The concept of this book was very interesting. I enjoyed that about this book a lot.

There was a good amount of self discovery and finding out who you are as a person.

I wanted to enjoy this book, I really did but there were so many things that didn't curl all the way over for me. I'm a thirty-something and I don't think this book was meant for me.

Let me start with the main characters:
- Patience came off to me as an immature, insecure, and emotionally inept woman who lacks self-awareness. At every turn, she was worried about Lennox and other women - red flag. She refuses to hear any constructive criticism about her actions, behavior, or mindset - red flag. Everyone around her overlooks her poor decisions and actions, almost coddling her in her wrongness - red flag. Does she ever actually go to speak with someone professionally or go to therapy? No - red flag.
- Lennox came off to me as smug and self-aggrandizing. For a man of so few words (as it was put) he sure had a lot of feedback and criticism for Patience; coming off as really judgmental around the conversation of casual sex. He was written with such care for his own mental health, personal peace, and self-awareness so, it's shocking to me that he would choose to be with someone like Patience.

Then the writing style of this book threw me for a loop. "Dead-ass facts." "I'm not gon' cap." "On fleek." "Respeck." Who are we talking to?

Lastly, the sex scenes killed it for me. THRASHING. JOYSTICK. YONI. APRIL. SLIPPERY FOLDS. ROOFTOP. Literally, nothing about the writing of the sex scenes was appealing. Every word made me cringe.

I mean... it wasn't for me. Might be for you.

Thank you, NetGalley for the copy!

4.5 stars

This was a story I enjoyed a lot, getting to know Patience and Lennox and their families was a journey. I loved how flawed they were, it's not too manufactured and perfect. I did wish after all of what goes down in their personal lives, the healing journey was shown more. Daniel was a MAD weirdo for what he did, my goodness. I adored Patience and Lennox's chemistry together, and seeing their evolvement from getting to know each other into dating. Normalizing therapy- I am here for it.

Patience in different aspects reminded me of myself, but I was happy with her career she felt pretty solid about it and not let others dwindle it.

I did NOT like Daniel's mother and the way she was comparing was gross.

What was interesting is you get to see the story (especially towards the end) through Lennox & Daniel's lens.

It does make me excited that their stories will be continued in a new book (late 2023), so I should be picking that up at some point!

AN ARC FROM NETGALLEY FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

I liked this! This was just so well written and filled with fantastic characters, even the secondary characters were brilliant. This book is just jam pack with drama, pain, love, tension, learning to love yourself and learning about your own self worth. For my first book by the author I was happily surprised.

And as Always Happy Reading!

This book without a doubt hits the ground running and has enough twists and turns to entertain.
Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. I couldn't connect to the characters, though ultimately many of their antics amused and bemused me. The early breakup scene was particularly baffling.
Patience's love interest Lennox had an uncanny quality to him at times. Their dialogue had a forced, unreal quality to it, and sometimes felt almost formulaic. And while I was told that they were vibing, laughing, and enjoying each other's company, I never felt like I witnessed those key moments.
The impromptu therapy session performed by Ox's mother at their first meeting will forever stand out as I read it with my mouth hanging open at the sheer audacity.
The sex scenes had a humorous quality to them that really stood out to me as unique to this novel.

Beauty and the Ox... A tale as old as time?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC. This review contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

This stunningly beautifully written novel is the first offering from Zariah L. Banks. The story follow the life of Patience Hampton. Life is on a great trajectory for her. Her work as a voice actor although challenging is going well. She has a supportive network of family and friends. She’s in a long-term relationship with boyfriend, Daniel, with an expectation of a proposal any day now. Suddenly, blindsided with a revelation during dinner with Daniel’s family, her world becomes filled with uncertainty. While recovering from her difficult breakup, Patience is finally determined to focus on defining happiness for herself.

While on a business trip out of town, she encounters Lennox Davenport in the hotel’s lounge. The chemistry between the two unexpected yet undeniable. She open to spending the night with the handsome stranger. The more they become acquainted, the more she realizes she doesn’t know herself at all. She comes to recognize the patterns in her life beginning in her childhood and they presented themselves in past relationships. She realizes that those very things are now threatening to do the same with Lennox.

Patience begins a journey of self-love, self-care. Although this is a romance novel I LOVE that it also explores forgiveness, second chances and vulnerability. It’s Lennox’s stance on meaningful sex for me 🥰🥰🥰

I loved this, this is just so well written, full of fantastic characters, even the secondary characters are brilliant, it’s full of drama, pain, love, tension, learning to love yourself and learning self worth, just a wonderful read and Im looking forward to so much more in future

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was difficult for me to get through, not because I think it was written bad, but because I don’t think that I’m the target audience for it.

There were instances where I feel like Lennox was slut-shaming/judging Patience for wanting to sleep with him, but also I don’t know why a man would finger me on my couch, get me worked up, and then be like “nah, I’m good.” That would actually piss me off LOL.

I also felt like there were some Christian leaning undertones (extending grace, forgiving a man after he’s cheated on you and had an outside child) that bothered me. I can see why some people would enjoy this book, but I found it to be very vanilla.

Also it was weird that she complained about have mediocre sex with her ex, but the moment they agreed to just sleep with each other he blows her back out? And calling Lennox’s p***** her “joystick” felt childish.

Again, I don’t think the writing was bad, this was just not the book for me.

I’m trying to find something wrong about this book. It pulled me in from the beginning and kept me engaged til the end. Beauty Beheld gave us drama, pain, and secrets while also giving us love, self-care and -worth, with just the right amount of spice. Additionally, it was satisfying to see an emotionally wounded woman learn to put herself first and fully love the person she’s grown to be.

And the cover is absolutely beautiful!

• BEAUTY BEHELD By Zariah L Banks •
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Right let me just start this one off with a simple command - read this! If you love a book that will drag you straight into the plot ready to explore complicated relationships, family impact, healing journeys, life, love and some spicy spice…..this one is for you!
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I loved it! I will definitely pick up any other book by this author as this one did not disappoint!

When we meet Patience she is seemingly in a contented relationship, she has spent 5 years with Daniel and it all looked good, but then there is an event at Friday night supper that sparks the catalyst that changes life as she knows it …..but good things might just be around the corner, and with the introduction of Lennox this book steps up a gear….and no doubt Patience and Lennox will keep you turning those pages!
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Patience needs to work out whether she is ready to accept some good into her life, to take a leap of faith and put herself first instead of following the same path of giving her own pure happiness and ambition up for others, self sabotage is for past Patience….

In Beauty Beheld, Zariah L. Banks imbues her protagonist with such a clear and emotionally vivid voice that I totally enjoyed the richness of her narrative. From the opening scene of that scorching family dinner to the closing unheard telephone call made by the multifaceted, Patience to her estranged father, the reader is regaled with a powerful saga of dysfunctionality, loss, growth, love, and family dynamics, both the good and the negative. The book begins at the aforementioned family dinner, where Patience is blindsided by her boyfriend’s mother (again). For Patience, this occurrence is the final push needed in order to move away from a splintering relationship. This book is amazingly coherent with real emotional tension; we root for Patience to put her needs first and to connect with a worthy love interest. Even though the book was told mostly from Patience’s point of view, we get a small glimpse into the emotions and motives of the two men in her life, Lennox and Daniel. This insight was pivotal to bringing more clarity to the story. This story is extremely well written and even contains an awesome set of secondary characters that hopefully we will get to see in subsequent stories!
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Made me really think about self love and the way we have to love ourselves more than we rely on the romantic love from others to make us feel whole. But when true love comes along we must grab it.

I was instantly hooked into this book and truly enjoyed reading it. After an awkward dinner and an awful breakup with her boyfriend, Patience Hampton is determined to enjoy her single life and focus on herself. While on a business trip she meets Lennox Davenport and there’s instant chemistry. He is everything her ex is not. The only problem is that he lives in Atlanta and she lives in Cleveland. Long distance relationship after ending a 5 year relationship is not in Patience’s plans. But life has other plans.

This book was sooo cute and relatable. I absolutely loved the music references and the reference to 90’s rom com movies. Patience is so relatable and I felt like she was a “friend in my head”. I loved the self control and relationship/ sex boundaries that Lennox had. It’s something that’s not often seen in books. The way that Patience and Lennox supported each other was beautiful. Love reading positive talk about seeking therapy.

I look forward to reading the future books of this series. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an advanced release copy for an exchange of my honest review/opinion of the book.

Lennox is a software engineer. Patience is recovering from a breakup. She's focused on elevating herself.

A chance meeting at a hotel leads the two on an adventure to explore the city together.

It's just like a man to show up when you're trying to blow up. And for Patience this comes from two different prospects.

Quick Thoughts
- There seems to be more to Daniel.
- Why the initial mystery of Lennox?
- The whole car ride set up was weird.

Overall this was a good read. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Let me first say the cover is BEAUTIFUL!!! Drew me in before I read the synopsis. This story follows Patience Hampton. A young woman who I dealing with an explosive break up that occurred at a family dinner. After this happens Patience is ready to focus on her career. She had devoted so much time in trying to make previous her relationship work that she put her own interests and success on hold.

While out of town for work Patience meet Lennox Davenport. He instantly gains Patience attention. Lennox turns out to be the complete opposite of what her ex was. Patience falls for him but there is one issue. Lennox lives in and works Atlanta. Lennox doesn’t allow Patience’s self sabotaging nature ruin them pursuing something based off of their attraction.

This story from the beginning will have you laughing at the family dinner scene. I found myself laughing out loud several times during the exchange between Patience and her ex’s mom. I absolutely love books that can tap into to several emotions and this one did that for me. Definitely worth giving a read.

Thank you to eParke Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Beauty Beheld is the first book I’ve read by Zariah L. Banks and honestly it will not be my last. The author describes herself as an emotional intimacy author and as I read this book, it felt very much like a how to and a why choose romance all in one.

Zariah used parallels of our subconscious in the obstacles that our main character Patience faces which was smartly and clearly done. When we meet Patience she is in a seemingly happy five year relationship with Daniel , yet early into the book we learn of the dysfuncuntial relationship Patience has with and family and all the ways Patience has sacrificed to remain in this relationship.
In a twist of fate Patience meets Lennox on a work trip and in their first interaction I just knew she’d blown it. Lennox was the absolute opposite of Daniel. He was confident, emotionally secure, thoughtful and protective! Patience did not know how to proceed!

Often we have to decide between comfortability and walking into the unknown and the author uses this discomfort at a catalyst in Patience’s life, setting in motion a healing journey of growth and the acceptance of good in her life! I loved the author's writing style, character development and the pace of the book. I will most defiantly be recommending this book!!

First, I thank Netgalley and eParke Press for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased book review.

The novel's cover is beautiful, which was the main reason I decided to request an ARC. However, I found myself disconnected from the book once I started reading. The characters and the storyline, to me, weren't exciting. I couldn't force myself to continue reading any further. The novel was the first Netgalley book I DNF.

I give it a 2-star rating.

After a very toxic five-year relationship comes to an end, Patience Hampton is finally single again and ready to focus on herself. While in Atlanta for a work event, Patience meets a very handsome stranger named Lennox and they are immediately drawn to one another. Patience and Lennox both have issues to overcome - family drama and relationship hang-ups - however, Lennox supports Patience in all of the ways that her ex did not and together they prove to be everything that the other needed.

This was a sexy and easy read. I liked the way that Patience and Lennox communicated about any and everything and how supportive their families were to their relationship. This book is the first in a series and I would definitely read others from the Beauty Betrothed series.

I didn't like that every character sounded the same to me; they all used the same tone and slang. I don't know anyone whose grandfather says things like " that's dope" so that was a bit hard for me to get into. The end felt a bit random to me with the different points of view even though the entire rest of the book was from Patience's POV.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.

I feel like i was struggling with determining the overall focus of the plot. This was kind of hard to get into and I had to DNF.

I enjoyed this book.

Fresh out of a relationship with her boyfriend of five years, Danial, Patience travels out of town, to Atlanta, for a work related conference. She is determined to focus on herself, realising she has been putting her dreams and herself on the back burner to support her ex-boyfriend. She wants to become the woman she’s always dreamed of becoming. Here in Atlanta she meets Lennox. She is drawn to him and seems to be everything she has ever wanted in a man. But is she ready to jump into a new relationship?

I really enjoyed Patience’s character. She had some emotional trauma because of her childhood upbringing, but she tries her best to not let this affect her life and her relationships. But after meeting Lennox and talking to him, she realises there is work to do that is necessary for her to prevent anymore unfruitful relationships that she has experienced in the past. And Lennox is determined to help her recognise and break her self-sabotaging tendencies. He saw her potential to grow as well as potential for there to be something more between them. He was persistent, but also caring and honest.

I really appreciated their communication. Whatever issues came up, whether between them or with other people, they always were honest about how they felt. They explained to each other the reasons they may react in certain ways and were open to listening to each other’s struggles. They were quick to listen.

This was a story of hurt and healing, love, family, friendships, and forgiveness. This had some heartfelt moments and moments that made me laugh. I wish, however, that the ending was a little longer, but I know this is going to be a series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zariah L. Banks for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.