DNF @ 17%. I'm not loving the writing and the plot feels very contrived and unrealistic. I might try and pick it up again once it comes out, but it's not working for me right now.

This was a great continuation of the Meant to Be series. The main characters were well fleshed out and their relationship had a great build to it. Anyone looking for a great Beauty and the Beast retelling should pick this one up.

Jasmine Guillory does it again! I’ve read all of Jasmine’s The Wedding Date books and have loved every single one of them. I knew By theBook wasn’t going to be any different. I always love how she writes her female characters to be strong, independent, smart, and fearless. And I love that she writes her male characters to be vulnerable but still with that spice!

I loved the Beauty and the Beast vibes this book has. It is my favorite Disney movie. I loved the relationship between the characters. My only issue was I didn’t feel the events in Beau’s life were extreme enough to make him pit off writing his memoir for years. I felt like that was exaggerated too much and left me feeling a little unimpressed.

Overall, this book is a great and fun read!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Jasmine Guillory, and the publisher for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The "Meant to Be" series has been absolutely wonderful! This series is based off of Disney princesses but set in the modern world with "ordinary women" I wasn't sure how I would feel about the second book as I absolutely loved the first one, but "By the Book" was absolutely amazing! I like that each book in this series is being written by a different woman author.
"By the Book" is based off a modern Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Our story begins with Isabelle who gets her first job in publishing and is very excited, but as time goes on Isabelle is overworked and underpaid with no chance of being moved up in the company. Isabelle wants to change that, so when she overhears her boss not being able to reach an author for his overdue memoir, she jumps at the chance to go out and try to get him to write it. How hard can it be?
Izzy quickly learns it is not going to be easy, but will some patience and determination melt the heart of a difficult author?
Jasmine Guillory did an amazing job with this book!! Both of the main characters are dealing with their own inner troubles but I felt like they dealt with their issues in a positive way. I don't want to say too much because I will give it all away. I will highly recommend this book to others!

So I had no clue going in to this that it was a Beauty and the Beast rom com retelling! I was honestly so pleasantly surprised. There are so many adorable references to the actual story but all are very witty and just small mentions.

I absolutely adored the characters in this one and their banter. Their enemies to lovers development was a slow burn but a really good one and I really enjoyed their time together! Beau’s backstory was really a good addition to his writing challenges and I liked seeing Izzy help him work through some of his struggles.

Overall, this was a really sweet, closed door romance that I flew through.

This book was a slog for me to get through. This was my first Jasmine Guillory so I had high expectations after seeing so much hype. Additionally, I am a HUGE Beauty and the Beast fan, so I thought - wow, this will be perfect! I was so excited to get started on a story combining two of my favorites -- Belle and books. However, this book did not do it for me. It felt like a chore to read. I found myself very bored at the start of the story. Once the action started, I thought it would pick up. But I did not find the premise convincing at all (why didn't she just...leave??). I also found it weirdly executed. Maybe Beauty and the Beast just doesn't translate well to modern times and that's the issue of this book series more so than the author or book itself. Either way, I wouldn't recommend this one for others unless they are a huge fan of the author already. It's definitely not the one to start out with.

So, here's the thing. I loved Beauty and the Beast. I was fascinated by that movie when it first came out (the cartoon one not that horrible live action one) and felt like holy cow there's a Disney Princess just like me. I would rather be reading and I would daydream for hours about traveling and leaving my little town. I even had my very own Gaston who is now in jail cause you know, attempted murder is still illegal you guys. Okay...moving on. So when I saw that NetGalley had Jasmine Guillory's newest available and it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I jumped on it. I crossed my fingers and toes and hoped I would get this one to review. And I got it! [insert crowd cheers]. And then I read it. This just didn't hit at all. I think the biggest issue is that unlike with the first book in the series, Guillory doesn't have a unique take on this tale. At least not one that is going to make you want to re-read this. The first book in the series, "If the Shoe Fits" retold Cinderella and the setting was a Bachelorette style competition. This one just has Isabelle (Izzy to her friends) going off to get someone to write their memoir. It was just meh. Reading about how others write is not that interesting to read about. And the chemistry really wasn't there for me either. The book does have a Happily Ever After so that was great, but honestly I felt bored throughout this one. The writing was solid, the flow was too, I just didn't care about the actual plot or characters so 3 stars.

"By the Book" follows 25 year old Isabelle Marlowe who is working as an editorial assistant at Tale as Old as Time (TAOT). She's initially excited to be working at TAOT, but two years later she feels stuck. She tried writing a book and passed it along to her coworker, Gavin Ridley, but he tells her that the draft isn't very good. And she doesn't seem to be progressing up the ladder at TAOT. When she gets to go to California for a convention, she pitches her boss Marta that she alone may be able to get through to a client of TAOT's, Beau Towers. Beau is the child of two high profile Hollywood celebs who was provided an advance to write a memoir, but he has not been able to produce anything yet. Marta agrees that Isabelle can go, and she finds herself outside Beau's towering home and tells him that she can give him pep talks to help him with his writing (yes I am serious). Even though Isabelle is initially put off by Beau, she does get an agreement she can stay to help him with his memoir. 

I don't know. Isabelle (Izzy) was not my cup of tea at all. Probably because she yelled and made nasty comments/assumptions about Beau and it just got tiresome real quick. The only thing that I can say that I loved about this character, was her love of books.  

Beau wasn't even beast like. Of course Guillory had to change this story up, can't have a random male screaming at the heroine, but there's no real temper or anything there. He literally makes fun of Izzy and she loses it and takes herself upstairs. And then she loses it again and someone he ends up apologizing to her. The whole thing was a mess. And I wish we had gotten more insight into him. Towards the end of the book we get to see how he feels about things, but I thought it was kind of a shoulder shrug moment.

I feel sad that for me there wasn't any chemistry there at all. We have some fade to black love scenes which I don't know if that happened cause of the power of the Mouse or what. But it felt lame especially since I have read Guillory's other books and always enjoyed how she wrote her love scenes in the first two books of her "The Wedding Date" series. 

If you are looking for any of the other characters from the cartoon to appear, you will have a while to wait. We have Michaela Kettle (yes that's her last name) who is somehow Beau's cook, but is also helping him get a foundation off the ground? It makes no sense to me why she would also be cooking. I just gave up. 

Izzy at times feels like the furniture is talking to her and it made me roll my eyes.

I guess Gavin is supposed to be Gaston? Nah. It doesn't really work. He's just an aggravating coworker.

The book keeps things moving, but honestly reading about someone else teaching a person how to write a memoir or the tricks they used was not interesting. I fell asleep a few times reading this. The flow of the book was solid, things keep moving. 

The ending was sweet. I just felt like this wasn't a great retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Such a charming and delightful retelling of Beauty nbd the Beast. I thought the tie-ins were cute and I enjoyed the posh Santa Barbara setting.

What a delight! This book was a charming take on a classic fairy tale, incorporating aspects from the fairy tale in ways that were entertaining and engaging. The characters had depth and I was very invested in what would happen to all involved.

This modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast fell just a little flat for me. I am a fan of Jasmine’s and was very excited about this ARC. I thought the California setting was a good contrast to a typical European fairytale setting. Beau was a decent character to portray the beast, and his personality fit the mold. Izzy is the character I’m having conflicting feelings about. I liked that she had a profession in the publishing industry, but felt there could be something more added to her character. Maybe an additional backstory about her childhood and her parents? I just couldn’t seem to connect to her character as well. However, the slow burn between Beau and Izzy was well done, getting to know each other through their time spent in the library and surfing. All the Beauty and the Beast Easter eggs made me smile, especially Michaela as the Mrs. Potts character. Overall not a bad read by any means, but not my favorite of Jasmine’s. Thank you for the opportunity to read this read ARC!

Jasmine Guillory's By the Book starts somewhat slowly and seems like other "obnoxious boss" books, but blossoms beyond the avenger theme into an insightful coming-of-age/romance. Jasmine delves into the challenges of writing and/or editing a memoir. Jasmine Guillory has written a satisfying novel. A good read.

It's no surprise that Jasmine Guillory wrote an updated version of Beauty and the Beast that will surely delight everyone from diehard Disney fans to those who've never even heard of this story.

Yall, I can not resist a fantasy retelling, especially a beauty and the beast one! This rom com had me in tears at parts and hysterical at others. I loved how the author hit on racism and heavy topics. Fantastic

I really like Jasmine Guillory's romances, so I was super excited to give this one a try, even though I haven't read any of the other Disney adult romance novels. This one is very fun, though the realism of the main character's struggles in publishing and how demoralizing it all is at the beginning was a bit heavy at times (I realize this is fully a 'me' issue and is actually a strong point of the book. I just love my romance with as little conflict as possible). I appreciated how Guillory talked about Blackness and racism overtly and repeatedly, though, and I certainly loved her characters and writing. The way she creatively reimagined the Beauty and the Beast story in the modern publishing world was super clever and fun, as well.

This is such a fun rom-com/enemies to lovers/beauty and the beast retelling. I loved all the references to Beauty and the Beast. I felt like this was a true enemies to lovers and I loved how Beau was able to grow and develop through the story. This book was engaging and just a great read.

If there is one thing that I cannot resist, it is a good fairytale retelling. That's why I am extremely grateful that I got to read and review Guillory's take on the classic Beauty and The Beast tale early. This is the second title in the Meant To Be series, a collection of stories that reimagine the Disney princesses in the modern-day. Overall, I thought this book was great. There were a lot of magical elements from this fairytale that Guillory was able to include despite the book not being fantasy. I look forward to reading future titles from this collection!

Loved! After the first story book retelling (if the shoe fits-let’s just say I hated it), I was hesitant to pick up the second in this series. However, I’m so glad I did! I love Guillory and she knocked this one out of the park! A light hearted romance and quick easy read that gives you all the warm feelings.

This book was very delightful. I enjoyed my time spent with Izzy in the publishing world. I liked her friendship with Priya and I appreciated her goals and dedication in her role as editor. I am a big fan of the sunshine/grumpy trope but I didn't think this book did it enough justice. I found it to be very bland. As in there was not nearly enough steam or chemistry between Izzy and Beau, even as their work relationship evolved. If there was a sprinkle more romance or heat during her visit, I would have enjoyed this much more. They just seemed to be companions until she returns to New York. I don't think this book will be all that memorable, as I found their romance to be very surface level (albeit trying very hard to inject some deeper emotion from the diary discovered at the end). Finally,, this did not read like any of Guillory's other work which was a bit of a disappointment.

Three stars. Nothing more. Nothing less. Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for this e-galley.

#Bythebook by Jasmine Guillory is a modern day fairytale reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. I loved this fun, flirty contemporary rom-com and look forward to reading more in this series (this was the second book in the Meant to Be series)📚🤓❤️

Thank you to #NetGallery and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review

Review copy courtesy of Hyperion Avenue through NetGalley

I continue to be confused by who this series is for. The story is very squeaky clean for the typical romance reader, but the storyline is so adult (in terms of business talk) for the YA reader. Guillory continues to write compulsively readable stories, and I chucked a few time at the “Belle” talking to inanimate objects (no magic in this story), so if you like non-fantasy, very closed door romances, try this one.