By the Book is the second in a new series that takes Disney movies and reimagines them as adult romances. As a huge Beauty and the Beast fan and a fan of Jasmine Guillory, I was really excited to read this. Isabelle is an editorial assistant who rashly volunteers to work with Beau Towers, a celebrity who is very late on turning in his highly anticipated memoir. Honestly, I'm really torn here. I liked a lot about this book- Isabelle is exactly the kind of character I love and expect from Guillory- smart, independent and a little sassy. I also loved how Isabelle delves into the writing process when working with Beau. However, the references to Beauty and the Beast were too on the nose and honestly felt out of place. The romance is tepid at best and Beau seemed pretty tame for a character who is supposedly a celebrity hot head. I'll definitely read more by her, but I think she needs to stick to her own plots. (3.5 stars rounded up for Goodreads)

This was a pretty cute romance! I can see a lot of reads really enjoying this one. Highly recommend for a book club.

A Beauty and the Beast retelling romance with a focus on writing and book publishing.

I enjoyed the nods and references to the story of Beauty and the Beast, but with modern twists - such as the WiFi password being Lum1ere!, and Beau's hired cook-and-assistant named Kettle.

By the Book had a cute, interesting plot of an editorial assistant basically moving in with a difficult author to help them write their memoir. I found a lot of the writing and interactions to be heavily saccharine. The interactions between Izzy and Beau were max-fluff, and thus it felt slightly juvenile and cringey to me at some points. This is a personal preference, however, and I do not view the book negatively because of this!

All in all, a cutesy romance.

I loved reading By the Book by Jasmine Guillory. It was a comfort read for me for sure, just like every one of Jasmine Guillory's books have been for me in the past. I read most of it in one sitting. Both main characters were relatable and I loved seeing their romance blossom throughout the book. The fact that the story was a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast only added for my love of this book. If you have loved Jasmine Guillory's books in the past or love a romance I would highly recommend checking it out.

I love the way that Jasmine Guillory hit so many notes of the original Beauty and the Beast story, but with a modern, smart twist. The cute little nods to the Disney classic kept me smiling throughout. I could really picture Beau's mansion and the beachy scenery surrounding it. I also loved the pseudo-magical moments sprinkled into Izzy's life in Beau's mansion. They reminded me of the magical objects and fantastical vibe of the original story.

One thing that I would have liked to see more of was Izzy's personality. I feel like we only learned about her through her job. If pressed, I couldn't really come up with adjectives to describe her personality outside of her work persona. I would have felt more invested in the love story between Izzy and Beau if I could have read more about Izzy's backstory and what she is looking for in a boyfriend. Some of the one-on-one scenes were repetitive and slow-moving, making me want to skim and get to more dynamic plot points.

Overall, I am really enjoying the Disney/Hyperion A Meant To Be novel series. They are fun escapes, and I love how each one is written by a different romance writing powerhouse.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the gifted eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

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.

Publication Date: May 3, 2022

(This is book #2 in the Meant to Be series)

A book about books and people writing books. Should be good right? Well to me this was meh. I’m a huge fan of Jasmine Guillory and have read all her previous books but this is my least favourite.
By the Book is a reimagined take on Beauty & The Beast. Isabelle (Izzy) tasks herself with the job of convincing a difficult author to complete his long overdue book. She takes herself to Beau Towers’ home in Santa Barbara and due to unforeseen circumstances finds herself somewhat stranded at his home. Izzy & Beau, though having very different personalities eventually find a way to work together to get his memoir completed and of course feelings develop between the two of them.
By The Book was a pleasant enough read and good escapism but it left me wanting more. Izzy and Priya’s relationship felt childish, more like teen-agers as opposed to young women in their 20’s with responsible full-time jobs.
Maybe if this was my first experience with Ms. Guillory’s writing I’d have enjoyed it more. The writing felt clunky, repetitive, and geared to a YA audience which might explain the lack of sex scenes. Ms. Guillory’s previous novels don’t hold back on the sex scenes…they’re hot and spicy! By the Book barely has salt & pepper. I also was disappointed with Izzy’s personality. She had so much passion and spark to handle Beau, but dealing with her co-worker and boss she showed no backbone.
Pleasant enough read but a disappointment from an author I’ve previously really enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley & Hyperion Avenue Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Loved this Beauty and the Beast retelling! Jasmine Guillory’s romances never disappoint, and I will definitely be recommending this one to patrons!

This is a cute premise with some fun characters who fell into standard archetypes. It just took forever for anything to happen. I liked it but I don't know if I will pick up another book from this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Beauty and the beast contemporary retelling, or rather inspiration.

This books has all the components for a cute romcom but something isn’t all the way there. Izzy is a people pleaser in the publishing industry that is ignoring her own book for the sake of her career and Beau is the typical brawny grumpy male that needs her to show him the way. The fact that it then centers around books and the publishing, editing process and located in California made it fun.

It’s cute their relationship is stilted at first and the romance blossoms. I read this for a feel good romcom and that’s exactly what it was.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this early copy for review.

This was just the lighthearted read I was looking to escape with on my vacation. Izzy and Beau’s story is a sweet modern twist on Beauty and the Beast. Beau is a misunderstood tortured soul and Izzy is a well meaning people pleaser. So of course they don’t hit it off at first. The fact that this is centered around the writing process and publishing industry makes it that much more fun. And I loved the California setting complete with sunshine and surfing. Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion for the opportunity to read this advance ebook copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Jasmine Guillory does it again.

I loved the story of Izzy and Beau. In this bookish romance, Izzy decides to track down the reclusive, famous writer who has not been answering her emails or following through on his contract to provide his memoir to the publishing house that Izzy works for. Despite his rude demeanor, he asks for the publisher to allow Izzy to stay and help him complete his memoir.

She moves into his house for a month to give him writing help and slowly they forge a friendship. While in CA, Izzy begins writing again herself and breathing free being out of the office and away from her coworker Gavin who seems to be constantly putting her down.

Izzy and Beau's friendship grows over time spent working on his book, having them both wonder if there is more to their relationship.

Book received for free through NetGalley

The book was rather obvious about where it was going. That said it was really cute and I’m glad I read it.

This book was so so for me. I have such high expectations and it was my least favorite rom com by Guillory. The plot was okay and I would have liked to see more about how they fell in love for it to be extremely believable. Overall it’s a cute easy to read rom com.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

I enjoyed this romance. Sadly I felt like the beauty and beasts pieces of the story were the framework that the romance was forced around rather than the fun Easter egg parts that fit into the romance itself. I love Disney and belle so I’m disappointed I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. It was a little cringe most of the belle parts and I feel the romance story would have been better without it. Again, overall the romance was one you’d expect if you read any other of Jasmine Guillory's books and was satisfying. The ending was great and it all pulled together nicely. Thank you to the publisher and the net galley for the audiobook arc. The laughing of the narrator was the only thing that drew me out of the story in that form.

I'm a huge Jasmine Guillory fan and was thrilled by the idea of this book. A book about publishing, a Disney retelling, set in sunny California, all done by Jasmine? It sounded like it couldn't go wrong and yet it did for me.

This is a slow burn, closed door romance. I liked how Izzy was very independent and loved the setting of the novel in this kinda magical house tucked away into the hills of Santa Barbara. I liked how the nods to Beauty and the Beast were overall pretty subtle, mostly coming from names of books or the publishing houses that Izzy works with.

However, something about this book felt young and unfinished to me. I never felt like I really got to know Izzy or Beau and what made them tick and why they would be into each other. Part of this could come from the fact that Beau is supposed to be surly at the beginning and we don't ever get his perspective. But I wanted to see more from both of them that would make me like their characters. Overall, I was disappointed especially because of how much I've loved Guillory's work in the past.

Great representation and a positive storyline, but the dialogue was stilted and I really couldn’t get past the overly cheesy fairy tale references.

As usual, Jasmine Guillory delights the heart and the spirit. In By the Book: A Meant to be Novel we get the story from Isabelle’s perspective as she works in her dream job that turns out to be more of low-key nightmare. She works tirelessly to help authors to realize their dreams of publishing while never receiving encouragement or the opportunity to produce her own work. A big part of her job involves helping authors organize their work for publication. When she overhears her boss complain about Beau Towers and his lack of development on his book, she decides to personally stop by to check on his progress. So, what if he has not answered the many emails she has sent him? Isabelle’s first impression of Beau is that he is a spoiled, rich brat but as he allows her to help him craft his memoir, she comes to see that his angry affect hides a wounded heart. Will he allow her to help him author his story and mend his heart? As previously noted, the book is told from Isabelle’s perspective but Ms. Guillory allows us to see their evolution from Beau’s point of view as we are allowed to read a portion of this memoir. I found myself smiling throughout this light-hearted but emotionally satisfying story. So GOOD!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This is a really cute romantic comedy. Jasmine Guillory does an excellent job.

I had no idea walking into this one that it was a play on a classic Disney story. And I loved every. single. breadcrumb that led me to figure that out on my own! Jasmine Guillory put a modern twist on one of my FAVORITES without making it too cheesy, too obvious, too anything…other than likable and smooth and very enjoyable. I loved the tension between Izzy & Beau which was palpable, but not overdone. A lighthearted and lovely 4 stars from me. Now to go back and read Meant to Be #1!

Thank you NetGalley & Hyperion Avenue for the e-ARC!