear "modern Beauty and the Beast retelling."
Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. -
Interestingly this book is more than a meet-cute. Or a book about books. It is a book about finding one’s voice.
Whether it is the ability to put one’s thoughts into words on a page or saying these words directly to someone else, or having these words translated into feelings through the heart, what comes out here through these characters can be heard deeply by readers.
Izzy is an Editors Assistant in New York with big dreams to eventually publish her own book. But is her career being sabotaged by an overzealous assistant editor named Gavin?
Also, Izzy’s less than congenial Editor boss, Marta is trying to get one of her clients, Beau Towers, to finish his overdue memoir. Can Izzy help Beau Towers self-start his manuscript in to becoming a winning debut bestseller?
Izzy takes on the challenge, and what seemed like the worst possible situation opens the doors for the best possible beginning for both.
What secrets can Izzy help Beau unlock? And what confidence can Izzy gain by this newfound relationship with Beau?
Compelling. Uplifting. Page-turning. Imperfect Beauty and the beast vibes? However, you choose to see this, let this story warm your heart. It did mine. -
Not for me, unfortunately.
By The Book felt forced at every turn. The MC’s lacked any chemistry, the call-backs to Beauty and the Beast were cheesy and over-the-top, and I couldn’t find myself caring at all about where the story went.
It was such a departure from Guillory’s typical writing that it felt like someone else entirely wrote it and slapped her name on the cover.
On to the next one. -
Finished this literally on the beach, turning the pages so fast.
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A delightfully compelling and utterly uplifting tale of love and acceptance and set within the competitive world of publishing. Jasmine Guillory’s contemporary reimagining of Beauty and The Beast (one of my all time favourite fairytales) was such a fun, and addictive romance that I thoroughly enjoyed.
It follows 25 year old Isabelle, an editorial assistant who works tirelessly for a promotion it looks increasingly likely she won’t get. To prove herself, Izzy decides to visit the beastly, high profile author who has failed to deliver his long awaited manuscript—and give him a pep talk (or three) to help him along. How hard could it be?
But Izzy finds herself in over her head. Beau Towers isn’t just some celebrity lightweight writing a tell all memoir—he’s jaded, withdrawn and just as lost as Izzy. And thanks to Izzy’s encouragement, Beau’s story begins to take shape on the page.
The pair soon discover that they have more in common than either of them ever expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau realise that there may be something there that wasn’t there before…
When I first saw the premise I knew I was going to enjoy this one and I’m glad to report that it definitely lived up to my expectations when it came to the modern rom-com take on Beauty and The Beast.
There’s plenty for romance lovers to delve into with enemies to lovers, forced proximity and sunshine x grump tropes used to perfection. And the chemistry between our optimistic, editorial assistant Izzy and the seemingly anti-social Beau was absolutely swoon-worthy. It is a closed door, slow-burn Romance, but the development (both in the relationship and the emotional journey of the characters themselves) is definitely worth the sizzling,tension filled wait.
I really enjoyed the realistic glimpse into the publishing world that we get through Izzy, which highlights how overworked and underpaid soo many people in publishing actually are and too see the toll it takes on a fellow book lover was soo deeply emotional.
I also loved how Guillory handles the forced imprisonment aspect of the source material and gives her protagonist a choice—a choice she handles with aplomb. Likewise the other modern tweaks to the original were all really interesting to discover—I loved all the references such as the publisher Izzy works for being Called A Tale As Old As Time,as well as the little quips Izzy throws out, such as being soo lonely/ bored she talks to the candlesticks or imagining the cupboard talking back.
At just over 300 pages it’s a fairly quick read, but the pacing did start a little slow and took a little longer to get into than I had hoped—the pace does pick up once Beau and Izzy meet and that’s when things really get interesting.
Overall a fun and lighthearted read that rom-com lovers and fans of modern, fairytale retellings are bound to enjoy.
Also, a massive thank you to Bonnier Books for the wonderful PB copy -
I enjoyed this, but I didn’t love it as much as some other romances I’ve read recently. There was something missing—some parts that felt a little contrived. Obviously, everything in fiction is contrived, but it sometimes feels organic, which this didn’t. I also liked the hero but didn’t fall in love with him like I want to in a romance.
Izzy Marlowe is no longer thrilled by her job as an editorial assistant for the abrupt and dismissive Marta. She’s excited to leave New York for California because even though it’s a work trip, it will at least get Izzy out of the office. She’s been sending delicately worded emails to bad boy celebrity Beau Towers for the last year. His seven-figure book deal isn’t just late, it doesn’t seem to exist at all. Izzy volunteers to deal with him directly and ends up staying, initially for a few days, which then turns into weeks where she works her day job remotely and with Beau each afternoon. They share baked goods, snacks, and period dramas in the time they’re not working together, and eventually he reveals what has truly caused his writer’s block.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES MAY 12, 2022. -
I really enjoyed this fairy tale inspired rom-com. Was it cheesy and predictable at times? Yes, of course it was. Maybe it is just because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale, but I enjoyed this story despite the flaws and imperfections. The two main characters weren’t perfect, but they filled the roles of Beauty and the Beast the way I wanted them to. Izzy has been working for a publishing house for years which was her dream, but she is starting to lose hope that her boss really values her or she’ll ever be promoted. On a trip to California she volunteers to speak with a child-star who has promised a memoir but delivered no pages or updates. Izzy volunteers to drive over there and knock on the door to talk to him since he doesn’t accept their phone calls. When she arrives she finds him to be more Beast than Beau but an incident with his assistant leads to her agreeing to stay for a few days to help with pep talks about writing.
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guys, i mean this in the nicest way possible because i'm sure the author put a lot of heart in this but, this book is not good.
in fact, it's really bad.
everything, from the characters to the writing to the plot felt so incredibly forced and insanely childish. everyone was a paper flat trope (that did not come to life) in a paper flat plot. the pages were painfully cringey to get through and if the main characters had any substance to them, i would hate them. but since they were just annoying, i am apathetic. i can't wait until i forget about this book in like two days. -
This is my first read of Jasmine Guillory, and she gave me everything I want in a rom-com: easily readable, adorable characters, some humor, an engrossing plot, and a beautiful setting. The book is a reimagined "Beauty and the Beast". Of course the book was pretty predictable, however the romance was fun and Isabelle's (Izzy) coaching of Beau to help him write his book kept me laughing. Love the name of the publishing house 'A Tale as Old as Time'! The beautiful home in Santa Barbara was a great setting with the gardens and orchard, and the beach.
Thanks to Hyperion Avenue through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on May 3, 2022. -
I was honestly so surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Jasmine Guillory books can be hit or miss but this one worked for me. I loved the way the Beauty and the Beast story was updated and the slow build of the relationship. It is a non-explicit romance book, so if you want the typical Jasmine Guillory spice, then you might be disappointed by this one.
Watch me discuss it more in my June wrap up:
https://youtu.be/7_AW_bJl1LU -
It's obvious that a contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast should have her work in publishing! But by "obvious" I mean: That's so clever, I never would have thought of that, and yet it makes perfect sense!
The beauty is an editorial assistant who loves books, and wants be an editor and a writer herself.
The beast is a bad boy teen heartthrob turned recluse, whose memoir is long past overdue at the publishers.
It's . . . it's perfect.
And good heavens, the FOOD. I want a cupboard full of snacks! -
3.5 Stars
A book about books is always a sure-fire spark to my reader heart, but a book about books that is also a diverse contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast!?! Be still my heart!
I liked sunshine-y souled, book-lover Izzy and I adored the way she effortlessly burrowed into the heart of grumpy, broken-souled Beau, bringing love, joy and inspiration back into his sheltered and fractured life.
Being a book about books, Izzy works in publishing and Beau is a celebrity (with a bad reputation) who is overdue writing his promised memoir for Izzy’s company, A Tale as Old as Time.
In an effort to rise in the publishing ranks, Izzy volunteers to go to Beau’s Southern California residence to convince him to deliver on his book deal. On arrival, Beau is the classic moody-grump, but makes a deal with Izzy in exchange for his cooperation: move into his dreamy McMansion and personally guide him through the writing process until the book is well underway.
So, throw in a dash of forced-proximity into the trope-y mix and you’ve got yourselves a real smile-inducing romantic romp!
I enjoyed the beach-y town setting, appreciated the diversity rep and adored the slow-building romance that unfolded between Izzy and Beau, as they grew to know one another in a professional and personal setting.
The writing itself wasn’t the strongest, I’ll admit, with very basic formatting and prose, and sometimes stilted dialogue, but, again, the story held my attention regardless and I’m open to reading more from this new-to-me author.
Mostly, I was grateful for how positive and happy this story was from start to finish. Regardless of my small niggles with the writing and despite some of the issues both characters were facing in their complicated lives, I appreciated how things never got heavy, keeping an upbeat tone throughout, which I needed at the time of reading. -
In this house we stan books about books
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By the Book was a pleasant story but it not didn't blow me away. Hence the 3.5 stars.
I'll keep reading the other books in the series, Meant to Be.
I'm glad you can read each book as a stand alone, especially if you're not too keen on a particular Disney tale.
I liked By the Book more then the first book in this series, If the Shoe Fits.
I think that has more to do with the fact that I've always loved Beauty and the Beast more then other Disney movies involving a princess or prince.
By the Book is a retelling of that movie and I thought both characters were decent and the love story was okay.
Isabelle works for a publishing company and isn't sure what she wants to do with her life, whether she wants to stay in this career or go into another profession.
She's been doubting her skills as a writer and editor for sometime now, and her confidence level is at an all time low.
She jumps at the chance to contact Beau Towers to find out why he's not making progress on his memoir.
Beau is a child celebrity due to having famous parents working in the Hollywood industry. He's jaded, an asshole, spoiled and completely lost.
By the Book has all of the similarities of Beauty and the Beast with the isolated castle (Beau's Santa Barbara house), a loving housekeeper, and magical objects but in this case it's a snack cabinet or bathtub.
And of course, it's got the wonderful library in the house!
I think I would have rated this a bit higher if there wasn't so much repetition in the book, especially with food, eating and then eating some more. I was feeling hungry most of the time while reading this and I’m not sure if that’s what the author Jasmine Guillory was going for?! 🤷🏼♀️😂
I was happy when they finally did other activities besides eating!
Overall, the beginning of the book was good and I loved the magical feel to it. The middle was a bit blah, and the ending came around and got better. -
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
So, here's the thing. I loved Beauty and the Beast. I was fascinated by that movie when it first came out (the cartoon one not that horrible live action one) and felt like holy cow there's a Disney Princess just like me. I would rather be reading and I would daydream for hours about traveling and leaving my little town. I even had my very own Gaston who is now in jail cause you know, attempted murder is still illegal you guys. Okay...moving on. So when I saw that NetGalley had Jasmine Guillory's newest available and it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I jumped on it. I crossed my fingers and toes and hoped I would get this one to review. And I got it! [insert crowd cheers]. And then I read it. This just didn't hit at all. I think the biggest issue is that unlike with the first book in the series, Guillory doesn't have a unique take on this tale. At least not one that is going to make you want to re-read this. The first book in the series, "If the Shoe Fits" retold Cinderella and the setting was a Bachelorette style competition. This one just has Isabelle (Izzy to her friends) going off to get someone to write their memoir. It was just meh. Reading about how others write is not that interesting to read about. And the chemistry really wasn't there for me either. The book does have a Happily Ever After so that was great, but honestly I felt bored throughout this one. The writing was solid, the flow was too, I just didn't care about the actual plot or characters so 3 stars.
"By the Book" follows 25 year old Isabelle Marlowe who is working as an editorial assistant at Tale as Old as Time (TAOT). She's initially excited to be working at TAOT, but two years later she feels stuck. She tried writing a book and passed it along to her coworker, Gavin Ridley, but he tells her that the draft isn't very good. And she doesn't seem to be progressing up the ladder at TAOT. When she gets to go to California for a convention, she pitches her boss Marta that she alone may be able to get through to a client of TAOT's, Beau Towers. Beau is the child of two high profile Hollywood celebs who was provided an advance to write a memoir, but he has not been able to produce anything yet. Marta agrees that Isabelle can go, and she finds herself outside Beau's towering home and tells him that she can give him pep talks to help him with his writing (yes I am serious). Even though Isabelle is initially put off by Beau, she does get an agreement she can stay to help him with his memoir.
I don't know. Isabelle (Izzy) was not my cup of tea at all. Probably because she yelled and made nasty comments/assumptions about Beau and it just got tiresome real quick. The only thing that I can say that I loved about this character, was her love of books.
Beau wasn't even beast like. Of course Guillory had to change this story up, can't have a random male screaming at the heroine, but there's no real temper or anything there. He literally makes fun of Izzy and she loses it and takes herself upstairs. And then she loses it again and someone he ends up apologizing to her. The whole thing was a mess. And I wish we had gotten more insight into him. Towards the end of the book we get to see how he feels about things, but I thought it was kind of a shoulder shrug moment.
I feel sad that for me there wasn't any chemistry there at all. We have some fade to black love scenes which I don't know if that happened cause of the power of the Mouse or what. But it felt lame especially since I have read Guillory's other books and always enjoyed how she wrote her love scenes in the first two books of her "The Wedding Date" series.
If you are looking for any of the other characters from the cartoon to appear, you will have a while to wait. We have Michaela Kettle (yes that's her last name) who is somehow Beau's cook, but is also helping him get a foundation off the ground? It makes no sense to me why she would also be cooking. I just gave up.
Izzy at times feels like the furniture is talking to her and it made me roll my eyes.
I guess Gavin is supposed to be Gaston? Nah. It doesn't really work. He's just an aggravating coworker.
The book keeps things moving, but honestly reading about someone else teaching a person how to write a memoir or the tricks they used was not interesting. I fell asleep a few times reading this. The flow of the book was solid, things keep moving.
The ending was sweet. I just felt like this wasn't a great retelling of Beauty and the Beast. -
My brain knows that the books in the Meant to Be series aren't connected, even in the tenuous way that romance series can be. They're books written by completely different authors only bound by the fact that they're retellings, and yet that didn't stop my brain from insisting I read this one before moving onto
Kiss the Girl.
Y'all this book was bad.
Isabelle works in publishing for a demanding boss but she has bigger dreams, of actually being an editor and even writing her own book. Honestly the fact that in a Beauty and the Beast retelling and our heroine was just obsessed with books as her only personality trait when the book is set in the modern world and could be off having adventures in the great wide somewhere was only one of the reasons I was annoyed while reading this book. Anyway, her job brings her to California in February and it's here that she has the brilliant idea of dropping in on one of the authors her publishing house hasn't heard anything from. She's been emailing him for the better part of at least a year but he's yet to turn in any pages or give any insight into what's going on with the memoir he sold for a couple million dollars.
Beau is the nepo baby of a celebrated screenwriter... what his other claims to fame are meant to be did sort of elude me. His grandparents also came from money or made a name for themselves as the palatial mansion the book is set in was their former home. Still, what this man was going to write about remained a mystery to me in the beginning.
After some genre appropriate high jinks Isabelle finds herself staying in the mansion agreeing to help Beau make progress on this book... It's here that I think the book just completely falls off the rails. I get it, it's a retelling and you want to include this forced proximity, but it just didn't work. It really didn't work when we never got glimpses of Beau's perspective which is a highlight of the movie this book is meant to be adapting. Beau comes off as a character inspired by Gaston, it was giving real struggle love as Isabelle just played cheerleader for two months eating good and getting nowhere...
There were some attempts made to make me believe in a level of physical intimacy, and that's fine. I can believe that people are physically attracted to people, but it was really hard for me to believe that that was going to translate into a meaningful romantic connection between these two characters.
It also didn't help that it was giving real manipulated into everything at the end. Though I will say I called it because that beginning moment was just a little too unserious for my blood
The book might be competently written and could garner an extra star, but I'm feeling like a hater and I can't imagine anyone I would actively recommend this to. Particularly when the world is not running low on B&tB retelling and any number of them would be a better time than this was -
I know that a lot of readers don't like Jasmine Guillory novels, it's never really clear to me why but I've read almost all her books I enjoy them. Her books are sweet and easy to consume. I read a lot of serious Nonfiction and even my Fiction reads tend to be more on the serious side. So when on the rare occasion I do pick up a Romance, I want it to be as light as possible(Dark Romance is not for me Clive). I like the Romance I read to be like those early 2000s Rom-Coms my favorite being The Wedding Planner starring Jennifer Lopez. Sometimes a little Smut is fun...occasionally I'll put on my bodice and enjoy a Historical Romance.
Jasmine Guillory just writes the types of Romances I prefer. By the Book is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I love Beauty and the Beast....eventhough it's about Stockholm Syndrome. Since this is a Beast retelling I was okay with the male love interest being abusive at times....He is the Beast after all. I normally hate reading Romances with men who verbally abuse our main character(which is why I dislike most Romances). I was annoyed by him but I was able to deal with it and keep it moving. And if you are okay with reading about a man who can't control his anger(at the beginning of the story) then you should enjoy it as well.
I understand why some readers only read Romance. In these very trying times it feels good to know that everything will be okay at the end of the story. Happily ever afters and happy for nows are extremely comforting. I'm going to read a couple more fun Romances this summer mixed in with my usual Doom and Gloom reads.
If you like the same type of Romances as me, than pick up a Jasmine Guillory book. And if you know any other authors who write similar books( preferably writers of color) than send my a rec or put it in the comments.
