By the Book
A Meant to be Novel
by Jasmine Guillory

Pub Date – 5/3/22
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A tale as old as time—for a new generation…

A modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast but instead of a beast it’s a reclusive millionaire with a book contract that won’t return emails and beauty is the assistant to the editor trying to break into the publishing world by being a yes woman.

When she showed up at his house and he dared her to stay to help, I knew I was locked in. Also when the bathtub started talking to her she was so lonely, it’s nice that I’m not the only one. I love when there are parallels to the Disney originals but there’s also kissing.😂

But I love how these two characters backstories opened up and changed and the depth of why he was the way he was. Why he wanted to write a memoir and his growth with her help.

I love retellings and I love the way this one went about it. Even her coworker doing some Gaston gaslighting. Can always count on some workplace fun to liven everything up. 

❓ What book are you excited about this pub day? So many coming out May 3rd. 

Thank you disneybooks and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Synopsis:

A 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 He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy.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.