This was just okay! I was expecting it to be more quintessentially Jasmine Guillory but that’s okay! Still a quick read

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

I love Jasmine Guillory books but this was not quite what I was expecting. I'm not sure if because it's the second book of the series, but I felt like something was missing.
I feel like I needed another character to hold the storyline together. But overall I liked the premise of this!

Always a fan of Jasmine Guillory and her writing, and also Beauty and the Beast I was looking forward to reading By the Book.

In this modern day Beauty and the Beast retelling, Isabelle works in publishing, with a not so great boss in NYC. Beau Towers is an author, whose memoir Izzy and her company have spent almost two years waiting for. Izzy jumps at the chance to prove herself to her boss and visit Beau in hopes she can get some answers or pages from him. If nothing else she can enjoy the California weather for a bit. But Izzy may be just what Beau needs to get started and put his words on the page.

Guillory did a great job of weaving the Beauty and the Beast references and characters all throughout the novel. It was such a great modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with extra focus on the books and the library, but the journal was the best part for me (iykyk).

So an editorial assistant has to spend a vacation at a Californian drama queen man child’s manor because of a ridiculous situation where she tried to call his bluff but it didn’t work. Now she has to spontaneously spew annoying pep talks whenever he commands to help him write his stupid memoire that he clearly hasn’t even started. Could romance bloom is such a random context? No. I’m telling you now, there’s no romance worth reading in this book.

On one hand, I hope the author had an editor, but on the other hand I also hope she didn’t because this is not a text that went through editing. This is a raw unedited work that might have been passable to post on wattpad in 2013. I cannot believe someone gave the green light for it to be published as it is. I stopped counting the amount of times I physically recoiled and cringed at the incredibly awkward writing and the even more awkward dialogue. I’d say the first half or so is especially hard to get through because it’s just that bad.

By The Book is most likely the worst romance book I’ve ever read. No chemistry. No build up or tension. Nothing. Even worse, it’s supposed to be a Beauty and the Beast retelling, if it wasn’t already made obvious by the many non subtle references to it throughout the book, which was so annoying. The characters were very forgettable. One dimensional personalities with your typically overdone grumpy boy x sunshine girl dynamic. It was corny and cheesy. The romance genre is so oversaturated with this trope, I can’t stand it.

Also, by the look of it, this is supposedly the second book in the Meant to Be series, but from my experience you don’t have to read the first one. Nor this one. Just don’t read it. It’s a waste of time.

This book is insanely cute! As the second installment in the Meant to Be series, which are romances inspired by fairy tales, I thought I knew what to expect. This book was much more adorable than the first in the series! Inspired by Beauty and the Beast, we follow Izzy who works in publishing as she spends some time sequestered in a large fabulous home with a curmudgeonly author, to encourage and inspire him to finish his latest book. There are a ton of references to her talking to the furniture and household objects and feeling like they are friends, which I chuckled at each time. The romance is closed door, so there is nothing explicit here. Overall, I really enjoyed the characters and their relationships, the dialogue, and the adorable flirting!

Jasmine Guillory strikes again in another fun romance story, this time set as a modern retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" between two characters, Izzy, who works in book publishing in New York City, and Beau, her celebrity client in California who she's tasked with helping convince him to finish writing the book her agent has signed him on to do. Sent to California to do so, Izzy has her hands full with the reclusive and surly Beau, but as their relationship unfolds, she also learns to stop hiding her own dreams too.

This was a really fun, light read from Guillory that fans of her previous work will likely enjoy!

I wanted to love this book. I made it about halfway but it didn't keep me engaged. I had a hard time getting past the MC's too-cheery persona. It was definitely a me-thing.

3.5 Stars

This was a sweet book! I am not a huge romance reader and can quickly be put off by many romance tropes and over the top story lines. I really enjoyed this one though, especially with the subtle nods to Beauty and the Beast (though they didn't feel overdone, luckily!). I will definitely be reading more in this series.

This was such a cute, delightful retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I loved the enemies to lovers story, I loved the characters, and I was rooting for them. This book was a breath of fresh air and I have already recommended it to others. Can't wait for more books like this one.

When I think of romance, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect book to snuggle up with on any day.

I had a lot of fun reading this modern beauty and the beast re-telling. Jasmine Guillory is one of my favorite authors, and I enjoyed this book like all the rest that I have read. I think that she was maybe a little restricted by trying to keep the story to the fairy tale tropes, but I loved all the little touches of the story we know and love throughout.

In a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Isabelle is stuck in a rut, wondering why life has ended up so different than she thought it would be. Beau Towers is in much the same spot, except he's got a looming manuscript deadline. Izzy and Beau must work together to help each other find their way and end up finding each other along the way. Overall, a cute story, but to me, it didn't have Guillory's same voice and feel as her other novels, which could be because it's part of the Meant to Be series.

An excellent re-imagining of Disney’s classic Beauty and the Beast, Jasmine Guillory engaging and sweet love story drew me in. I loved this unique, fun, lighthearted, sweet, cute and sssssssexy story. The slow burn love between Izzy and Beau was absolute perfection as they both had to deal with their pasts in order to move on with their future. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.. It was very entertaining and addictively different. JG knows how to capture the reader’s attention and keep it there to the very end.

#BytheBook #NetGalley

I generally love Jasmine Guillory, but to be honest I was disappointed by this one. I know that it is part of a Disney series and a modern day Beauty and the Beast retelling, but it was just so cheesy. I loved If the Shoe Fits so I was really looking forward to seeing what Guillory did with this. The characters were frustrating and things were just too shiny and perfect to be relatable and realistic.

I really want to love this modern day retellings of classic Disney movies/fairytales but I can't seem to enjoy them in this Meant to Be series. The first one is the lovely Julie Murphy's rendition of Cinderella in "If the Shoe Fits", which is a take on the Bachelor type dating shows. Although I love her work, especially her Clover City series, I couldn't get into it.

I have never read any of Guillory's previous books, but I was intrigued of the modern-day premise. However, this fell very flat for me. I found that there was a lot of repetition, the characters were meh, and I was counting down the pages until I could be done reading this book.

I will probably continue to read the series and maybe I am just waiting for the Aladdin or Sleeping Beauty adaptation as those are my favourites.

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

**NetGalley Review**

This was my first Jasmine Guillory book and it won't be my last! I loved the similarities between By the Book and Beauty and the Beast. It was so fun to see how she would interpret and blend the storylines to make it a modern retelling of the fairytale. I loved the subtle reminders, like the publishing company "Tale as Old as Time" and Beau calling his assistant "Kettle". While the love scenes were mostly closed door, which isn't my usual preference, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had wonderful character development, humor, and I found myself getting lost in the story. Thank you NetGalley, Hyperion Avenue, and Jasmine Guillory for the opportunity to review this book!

I absolutely adore Jasmine Guillory and this book was no exception! She always kills it with the rom com- I will always pick up any book of hers. This was a beauty and the beast retelling and I didn’t know that going in. That just so happens to be my fav Disney movie so it was such a pleasant surprise to have the small hints of that. I loved both of the characters and the plot. I would rate like 4-4.5/5 stars. I really enjoyed this!!

By the Book is a Beauty and the Beast retelling by Jasmine Guillory. Overall, this book is not a bad read, but it's bland. I had high hopes for this one, but it fell flat for me. I enjoy Guillory's other books, so I was disappointed that this one was very slow. Some retellings work and some don't. This one just didn't work. There was no chemistry, the plot was watered down, and the romance was meh.

Overall, I was underwhelmed and I had higher expectations. I recommend reading Guillory's other novels, which are much better.

It's so tricky to review fairy tales as the expectation to balance what is beloved with something new tethers a thin line.

I did enjoy the first book, If the Shoe Fits, but something about this one didn't hold my attention the same. I really love Beauty and the Beast but the publishing, Tale as Old as Time, meets celeb memoir build up was a super, super slow burn. I have read and enjoyed other works by Jasmine and I can appreciate the diversity and complexity of being a women in the workplace that she brought to the pages, I just didn't love Izzy and Beau. It was just okay.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the gifted copy.

This was a quick and easy rom-com read. This isn't my favorite genre, but I do tend to enjoy Guillory's writing. This wasn't her best work, but it was fine. Rom-com fans will probably love it. The fairy-tale re-telling is probably just not my thing and I find it overdone. However, I usually enjoy Guillory's characters and her sense of humor, and this one is no different. I'll keep reaching for Guillory's books when I'm in the rare mood for a rom-com! If this is your genre, I'd recommend giving this a read! 3.5 stars