Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I have to admit I knew prior to reading that this is a loose retelling of Beauty & the Beast, so I found myself seeking out the similarities and references to past reimagining's and Jasmine did not disappoint! From Isabelle's yellow dress as she descends a grand staircase, to her having imaginary conversations with household appliances. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters, but that is not really a surprise considering I've read and enjoyed every book Jasmine releases! She always has strong female characters who are not afraid to be themselves and the same is true of the main character Isabelle; she doesn't shy away from Beau's rough exterior. As expected, he softens and they take a liking to each other. As predictable as expected, I definitely recommend!

This book was so cute! It took me awhile to see that this was a romance book, it is definitely a slow burn, but I really loved the story itself so it was easy to get into. Izzy is sent to work with Beau, an author who has had trouble writing a memoir. Beau has not responded to any correspondence, so Izzy decides to go to his house. While there, she gets invited to stay with him to provide support. The majority of the book explores their time living together and working through the writing of Beau's memoir. I loved reading about the way that Izzy was able to get Beau to write and built a friendship with him. This was built so well that it was almost shocking to find out that Beau was attracted to Izzy since the beginning. The only thing that I didn't really like about their relationship was that they seemed to get into fights somewhat frequently and they said some pretty nasty things to each other during. They would fight, apologize, only to turn around and fight again. It made it seem like their apologies weren't actually genuine. I thought for sure that their relationship was going to die out when Izzy had to come back to New York, but that NOTEBOOK! <3 Made my heart so happy. If you like romance, this is a great read that has a good story line. I also like that it features POC.

Isabelle is an overworked publishing assistant desperate to be promoted. Beau is a celebrity bad boy who is supposed to be writing his memoir but has apparently dropped off the face of the earth. As a last ditch effort to impress her boss Isabelle offers to go to Beau’s home and encourage him to get moving on his book.

When she gets to his mansion, she’s met with a cranky beast who’s not made any progress on his memoir and challenges her to stay with him in his home to give him daily pep talks.

Beau is a tough nut to crack but Isabelle sees the good man underneath, and his story that needs to be told - slowly falling for him in the process and uncovering some things about herself as well.

If Beauty and the Beast is your childhood favorite, give this one a try. My only complaint is that the first Meant to Be Novel featured a plus size character, where Isabelle was mentioned to be a size 12. I was hoping they’d continue to be plus size throughout.

A sweet and swift retelling of a tale as old as time. Muck like Izzy and Beau's snacks that feature prominently throughout the book, this novel is a quick treat that is fun to read, but lacks some substance.

Although I enjoyed the cast of characters and appreciated the journey that both Izzy and Beau went through to become better versions of themselves, at times I felt like something was lacking from the novel. The relationship between Izzy and Beau felt like it needed more time to develop than it was given. I did like the nods to Disney's Beauty and the Best throughout the novel.

I enjoyed this take on Beauty and the Beast quite a bit - fresh and original but yet plenty of Easter Eggs and winks to truly, a tale as old as time. I found Isabelle to be a smidge off-the-mark of what makes a great heroine, mostly due to her dispensation to shout at someone and then quite literally, run away. I found this a bit tired as a trope and again, hits on one of my biggest pet peeves with lazy writing - miscommunication as a plot point. Despite that, I was rooting for her and especially rooting for Beau in his journey to healing and working on relationships with himself and some people around him. I especially loved the Santa Barbara setting [although we don't see the town itself too, too much, which you'll have to read to understand why] - there's truly no better place than sunny, southern California! All in all, 3.5 stars for a cast of endearing characters, well-paced writing and a library that could truly just make a gal swoon.

Thanks, as always, to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I look forward to seeing this on shelves on May 3rd!

Okay so.

I was already walking into this a smidge apprehensive given a few things: I wasn't a huge fan of Jasmine's last book; while I adore Beauty and the Beast and I've grown quite tired of retellings. But I was like look - I can put that aside for a cute little story and I've loved a lot of Jasmine's other books.

And well -- that's a lie! I could not! Wow! Wow I could not!!

One thing I've noticed that Jasmine doesn't do as well as I would like is ... well. All the romances seem to happen in a void. In While We Were Dating, while there was a few things that emphasized that the main character was a celebrity, no one... reacted like it. Which, fine, she could've been a smaller town actress, but an actress in a Large Superhero Film would probably start to have pap shots. But in this book? I had no idea what job Beau had (which if it was mentioned, I don't remember), and even though they mentioned that he was afraid to be seen in public........ that was never an issue. like there was one part where I thought the big ~drama~ would be because they hugged in public, but actually nope! no issue at all.

I noticed this in the other Meant to Be story, which was the weird shoe-horning of the disney property into the book. His housekeeper is nicknamed Kettle (???), his wifi is lumiere (which to be honest, made me laugh so much it was awful). The "Gaston" was an asshole but also ...not at all Gaston. What we hate about Gaston is that he's the dude that everyone likes in the small town but he's an ASSHOLE and this dude.... well, he sucked, but that was it.

I just felt like a lot of the characters could've used a lot more fleshing out. I didn't love how the boss's story ended up nor the other Black woman the MC knew. Oh! The main characters! Bland. so bland. It was a little disappointing. I liked the friend a lot! But I felt like she had more personality than the two leads.

Uh!

That's it! I'll probably keep reading Jasmine's stuff and while I saw some reviews mention that they thought it might have been a new editor which is why it felt so different, but if anything, this book highlighted issues I've seen in her other works. So. Yeah.

Thanks to Hyperion Ave and NetGalley for a chance to read!

✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a California escapism twist.

💭 Overall Thoughts:
Jasmine Guillory is an auto buy for me. I love her writing style and how much I feel connected to her characters because of the way she writes them. I love the witty banter between characters and the true rom com feel of her storylines. She also writes such strong female characters that I love.

This one is no different. There is some adorable forced proximity/ enemies to lovers romance going on and watching a very grumpy Beau become a soft teddy bear was just adorable.

This is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast and for the most part it was incredibly well done. My only qualm were I felt the references to inanimate objects were a little over the top… but that’s just me, and it was a very minor aspect.

An adorable and enjoyable read that will be out May 3, 2022!

Highlights:
😆 Witty banter
😾 Grumpy cat turns teddy bear
😈 Enemies to lovers
🏰 Fairytale Retelling

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for allowing me to read with request for review.

"By the Book" is a delightful retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" set in SoCal. I enjoyed Isabel's growth as a character throughout the book. Beau's character was a little tougher for me to get into. One minute, he was the WORST, and the next he's being super tender and sweet. Although it took some time, I ended up rooting for them both.

This is a great book to read on a cold day when you're dreaming of sunny beaches in the middle of winter. Heck, it's great to read anytime you want something that will make you smile. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free advanced copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’m a longtime JG fan and haven’t read one of her books in years. I enjoyed the behind the scenes look at the publishing world, beautiful scenery, and Black love story. At times the writing style felt forced or unrealistic but I enjoyed the escape. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of Guillory's books, but this one read almost as if someone else wrote or edited it. It lacks her typical banter and is very closed door. The only thing more frustrating than the lack of physical contact is the frustratingly detailed accounts of the writing process. Overall, the book felt like nonstop food, angst, and word counts, and by the middle was starting to make me feel stressed reading it. When they finally did kiss, they stopped MULTIPLE times to go get snacks, which was the final straw for me. (Except if either of them heard me say "the final straw" they probably would have got up to go make a milkshake, transporting us straight to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.)

I'm still a Guillory stan and can't wait to read whatever she reads next, but the cuteness of the Beauty and the Beast adaptation wasn't enough to counteract the tediousness of this book for me.

A modern Beauty and the Beast? Written by Jasmine Guillory? YES, PLEASE!

This was wonderful, and definitely continues these great, modern retellings of princess stories, first with a plus-sized Cinderella in Julie Murphy’s If the Shoe Fits, and now with Guillory’s Belle as a Black woman in the publishing world. Princesses come in all shapes and colors, and I LOVE these retellings. I’m so thankful that Disney/ Hyperion is publishing these, because all women need to see that they could be princesses, too. And it’s refreshing to see the princesses have real world problems and roadblocks to their “Happily Ever After.”

Anyone that loves Disney princesses, loves Belle, loves books, loves contemporary romances that come right up to the edge of spicy but make you feel all the feels- you need to read this book.

You do not have to read Murphy’s book in the Meant to Be series to read By the Book, but they’re both so wonderful that you should.

This is absolutely a five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ or five Princess tiara 👑👑👑👑👑 book.

** Many thanks to #NetGalley and #Hyperion / #Disney for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This princess’s opinions are her own.**

Sigh --- this review pains me because I love Jasmine Guillory and I love Beauty + the Beast. I was so looking forward to this modern day retelling but sadly there just wasn't enough here. Like many Disney productions this book had a PG rating and it felt more like Beau + Izzy were good friends than in a romantic relationship. Was hoping to see Izzy stand up for herself more and be bold with what she wanted outside of her work with Beau and with her entire career.

Jasmine is still an auto-buy author for me but the constraints of this collab limited everything I love about her books.

<i>By the Book</i> is a cute contemporary retelling of <i>Beauty and the Beast </i>. I'm a big fan of Guillory's books so I was really excited to get an advanced copy of this one. Guillory's retelling features 20-something Isabelle ("Izzie"), an assistant at a publishing company who is unhappy with her job thanks to a boss that never seems to notice her and a coworker who seems only too happy to put her work down. When a difficult writer (Beau Towers) needs someone to force him to meet his deadline, Izzie jumps at the opportunity to finally show her boss that she has what it takes to be an assistant editor. But Beau turns out to be more of a beast than cranky writer, and Izzie finds herself stuck at his mansion trying to prove that she belongs in the publishing world just as much as her colleagues.

If you're a fan of the Disney version of the story, this version will not disappoint. It's a nice update that doesn't stray into cheesy. The modern tweaks to the story work really well, and readers will have fun catching all of the little references to the fairy tale.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.

I highly anticipated this novel, because I love Jasmine Guillory books. This one was not my favorite, though. I thought the Beauty and the Beast theme was cheesy and not carried through. Also, I didn't find there to be a climax or a high point of the book. It was just, meh. Liked the characters of Izzy and Beau, but I wouldn't choose to read it again.

I received this book free in exchange for my honest review.

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory was a nice romance novel. Jasmine's writing had a certain something special, but it was not as memorable as others.

Jasmine Guillory does it again!

Izzy is an assistant working in publishing and after two years in what she thought was her dream job, she’s feeling burnt out. Suddenly she finds herself working with a disgruntled new author and along the way, finds her inspiration again.

From the moment I started reading this book I could not put it down. Is it predictable? Yes. But the story hit me right in the feels and I was so drawn to the characters and the story I had to know what happened next. Plus you can’t go wrong with a book about books. In case you couldn’t tell, I would highly recommend this book!

As the polar opposite of a Disney adult, this book was an adventure in discovering whether I like Guillory’s books more than I dislike the House of Mouse. Turns out Guillory won. This one was full of her usual charm, good food, and California sunshine. It was a little tamer in terms of the romance to the point where I had to check to see whether it was a foray into YA (it’s not).

Some of the cutesy references didn’t work for me, but I get why they’re there and I’m sure less cold-hearted people will enjoy them.

My only lingering question: is Beau’s foundation-having friend Anna Gardiner?

I’m a huge fan of Jasmine Guillory and fairytales so this book was right up my alley. A modern take on Beauty and Beast, this sunshine/grumpy troupe Izzy and Beau nailed the classic telling. Guillory puts her own twists on it with her magical writing. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and anticipate another modern fairytale story. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

By the Book was a charming modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I absolutely loved finding all of the little easter eggs throughout the story. I really liked Isabelle as a character. She was charming and smart and showed real growth as the story progressed. Beau was also an interesting mystery of a character, and I found the secondary characters to be well-developed and interesting. *Potential spoilers* I wasn't a huge fan of the ending because it wasn't as "happily ever after" as I expected. More of a "happily ever for now". But overall, I thought this was a charming little romance novel and you should definitely add it to your TBR.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the whole beauty and the beast vibe and that he actually used the term are you trying to escape, Beau and izzy were just so cute I loved their give and take and how she softened him to make him an actual person instead of this monster noone liked I love how he made her want to start writing again and their relationship was just so fun to watch I guess read in this case