I was thrilled to see that there was a new Jasmine Guillory book coming out and that I had received an ARC from NetGalley to review it. I really enjoyed this book which tells the story of Isabelle Marlowe - Izzy - an editorial assistant who aspires to be an editor and writer herself and Beau Tower, a gorgeous but difficult new author who is attempting to write a memoir. The chemistry between these two was beautifully written - and the book delivered the happy ending that I love so much. And I did get a kick out of the various "Beauty and the Beast" references thoughout the book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you very much to Disney Hyperion, Jasmine Guiliory and Netalley for providing me with an E-ARC of "By The Book" in exchange for an honest review *

I really loved "By The Book" and I was really excited to read it. I was a bookish romance I definitely needed.

A lovely, modern Beauty and the Beast type story (without the kidnapping). I thoroughly enjoyed “By the Book” from start to finish. The characters are relatable, the plot flows well, the writing is on point, and the ending was satisfying. Highly recommend!

I thought Guillory did such a creative and fun job setting the Beauty and the Beast story in a modern romance world! Beauty and the Beast retellings are just probably my least favorite of the fairytales that often get revamped as romances, because I don't love an alpha, emotionally closed off love interest.

This book is, in a word, adorable. I flew through it and was left with the warm, fuzzy feeling that only a sweet, straightforward romance can provide. It's a little bit Devil Wears Prada, a little bit Beauty and the Beast and a lot of modern, hardworking, intelligent woman making her own way in the world.

Izzy + Beau's relationship development is natural and satisfying, but it's not the only meaningful relationship in this story. Izzy's friendship with Priya and her connections with other professional women add depth to the story and help us to understand Izzy better, avoiding the common romance genre pitfall of largely defining the main characters within their relationship to each other.

The age of the characters puts them right on the edge of Millenials/GenZ, and this is a book that can definitely appeal to both audiences. Very PG-13 and innocent so if you're looking for R, look elsewhere.

*I received an Advance Reader's Edition of this book and this review is being left voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

These "Meant to Be" books are just pure delightful reads. The second one in the series (first one based on Cinderella), this one is based on Beauty and the Beast and is by one of my favorite YA authors. She was a great choice to write this installment. Isabelle gets stuck with Beau in his "castle" of a mansion in California. She quickly realizes he is not much of a beast despite his bad boy image while helping him to write his memoir and finding her own lost writing voice as well. Lots of clever references to the original Beauty and the Beast. These are just plain fun reads!

This was a really enjoyable story with fun nods to Disney's Beauty & the Beast that Disney fans will love. I really loved Isabelle as a character and related to her struggles of trying to decide if her dream career really was still her dream. I appreciate that Jasmine Guillory always gives her characters interesting careers and I thought she represented working in publishing really well. This book was just delightful and made me root for the characters and their romance. I'm glad this isn't the only Jasmine Guillory book I have on my Kindle because this definitely made me want to continue reading the books of hers I haven't read.

A sweet and lovely modernization of Beauty & the Beast, by the master of romance! Izzy is a publishing assistant, dreaming of moving up the corporate ladder and even publishing her own book. Beau is an actor, son of Hollywood stars, struggling to even start his memoir. When Izzy finds herself at Beau’s home, she is able to inspire him to connect to his writing (and also her, of course).

While not my favorite Guillory, I was impressed with how she brought this story to the present day.

I really enjoyed this fairy tale inspired rom-com. Was it cheesy and predictable at times? Yes, of course it was. Maybe it is just because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale, but I enjoyed this story despite the flaws and imperfections. The two main characters weren’t perfect, but they filled the roles of Beauty and the Beast the way I wanted them to. Izzy has been working for a publishing house for years which was her dream, but she is starting to lose hope that her boss really values her or she’ll ever be promoted. On a trip to California she volunteers to speak with a child-star who has promised a memoir but delivered no pages or updates. Izzy volunteers to drive over there and knock on the door to talk to him since he doesn’t accept their phone calls. When she arrives she finds him to be more Beast than Beau but an incident with his assistant leads to her agreeing to stay for a few days to help with pep talks about writing.

By The Book is a contemporary reimagining of the Beauty and the Beast story. Izzy works as an editorial assistant. She loves the industry but is not happy at her job. Beau is a celebrity client who is not meeting deadlines for his memoir. He is difficult, angry, and uncommunicative. Izzy volunteers to go to his home and offer some help. They go from an adversarial relationship to one of mutual trust and friendship and eventually more. There were many nods to Beauty and the Beast, but it was not overdone. There was not the spicy undercurrent as in the authors other books so it is appropriate for a younger audience but will be enjoyed by an older one. The publishing date is May 3, 2022. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an early look in exchange for an honest review. I loved it; I hope you do too.

So cute. Definitely less spicy than the author's other books so it could be a good introduction to romance for someone new to the genre.

This novel is sweet - a modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I loved the not-so-hidden references to Beauty and the Beast, the insight into the publishing industry, and the complicated relationships Izzy has with her colleagues.
I wished for a little more character development for Beau. There's some background into his seclusion - but I don't buy it. The characters lacked chemistry, or enough build-up, to their relationship. Perhaps I was expecting more spark and steam as in her other novels. This is much more PG.
All around, a good, quick, read.

So I had to read this book because If The Shoe Fits was honestly one of my favorite reads in 2021, and since this was it's 'sequel' (or really, another book with the same theme of Disney retellings, so you do not have to read the first book, though I highly recommend it) It did not disappoint. Despite having a different author (the first book was written by Julie Murphy) I still felt the same excitement (i.e magic, maybe?) reading this book, still fell in love with Izzy and Beau, and even had little doses of childhood nostalgia reading this retelling of the class story of Beauty and the Beast.

Just like its predecessor, this isn't a carbon copy of the original tale...it's a retelling set in the modern world for adult readers. If you're looking for something that is exactly the same, or something that is the same-just add smut- then this will disappoint. I personally enjoyed the fact that the tale was inspired by, and included fun nods like the library scene, the wifi password, and the iconic yellow dress. Something that I knew to expect, but others might not, is that this book feels very wholesome and sweet with no spicy tension that adult romance readers like myself might have come to expect in our novels. I was surprised that this didn't make the novel fall flat for me...it was compelling enough to stand on it's own without having to rely on steamy scenes to keep the reader interested.

There are elements of the sunny one and the grumpy one in this novel...though I suppose that was to be expected based on it's inspiration. Izzy is true to the Belle spirit with her love for books and independence...she's honestly one of the best princesses to bring to modern day considering she felt before her time in her 'poor provincial town.' Beau starts off with the grumpy front, but eventually Izzy sees past the façade and the two eventually work together, start a friendship, bring out the best in one another, and fall in love. It's an ooey gooey sort of romance, and honestly just feels like chicken soup to the soul. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Jasmine Guillory is the queen of contemporary romance. She absolutely knocked this retelling of Beauty and the Beast out of the park. I loved watching Izzy navigate her work as an editorial assistant and growing in her career. Beau, like Beast, was a lovable curmudgeon and I only wanted to see the best for him. The references back to the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast were spot on and I cheered every time one popped up. And I think we could all use a Michaela in our lives. Great characterization, wonderful setting, and a heartwarming story all around. I recommend this to any Disney/fairytale fan and anyone looking for a heartwarming comfort read. So well done!

A sweet retelling of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, sure to appeal to fans of the animated film, with lots of fun Easter- eggy references. It's a story every reader will likely know before beginning page one, but Guillory adds interesting nuance with Beau's family backstory and Isabelle's work in the publishing industry. Though the main characters are in their twenties, the book is very rated G, with nothing more than nondescript kissing even mentioned, let alone behind closed doors, so I suspect this would also appeal to teen and tween readers, especially those who love the Disney film. The book is also low on conflict, with a lot of pure joy on the page as the two main characters enjoy cooking, writing, chatting, eating, surfing, and snuggling together, so it's a total comfort read, and a great choice for those looking for a few hours away from the chaos of the world with nice characters, in a beautiful setting, dong things they like to do while falling in love.

I swear, JG is one of my top five favorite authors! She never fails to draw you in to every story she concocts and may you feel as if you’re imbedded in it. Beau and Izzy were beautifully written characters and I loved all the Beauty and the Beast references! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I usually love Jasmine Guillory's books and Beauty and Beast is my favorite fairytale so I had high hopes for this book- that unfortunately fell very flat. The writing was simplistic and the characters lacked depth and chemistry with one another. I understand it was a closed door romance but there was no swoon or steam. The characters felt like friends who snacked all the time then suddenly were in love? The beauty and beast references were very minimal. I had hoped this one would include the signature charm, heart and humor that Jasmine's books typically include but this was a huge disappointment.

Things I did like: discussion of book writing and publishing industry as a whole

Thank you Hyperion and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

I have loved and recommended Jasmine Guillory since her first book; Beauty and the Beast is my favorite trope so I thought I would love this book, but I didn’t. It lacked the energy and the whip-smart dialog that I was expecting. The BATB references were clever but perhaps these constraints dampened her usual sparkle.

I appreciated the discussions about the writing process between Izzy and Beau, the interesting deep dive into the publishing world, and their slow build romance. All of this was likable, but I just didn’t love it…and I wanted to.

Also By the Book goes back to closed door love scenes like her first book,The Wedding Date. Guillory has evolved with her love scenes, Party of Two being her steamiest. Perhaps this was another constraint by the format of the Meant to Be series.

Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This entire book screamed “Modern-Day-Beauty-&-the-Beast”. There was constant personification of objects, there was a tea shop called “Off to the Cupboard”, Beau had a floor to ceiling library inside his mansion, & Izzy’s publishing company was called “Tale as Old as Time Pub”. Even Beau & Izzy’s personalities coincided with the those of Belle & the Beast 😂 Since that was my favorite princess Disney movie I loved seeing the similarities.

This was a very cute, quirky book revolving around escapism, pursuing the road less traveled no matter the obstacles, &, as the title suggests, BOOKS!

My biggest complaint was that there were a lot of arguments Beau & Izzy had that seemed too trivial for grown adults to be upset over in my opinion & there were times throughout the book that the dialogue seemed a bit repetitive.

All in all though this was a cute book & fit to read since Valentines Day is right around the corner

3.5/5 stars. Such a fun, modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This was a quick, easy read with great characters set in a beautiful location. This was different from Jasmine Guillory’s other books in that it teetered a little closer to YA than NA. Would make a perfect summer, beach read.

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