e-Audio, 09:42:57
Narrated by: Sarah Hollis
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Published by: Hyperion Avenue
Read from: May 17-19, 2022
Meant to Be, #2
Source: Library’s Libby
TW: Death of a parent, grief
For Readers Interested In: Contemporary Romance, Retelling, BIPOC MC, BIPOC on cover, Realistic FictionA tale as old as time—for a new generation…
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 He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy.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.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I’m pretty sure me reading this was a no-brainer. I LOVE Beauty and the Beast, I LOVE cartoon covers, I LOVE diverse romances, and I LIKE Jasmine Guillory. So of course I have been waiting on this release forever. And listen, for me it was worth the wait.
I was really interested in how they were going to incorporate getting stuck in the love interest’s house with talking lol And even though this was interesting, I know this would never happen in real life lol But it was funny to see it. Or maybe it’s just me being so invested in books like Izzy was and knowing she’d do whatever it took lol But whatever the case may be, I thought it was an interesting way to do it. Now the talking furniture? That was hella cute lol Definitely not something I would have thought to do. And I think that’s my favorite part about it. It seemed out of the box, but it ended up being so simple in theory. I think this is what made me decide I loved the retelling aspect. This book retells the Disney animated version, with almost all the things that the cartoon entails. So much so I had to go and watch the movie when I finished it lol
The romance was what I didn’t exactly vibe with. As “the Beast” he was rude and a terror when she first got there, but over time they finally got it right. But my complaint was it took too long? Which in theory sounds dumb since it was a B&tB retelling, but you get the point. As my long time followers know, I’m a walking contradiction because B&tB is my favorite, but I’m not a huge fan of enemies to lovers, so this bored me a bit. But once things finally got moving between them, I think it worked out fine. I loved the work they did together, <spoiler>and that ending with the notebook did me IN. </end spoiler>
I also didn’t care for the random conflict at the end? Like why was that person even an issue? Who was he supposed to be? Did I miss something when I was listening? I mainly just thought he was annoying and I wanted nothing more than to be done with him. I WAS glad that someone said something to him tho because he was an asshat. I was glad they didn’t let that go unscathed.
It turned out to be a cute quick read that made me not only buy it, but I now know its time for me to read Julie Murphy’s retelling. I’ve been dragging my feet with that one because I’m not a huge fan of Cinderella (because they’ve been done too much) but if they’re all as sweet as this one, I gotta at least give it a try. (Also, I heard that Zoraida Córdova is going to write the Little Mermaid’s tale and I got excited for that one too. Thank you Disney for helping me keep my childhood alive.
Overall, I give this
