Isabelle is in her mid 20s and still living at home. She’s literally going through a quarter life crisis. She is a bit whiney and can come off as a bit ungrateful. Jasmine Guillroy’s writing style is perfect for this retelling.

I'm sorry, but I wasn't able to finish this book. Jasmine Guillory is such a talented writer. I've read, and loved, all of her books. However, this one I just couldn't get into. I felt the plot was unfolding slowly and I wasn't able to get as invested in it as I hoped I would.

I wish both the author, and the publisher, much success upon it's release. I know there is a huge audience waiting to get lost in this retelling of a beloved fairy tale. I'm saddened I didn't get swept up in it like they will.

I've been reading a lot of books about publishing or writing books but this book easily made it to the top of my list! It was a quick read and I was able to feel the struggles Beau was going through when it came to his writing and why he was struggling so much. Izzy, who works for the publishing company that acquired Beau's memoir, was sent to his house to figure out when he isn't responding to any emails and why any part of his book hasn't been turned in. Izzy and Beau work day after day for weeks to work on his book. During that time, both Izzy and Beau start becoming closer and closer. If you're looking for a quick, cute HEA book, this is for you!

This Beauty & the Beast retelling by @ jasminepics was such a fun read!

🌹 REVIEW: BY THE BOOK 🌹

By Jasmine Guillory

📖 SUMMARY: Izzy thought she landed her dream job when she started working at Tale As Old As Time (😉) Publishing in NYC as an editorial assistant, but five years later, she still hasn’t been promoted, is under-appreciated, and starts to think maybe this wasn’t the right career move. So when an opportunity to impress her boss presents itself, in the form of going in person to talk to a reclusive celebrity who hasn’t turned in a memoir manuscript and won’t return any emails, she jumps on it. Well, Beau Towers is anything but happy to see her, and actually insists that the only way he’ll get any writing done is if Izzy stays at his Santa Barbara mansion and gives him daily assistance. Izzy slowly discovers that Beau might not be as beastly as he seems…

💭 THOUGHTS: I seriously enjoyed this one! I’m a sucker for a fairytale retelling, and I loved how this was in the world of publishing! It might be a Disney book, but it’s still fairly adult — no real 🌶 but there were some f-bombs in there! Though he has his moments, Beau is still a dreamy love interest and Izzy is a great MC to be inside the mind of. I was living for all of the little Beauty & the Beast references and was impressed that there was even a Gaston-like character in there! I also enjoyed the setting — can I stay in a Santa Barbara mansion sometime?? I found the romance to be both decently-paced and fairly believable, as far as romances go. And as a disclaimer, Beau does not force Izzy to stay in his mansion, he & Izzy’s boss ask and Izzy agrees. This is the second in Disney’s Meant to Be series, the first of which was a Cinderella retelling by Julie Murphy.

Thank you to @ netgalley and @ disneybooks for the arc! This one comes out on May 3.

✨ RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🥰 YOU’LL ENJOY IF: you love a Disney retelling and have enjoyed any of Guillory’s previous books

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory was a sweet, delicious, wholesome slow-burn romance. I had no idea going in that this was part of a series - the Meant to Be series reimagining traditional fairy tales. Right away I thought there were some similarities to Beauty and the Beast and nods to fairy tales (like the book-loving main character, Isabelle, working for a publishing house called Once Upon a Time), but by the first scene at the home of Beau Towers, I quickly realized this was an actual retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I thought Guillory did a great job of telling a fresh and compelling story with vivid characters within the parameters of the traditional story we all know. I've long been hesitant of Beauty and the Beast because of the beast's violence and cruelty not being something we should be teaching young girls they should look beyond in a partner. I am happy to report that Jasmine Guillory did not go down a path of making Beau do anything so awful as to be unforgiveable, and Isabelle exercises her agency (even while the story addresses power, privilege, race, etc.) with more feistiness than the traditional Belle. The romance is sweet and mostly PG - this is not the book for someone craving some real spice. But I didn't mind the skimming over of the steam because I was here for the book love and wholesome fairytale romance.

This was a cute modern day Beauty and the Beast retelling. I've always enjoyed Jasmine Guillory's writing style and the concept behind this book had me racing through to the finish. This story isn't as spicy as some of her other works but it was so endearing and watching their relationship build from writer-publisher into something more was a lot of fun.

By the Book is a cute modern day retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. The romance developed at a great pace, and the end of the story had me swooning, but I never felt totally connected to the characters. There is only so much you can do with Beauty and the Beast to make it original, and Jasmine Guillory did a decent job with it, but it was still the story of Beauty and the Beast. Overall, I still think people will enjoy this novel, but it's exactly what you would imagine when you hear "modern day retelling" of a classic.

This was such a sweet and endearing take on Beauty and the Beast. I always love Guillory's writing, but in this one I really felt connected to the story right away and raced through the book. I love how she took the concept story and modernized and changed it a bit, while also giving subtle nods to the Disney Classic.

Though this book may not be as spicy as some of her other novels, I really enjoyed the love story and was truly invested from the beginning. This was such a fun book that I really enjoyed reading.

The prologue had me worried with the amount of exclamation marks. But my worry quickly dissolved and I was sucked in and unable to put the book down.

Jasmine Guillory does it again, her story telling ability is out of this world. She understood the assignment with this retelling.

She has done it again. The current queen of romance writing has struck again. After falling in love with her previous romance series, I have fallen again for Guillory's characters. The typical romance trope but you can feel the chemistry through the pages.

I have been a fan of Jasmine Guillory's books for quite awhile and was excited to see that she was doing a contemporary re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. This was a fun, entertaining romance.

'By the Book' by Jasmine Guillory is the latest addition to Disney's Meant to Be series based on modern retellings of fairytales. The first, 'If the Shoe Fits' by Julie Murphy was based on Cinderella, and this one is based on Beauty and the Beast.

It's so incredibly romantic. This is a non-magical retelling but it still feels magical. Izzy is an overworked, underappreciated editorial assistant who feels she's hit a wall in her career. With seemingly no room for advancement and moderate talent (according to an ill-meaning coworker), the opportunity to work with a famous actor on his memoir seems the perfect chance to make her mark. But Beau is complicated, and attractive and altogether unexpected. The chemistry is immediately obvious between Izzy and Beau. As they get to know each other they learn perhaps their first impressions weren't all they thought. Their romance is a little bit slow-burn with an instant attraction and I loved every minute of it.

I really loved the references to the Beauty and the Beast cartoon, it was a tiny fun thing to ready along the way!

This reimagining of Beauty and the Beast also comes with it's own Gaston in Gavin, a passive-aggressive (and later aggressive-aggressive) coworker who seems determined to bring Izzy down. An important part of this story, and in Gavin's attitude, is Izzy being one of the only Black employees at her job. I really enjoyed the way Guillory handled the villain role, it had a very satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is...fine. At no point do the characters seem like actual people. Events happen because the plot needs them to, versus something happening organically. Everything is so implausible...I dunno. It's fine, but it reads just so fakey to me.

I haven't read any of Jasmine Guillory's other books, so I don't know how this one compares.

For me, 'By the Book' was just a very average book overall; I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. It was a perfectly fine, quick, easy read. I'm pretty sure this is marketed for an adult audience, but other than the age of the main characters, it came across as very YA (and pretty tame for YA, even; that's not necessarily a complaint, just a heads-up to other readers who might be expecting otherwise).

While I preferred the first book ('If the Shoe Fits') in this series, 'By the Book' was an adequate follow-up, and I look forward to reading the next one.

I love Jasmine Guillory's books, and this one was no exception. It made me want to hole up in a California hideaway with a handsome celebrity and write together. Loved the nods to Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and all of the publishing details that were too real. Can't wait to read more from this series and more from Jasmine Guillory!!

This is a reimagining/twist on the classic Beauty and the Beast story complete with a gruff leading man and forced proximity in an elaborate mansion. Izzy has her dream job working for a publisher and takes on the daunting task of getting Beau, the famous bad boy, to finish his memoir. Of course the two butt heads, then bond, then fall in love as Izzy uncovers the heart of gold buried beneath Beau’s rough shell. This is a fun read with minimal steam (compared to Guillory’s other books). I really enjoyed the story, grew to love the leading man, and really appreciated the Beauty and the Beast nods. This is a great modern fairy tale.

Thank you to Jasmine Guillory, Hyperion Avenue, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Isabelle is stuck in her dream job. Or what she thought was her dream job, until real life set in and her dream became the day to day drudgery of the publishing industry. Her boss is not encouraging, a promotion seems to be nowhere on the horizon and the book she is writing was not well-received by her coworker. When Izzy hears her boss complaining about Beau Towers, a celebrity who is most decidedly NOT finishing his memoir, Izzy offers to go to his house and talk to him. What happens next surprises everyone.

This was just what I needed after a few heavier books! Book 2 in the Meant to Be series, this is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I liked that this was a good love story, slow burn but the character development of Izzy and Beau was so well-done and fun to watch. This was really cute and refreshing to read. Definitely what I needed right now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for providing me an advance e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Available May 3, 2022

3.5 ⭐️

Would recommend if you like:
✅ Disney ✨
✅ Slow burn
✅ Forced proximity
✅ Grumpy / sunshine

I've been a big fan of Jasmine Guillory since reading The Wedding Date and this book did not disappoint. By The Book follows Izzy who is working in publishing and goes out to California for a conference and ends up working with Beau Towers, the infamous bad boy celebrity who has no interest in writing his memoir. I thought this book was very cute and loved the little touches that reminded me of Beauty and The Beast. The wifi password, a gorgeous library, and other little moments that bring out the story I know and love. Since reading Guillory's books I was expecting more spice (because there really wasn't any since it was a veryyyy slow burn). Overall, a very cute book that I would recommend to a young adult/teenager who's just starting to read romance.

Thank you to Net Galley and Hyperion Avenue for this advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review!

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

I’ve enjoyed all the Jasmine Guillory novels I’ve read, so I was excited to get this one on @netgalley, it comes out on May 3rd!

This is different from her other novels, part of a new series that reimagines classic Disney movies as modern love stories. This one is Beauty and the Beast! Isabelle works for a publishing company that is trying to sell a memoir from a celebrity bad boy. Isabelle ends up dropping by his home to convince him to start writing but ends up staying with him to help him through the writing process.

The story was fun and I honestly really enjoyed the small nods to the movie and the quick banter of the characters. This was fun and cute but a little tame in my opinion. The Beast in the movie was a lot more interesting than Beau in this book. I just feel like it could have been better all around to keep my interest. But if you look at it like a cute YA story than it was still an entertaining read.

a modern retelling of Beauty and The Beast? sign me up! ✨

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really cute! How I didn’t realize this was a modern retelling of a classic fairytale before starting it, I’m not sure 😅

I kind of wanted this to be a little more unique of a plot line… a plot that would make me want to re-read this book. The first book in this series “If the Shoe Fits” is on my TBR and I’m curious to see how Cinderella is retold.

The chemistry for the characters wasn’t fully there for me and I felt like the details from the original Beauty and The Beast were glossed over. Yeah, we got a yellow dress, a big dramatic staircase entrance, Beau’s assistant being nicknamed Kettle, and Beau having the demeanor of a beast… but I wanted more! & despite Isabelle thinking parts of the house were taking to her (i.e. the bathtub), I wasn’t feeling those details very much.

I was a big fan of the ending & for Gavin getting what he deserved lol 🤣

If you’re a big fan of Beauty and The Beast you might LOVE this one, it just wasn’t for me and that is okay! I’m definitely looking forward to reading the other books in this series & think it is such a fun idea!