I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review,

By the Book is a spin on Beauty and the Beast. Isabelle, known as Izzy to her friends, is an editorial assistant in New York. She thought she would have more in life by now but she is still living at home and fears that she will never be promoted. For months, her boss has been trying to get a memoir out of Beau Towers, the son of a famous screenwriter and infamous himself for his beastly attitude. When she is in California for a conference, Izzy decides to go see Beau in person to try to get him to give her pages. She ends up moving in to his house for what starts as a long weekend to give him daily pep talks. She soon discovers that underneath the beastly exterior, she likes Beau - he just has a past he hasn't dealt with.

I loved this spin on the fairy tale! There were subtle nods to the original, but sadly no talking household objects here (the trade off is that it is less kidnap-y than the classic!). However, I loved their chemistry, and loved how their journey unfolded. Would definitely recommend!

In this modern-day Beauty and the Beast retelling, editorial assistant Izzy (Isabella) takes on a client who has promised but not delivered his manuscript when, after a year of emails, she offers to literally stop by his home and knock on his door to ask what’s up with that memoir under contract. Celebrity bad-boy Beau Towers has a reputation for causing scenes wherever he goes, and everyone wants the backstory to why he was yelling at his mother at his famous father’s funeral. Izzy has been in line for an overdue promotion at her publishing house, Tale As Old as Time, so when the opportunity presents itself, she shows up. Grumpy Beau refuses to see her, but his housekeeper/cook enlists Izzy’s help when she sprains her ankle. A conversation ensues, Beau invites Izzy to stay and give him pep talks to help get his book written. She agrees to stay for a day, then the weekend, and before you know it, they’re living together, writing in the library, sharing snacks and binge-watching period television series, remaining carefully boundaried.

The story contains many elements from the Disney version of Perrault’s tale: a smart and fiesty bookish woman who loves her parent(s) dearly; a grouchy beast of a man; a palace with beautiful gardens and off-limits rooms; a smarmy, undermining villain; a slow falling in love. Both Izzy and Beau have their demons to confront, and do so in real, vulnerable ways. Both are people of color, as is the author, so there is wonderful contemporary commentary on the struggles of young Black professionals and tokenism. One of the standout parts of the novel was the details about the writing process and Izzy’s strategies to get Beau producing. I also loved that she was a reader and writer, herself.

Generally, I like my romance novels with a little more heat; love scenes start chastely and then jump to the snuggling after (or waking up together the next morning), giving a sanitized (Disney?) feeling to the story. Still, you’ll be rooting for the characters to get together, even if we don’t get all the down and dirty details.

I received an advance reader’s review copy of #ByTheBook from #NetGalley.

A great retelling of beauty and the beast. Guillory writes with insight and intelligence. She does a beautiful job portraying Izzy’s inner monologue and creates a very relatable character. The only downside to this book is that the first few chapters feel a little choppy and underdeveloped, but after that the story really starts to build.

I wanted to love this more than I did. I adore the authors other books and they’re some of my favorites. It felt somewhat like being a Disney related thing that there were some likely strictly guidelines that she had to adhere to. It was good but not my favorite.

I absolutely adored this enemies to lovers rom com book! By the book is a beautifully written romance novel and I can’t wait until it’s out in the world!!

A modern Beauty and the Beast retelling by Jasmine Guillory.

Isabelle works for a publishing company (known as A Tale as Old as TIme), as an editorial assistant with a dream of being promoted. However, Izzy feels like her boss has no plans to promote her anytime soon and, she feels like she's stuck in a job she's not sure she likes anymore. That is until she volunteers to help one of their clients, a child-star who does not have the best reputation. When Izzy and Beau meet, it is clear they both have very different ideas of how to write and butt heads multiple times during Izzy's first weekend there. But what follows is a book about two people who despite their differences, learn from each other and help each other grow, forgive, and chase the future.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. This is my first time reading a book by Jasmine Guillory and I really loved it. I laughed a lot throughout this book, but also loved the realness of each character. It was a great modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast and I cannot wait for the other books in this series.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the second book of the Meant to Be series, we find ourselves in a modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Isabelle (clever nam choice) is tasked with helping her client, celebrity Beau Towers, write his memoir. Our lovable beast request Izzy to stay at his place for encouragement. If you've ever seen Beauty and the Beast, you can predict the ending.

This book was wildly disappointing. As a fan of Jasmine Guillory, this book didn't resemble any of her other books in the way it was written. The pacing felt chaotic, the chemistry between our protagonists wasn't palpable, and just completely off-brand. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer *some* believability in my fairytales.

Izzy is struggling at work-- her boss is hard to please, and even harder to read. So when her boss makes an offhand comment about someone visiting Beau, a man who's ignored all their attempts at communication for the past year, Izzy offers to go. When she gets to his house she finds an angry, reclusive man who refuses to work on the memoir he's sold to the publishing house where Izzy works. But of course, things aren't ever as simple as they seem. What Izzy first interpreted as anger is actually insecurity and guilt, and a whole lot of other emotions Beau has been struggling with.
By the Book is a modern Beauty and the Beast retelling set in California with a backdrop of the publishing world. It's sweet, funny, and a lovely book.
The dedication had me emotional right off the bat. It was sweet, and made me feel seen in a way that most dedications-- and most books-- don't. Immediately, it was clear that I'm the target audience, even more so than with most of the books I read.
The beginning was a bit hard to get into, and the voice of the beginning wasn't consistent with the rest of the voice. I much preferred the later voice, but even that discrepancy wasn't enough to knock my rating down by more than a star. Overall, I would definitely recommend By the Book to anyone who wants to read it.

This is one of my anticipated releases for this year. I enjoyed reading about Izzy's snippets of wisdom about life behind manuscripts, publication, and a woman searching for her rightful place and role in life.

A great beach read. A must-read tome!

Beauty and the Beast may be a tale as old as time, but it's tricky to pull off as a contemporary romance. By the Book deftly does away with the more troubling tropes of the fairy tale--the meek, kidnapped heroine fated only to redeem the irredeemable monster--and instead offers up two characters on equal footing who challenge and ultimately bring out the best in each other.

Isabelle (the furthest thing from meek) and Beau (troubled, isolated, but not a monster) are both ambitious and stuck in their own ruts when they meet, clash, and end up cohabitating of their own free will, if against their better judgment. Initially stuck together out of spite, they each gradually learn to appreciate the other's perspective and rely on each other for the push they both need to change their lives for the better, as their writing sessions blossom into a real friendship and, inevitably, a truly sweet romance. Though the romance is the point, this is also a book about two writers building each other up, finding their way out of the fog of other people's opinions, and learning to trust their voices. It's also about the importance of snacks.

I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one was not my favorite Guillory - seemed fluffier than some of her others. Characters not very deep at all, and some of their assertions about themselves are not particularly well-documented in the book (and therefore not super believable), but still fun and light. And I don't know whether it's the Disney influence or what, but this was pretty G-rated.....

"Tale as old as time, true as it can be, barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly." If you grew up in front of a box TV, blowing on VHS tapes, eating off TV dinner trays, watching Disney princesses fall in love - this book is for you. The second installment in the "Meant to Be" series, which is a fractured fairy tale retelling of the classics. "If the Shoe Fits" by Julie Murphy, the classic Cinderella tale with a twist, and now Queen of Rom Com, Jasmine Guillory's "By The Book" closely resembling the modern day Beauty and the Beast. These two queens created the perfect tales of modern day princesses.

Synopsis: A tale as old as time, but make it for the modern 2022 woman. Isabelle, an editorial assistant at Tale as Old as Time Publishing, feels lost and unaccomplished. As the only black employee at her publishing house, still living at home, and remaining stagnant, she feels overworked and underpaid. When she hears her boss complaining about a beastly client who is dragging them along about a memoir on his life, she feels compelled to talk to the client. Upon meeting him at his castle-like home, she finds herself living with the grumpy, standoffish Beau Towers. If you have read the tale, you know what comes next. This is the story of the triumph of love, acceptance and learning that sometimes to truly know a person, you have to read between the lines.

Personal Review: 4 Stars

This book was chock full of characters, plot elements, and settings that spoke to my inner 90's child. Beau Towers played the perfect beast, Michaela the best Mrs. Pots, the bathtub a magical Mr. Coggsworth, Gavin as Gaston, and last but not least Isabelle, the perfectly representational beauty. The setting in the grandfathers house was the so comparable to the classic tale with off-limit rooms, libraries to die for, and a grumpy companion trudging about. I loved Guillory before with her "Wedding Date" series, but her ability to master the modern day tale of a Disney classic, left me wanting MORE! Can't wait to see the other retellings in the "Meant to Be" series. "Just a little change, small to say the least, both a little scared, neither one prepared - Beauty and the Beast."

In this modern remix of a classic fairytale, beauty Isabelle, an editor's assistant at a phishing company, is tasked with getting the famous pretty boy, Beau, to stop acting like a beast and finally get his book turned in. Izzy's day trip to Santa Barbara turns into a weeks-long adventure when Beau insists that she stays in order to give him a daily pep talk. Can she really manage to make this self-centered jerk get some work done, or is she just wasting her time, both with him, and in her own life?

I had so much fun reading this, and couldn't put it down. Beauty and the Beast happens to be one of my favorite Disney movies, and the many, many references throughout were NOT lost on me. The storyline was good, and the character development was really well written. I was glad to see the resolutions to all the open issues in the last chapter or so. I already had a couple of other titles from this author on my TBR list before, but I think they'll be happening sooner rather than later, because I really enjoyed this one! I definitely recommend this to any romance fans, especially if you like Disney references as much as I do!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. I thank the author and publisher for this opportunity! It has been my pleasure!

This was my first Jasmine Guillory, and to be honest, I'm a little bummed. I've heard so many wonderful things about Guillory's romances, but this one fell very flat to me. To be fair, because the Meant to Be series is owned by Disney, I'm assuming she had to work until certain (strict?) guidelines, which may have affected her writing. I still want to read her other books, as I've heard so many wonderful things about them, but I'm kicking myself for having this one be the first I've read by her.
I did read the first book in this series (If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy) and thought it was cute, if a bit bland. I felt this one was...worse . It felt very formulaic, and I didn't fall in love with the characters the way I normally do in romance novels. To be honest, I almost stopped reading about a quarter in because the beginning was pretty...rough. It was very simply written and felt like something a junior high student would have written--it lacked nuance and the writing didn't really follow the "show don't tell" rule. I also really wanted more about Beau beyond his relationship with his mother, but besides some throwaway lines about how he got in a fight to protect a friend, there wasn't much.
All in all, I only really finished this book because I always feel guilty judging a book so quickly, but I think my initial impulse was correct--I feel bummed I spent so much of this book waiting for it to get better.

I so so so badly wanted to like this book but it just did absolutely nothing for me. I waited so long for the story to pick up but I found the story and the characters boring. A Beauty and the Beast retelling really holds a lot of potential but it falls flat in this adaption. The chemistry between our characters felt forced and Beau’s sudden trust in Izzy seemed really out of the blue rather than natural. Also, I’m not sure if this a choice of Disney, the publishing company, or the author, but didn’t particularly love the closed-door love scene.

Overall, this reads more like a YA romance and not a good one.

Oh my gosh. This book was exactly what I needed. Sweet, lovely, and a brilliant retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I couldn’t put it down (I literally read it in one sitting). I loved the allusions to the movie (This Provincial Life tv show? Amazing), and the diversity of the diversity of the characters. Definitely not as steamy as some of the author’s other works, it is a perfect read for readers looking for a beautiful romcom that hints (sometimes not so subtly) of everyone’s favourite literary Disney movie.

First and foremost, a huge thank you to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adore Jasmine Guillory. There isn’t a single book she’s written that I haven’t loved (and I’ll admit, I have purchased them all, even though there are a few sitting on my TBR shelf that I haven’t read yet!). She writes these utterly relatable rom-coms that you just sink right into. Her protagonists are always people I love and identify with in one way or another.

This book, which drops in May, is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I loved all the little touches from the original fairy tale (“talking” furniture, the WiFi password of Lumiere, “This Provincial Life” TV series, etc). Better than that, it had a book focus. Our main character, Izzy, works in editing/publishing and is out in California to find the reclusive bad-boy celebrity who is supposed to be working on a memoir, Beau.

I just adored this story. Once it hit its stride, it was unputdownable. Beau played the role of Beast well, and I really loved him. Izzy is the person I wish lived next door and could be my best friend.

This book was a truly fantastic spin on the fairytale, and you should definitely pick it up when it comes out in May. For me, it was the perfect Valentine’s Weekend read. Thank you, Jasmine and NetGalley!

I’m a sucker for any book that has a book in the title or takes place in a book industry or has to do with writers. This relationship was so cute and the banter was so witty and fun! I love anything Jasmine Guillory writes!!! Super cute cover, super cute romance, and One of my favorites of hers so far! I Was actually able to read this book in one sitting!

Isabelle works with a publishing company who’s publishing a childhood actor’s new memoir. When the author goes MIA she takes it upon herself to help him with the book. This romantic tale inspired by Beauty and the Beast is a cute read for any romance novel reader.

This book is the second in the Meant to Be Series which is where different authors write very loosely based fairy tale retellings. This one is based off of Beauty & the Beast. Izzy is struggling at her publishing house in cold NYC when she has an opportunity to fly to warm LA to try to prod one of her publishing house authors to finish up his long awaited memoir. Beau Towers is gruff and growly (if course) and doesn't seem to want work with Izzy.
Well let me tell you how much I loved this book! I loved Izzy. She was a great MC. I love Jasmine Guillory's snappy writing and dialogue. And I loved how bookish this book was.