This book is based around the beauty and the beast theme, a favourite of mine.

Daniel is a successful businessman, but his heart is guarded, not just for romantic love but relationships in general. When a medical condition changes his perspective, we get to see the real Daniel and his rather nice.

Crystal is the opposite of early Daniel in many ways, warm, caring and open. She also happens to run a successful business.

When I say caring, she really is, as she has been caring for her mother with early onset dementia. I'm well aware of this disease and what it takes from the person suffering and their family and I felt the author covered it well.

Daniel and Crystal together are sweet and sexy. They have a few issues to deal with in their story but generally it's easy reading.

The magical part.... I wasn't sure of, I went with it but it was quite vague, think along the lines of 'the good witch' with extra seasoning.

I really enjoyed the story and characters and I'm giving it 3.75/5 stars. The book could do with another quick edit, the odd name wrong and maybe taking a couple of Daniels love's out.


I would recommend this book, I wanted to get back to it when I had to put it down.

Daniel’s parents marriage had been arranged His mother- Layla left his dad Leonardo and the plane she was on exploded and she was killed when Daniel was ten. Daniel vowed he would make sure to never let anyone control his happiness . The only exceptions were his grandmother and Meredith. Meredith came to live with Daniel when Daniel was born. She had started as his nanny and she was now his assistant..Daniel was CEO of a Finance Company. Daniel had no interest in love until he had briefly at his grandmother’s gal in a red dress. He had seen Crystal before he got sick with Bell’s Palsy and he was desperate to find her. Daniel was always been a bit of a loner but when he got the palsy his confidence. Crystal was a florist and worked hard to keep her florist shop going. Crystal’s father -Colin-had been killed by a drunk driver and her mother at forty six was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Crystal wanted the relationship her parents had before her father passed away. But she really didn’t have time to find a man. Daniel woke up one day with Bell's Palsy which disfigured part of his face. He felt now he was a beast. Daniel and Crystal were both lonely and joined Blindfold, Inc. Crystal and Daniel’s romance started through dating t Blindfold, Inc. Blindfold Inc was a dating agency that helped couples get to know each other and fall in love the person inside not the physical part. Daniel gave Klaus Klug , money to keep Klaus’s wife from getting his business in their divorce.
I did enjoy this book. It was a simple, sweet romantic read. A modern redo on the classic- Beauty And The Beast. I really liked the plot and the pace of this book. There was some cursing so just be aware. I liked the idea of the dating company. I felt this had just the right amount of angst and conflict in this. I really liked the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend it.

The story started out great, but fizzled with stilted wording and overly detailed descriptions of everyday activity. I ended up shelving the book halfway through because I couldn’t get into it. I felt there was more focus on word count and the machinations of everyday life then there was on the relationship development between the couple.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a different twist.
It has a slight twist with a possible fairy godmother who helps the Beast.
Daniel sees Crystal and before he can meet her he gets Bell'Pasley and hides away at his home.
They meet and the fun begins.
Enjoyable story.
Voluntarily reviewed

Book review of The Beast Within by Liz Cowan

This was a sweet story with just enough heat & conflict to keep you interested and engaged.

The characters & world are wonderfully crafted and vivid. I enjoyed this book.

The Beast Within is the first book in the Blindfold Inc. Series by Liz Cowan. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

This is a modern retelling of beauty and the beast. Daniel the beast in the in story prefers solitude to socializing. He seems to the outside world to be tough and uncaring. But he really does have a softer side. The reader sees this with Klaus Klieg bending his own rules. Daniel gives him money to keep Klaus's wife from getting his business in the divorce even though it is done in a stern way

Daniel's parents had an arranged marriage. His mother, Layla left her husband Leonardo when Daniel turned 10. The plane she left on exploded. From the day his mother left and then died he made sure to never let any woman or anyone control his happiness. The only exception he was willing to make on love and trust were his paternal great-grandmother and Meredith.

Meredith joined the family household when Daniel was born. She started as a nanny but her role grew to confidante and now Daniel's assistant.

Crystal is the beauty in the story. Her mother at 40 was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Her father, Colin was killed by a drunk driver.

In contrast to Daniel's parents Crystal's had a very loving relationship. Crystal "yearned" for the type of relationship ship her parents had. But with so much on her plate those feelings and desires had to be put on hold.

Roughly 25% into the book the story takes on a magical and fairytale aspect. Without giving anything else away this story does have a HEA. I cannot wait to read the next book in the Blindfold Inc Series.

Read this book in one sitting.
Really enjoyed it.
Would like to read more from this author.
Can’t wait to read the second book now

I was expecting a little bit more from this book, i was disappointed. It was a modern twist on the old tale, "The Beast Within". The story that was touching to me was the description of a family dealing with Alzheimer's disease. It seems to common now a day. The heartache over the disease was very well written by the author. Over all a good book.

I received this book as an advanced readers copy,I loved this book so much. I could not help but to be hooked and there is a new plot in every chapter which made it such an enjoyable read.

I love discovering stories with their own twists on the "tale as old as time" theme. The Beast Within offers a unique take on the Beauty and the Beast idea with a couple who might have met under more usual circumstances if fate hadn't stepped in and changed everything. Now they play out part of their romance through the anonymous dating of Blindfold, Inc. where each person meets without being face to face. In many ways this allows a person's true self to show through, and in other ways it hides people until they are ready to be revealed.

Crystal and Daniel's story is unique, realistic in the parts that others play in our lives and the hard fact that, to many, appearance does matter no matter how wonderful a person might actually be. You'll find the cover description blurb does a very good job of setting up this romance. There are harsh realities In Daniel and Crystal's story, each are dealt with gently yet realistically. I was easily caught up in their lives both separate and eventually together. If you enjoy not only Romance but variations on the Beauty and the Beast theme, then you'll enjoy The Beast Within.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

The Beast Within by Liz Cowan is book One in the Blindfold, Inc series. This is the story of Crystal Belle St. James and Daniel Di Domenico.
Daniel's mother left him when he was around 10 years old..which broke his heart. Now all those years later he is all business and doens't really believe in love. But a chance siting of a women that somehow touched the loneliness he has been feeling. Crystal owns a flower shop which she loves and works hard to keep it going. But Crystal also has a mother who has Alzheimer which keeps her busy too. With no free time for a social life she is lonely. Crystal is at the point where she can do nothing else for her mother but put her in a secure nursing home. Before Daniel can go forward with following up with his brief glimpse of Crystal he gets Bell's palsy, which is a temporary but it makes him feel very self conscious. But fate has a way of connecting these two lonely hearts together.

Overall rating: 1/5 I couldn’t finish this book. I love beauty and the beast stories but this just didn’t work for me.

DNF: 45% in

Heroine (Crystal): 2/5 She has a flower shop and takes care of her mother with Alzheimer's. She’s introverted and talks to herself a lot.

Hero (Daniel): 1/5 He is in the role of CEO of a finance company when he finds himself with a disease that messes with his face making him look like he had a stroke for a period of time.

Plot: 1/5 (I only made it halfway through the book) Daniel goes from being a hot, confident CEO to having the face of a stroke victim and is still a confident CEO. Crystal goes from being a flower shop owner taking care of her mom, to having her mom in an assisted living facility and is still a flower shop owner. Nothing other than meeting each other really changes about them, nothing about them needs to change. There was never any room for character growth as both are fine people from the get go. Which would be fine except for the plotline being based in the beauty and the beast fairy tale that is all about character growth.

Personal Review: Daniel isn’t a bad guy, there is no lesson he needs to learn that would cause him to need this magical curse. He was hot before, and he had a heart of gold. Now he’s got a jacked up face and a heart of gold. For a beauty and the beast story to work the good looks of the lead need to be taken to give them a story arc; they are supposed to learn that beauty comes from within, etc. Here the guy was shown doing nice things for people from chapter one and denounces a pretty girl for being a mean character. There is nothing to be learned from the disfigurement.

Everyone speaks like a predictive speech AI wrote the dialogue for the characters. Nothing they say comes across as genuine human interaction. Both leads constantly spew their stream of conscious out in dialogue mostly when they’re alone but they could be with other people as well, it was an odd writing choice to say the least. The story takes place in a contemporary setting and very much grounded in reality but has some magical elements that simply don’t jive with the setting. When a magical godmother is revealed she’s reacted to the same way I would react to seeing a friend with a nice haircut. This not a world where magic is widely known so I would have expected a bit more time in the freaking out stage than one line of dialogue.

From the part of the book I actually read, I learned more about taking care of a parent with Alzheimer's than I did about this couple’s relationship. They don’t meet for real until 35% through the book but it’s a blind date (magic actually makes it so they can't see each other’s face like the episode White Christmas from Netflix’s Black Mirror). Reading about their date made me cringe rather than feel the warm and fuzzies. A big part of a beauty and the beast story is about Beauty accepting the Beast for his physical flaws because of his heart of gold.