This Dark Romance Had Me Hooked! 🥵🔥

Tay Mo'Nae's "Captured Beauty" is the kind of dark romance that will grab you by the throat and refuse to let go. This is not your grandma's "Beauty and the Beast" – it's a deliciously twisted, scorching hot reimagining that pushes boundaries and will leave you utterly breathless.

Plot Summary:
Azeira, a young woman just trying to make ends meet for her family, gets caught in a dangerous web when she's kidnapped by the oh-so-brooding and ruthless Kairus Navarro. But as their captive-captor dynamic heats up, things get complicated – in the best possible way. 😉

My Thoughts:
I personally didn't love the narrators, but I still felt like it was an incredible story.

Kairus Navarro? Total alphahole. But like, the kind of alphahole you can't help but fall for. 🥵 His obsession with Azeira is intense, possessive, and oh-so-addictive to read. And Azeira? She's not just some damsel in distress. This girl has fire, and watching her embrace her own desires and challenge Kairus was seriously empowering.

The chemistry between these two? Explosively hot. 🔥🔥🔥 Tay Mo'Nae's writing is seriously evocative – I felt like I was right there in the room with them, feeling every stolen glance, every touch, every shiver.

Tropes:
🔥 Dark Romance
😈 Villain Gets the Girl
🥵 Captivity
😱 Enemies-to-Lovers
🩸 Blood Play
🔪 Knife Play

Content Warnings:
Just a heads up – this book goes there. We're talking captivity, violence, BDSM... the whole nine yards. So if you're looking for something light and fluffy, this is not it. But if you're like me and love a dark romance that pushes boundaries, then buckle up, buttercup.

Final Thoughts:
"Captured Beauty" is a wild ride from start to finish. It's dark, it's twisted, it's sexy as hell, and it will leave you wanting more. If you're a fan of dark romance, this one is an absolute must-read. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. 😉

Dark romance
Multicultural romance
Beauty and the beast retelling
Unhinged MMC
Stalking
Morally dark MMC
Opposites

Audio review
Narrated by:
Dual NARRATIVE
Characters were well presented. Story was easy to follow. The voices were well matched for the characters.

Kairus is a bad man. He was raised by a brutal father and a mother with mental health issues. He is cold and calculating. Brutal and unapologetic about everything. He is brilliant. Musically talented, reads the classics and will cut your throat without blinking. He takes what he wants and he wants Aziela. When the opportunity presents itself, he doesn’t hesitate to take full advantage.
He is brutal in his love for Az. Somehow she finds the good in him. He didn’t make it easy.

Az is supposedly the good girl. However, we did over some of her dark traits. On paper they don’t work. We can’t say she tamed the beast but she does calm him a bit.

If you are looking hot scenes, violence and a psycho MMC look no further. Perfect for those who love over the top possessive MMC who fall hard.

This was a spicy little audiobook I just finished about Azeira and Kairus. It’s a dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast, they even use those nicknames with each other. It has plenty of dark themes through it and they were just hot. At the same time I enjoyed the character development as they both tried working through their feelings for one another. I think what kept me from a 5 star was the way some things were redundant in the way they were described. He cut his eyes into slits, I found it a little distracting when there are so many other options, but I’d still recommend it.

I think I’ve tapped into a genre that I like. I think I like dark romance. I’ve read several retelling of Beauty and the Beast but this retelling from Tay Mo’Nae is by far the best. Kairus and Azeira relationship was very unconventional. I wanted so much to not like Kairus but after learning his background I softened for him just a little. Kairus did way too much with his jealousy and over protection. He loved his Beauty he just had a very weird way of showing love. I would say I’m very disappointed in the dad. He burned me up the entire book. Overall great job with Dark retelling.

I’m conflicted about how I feel about this book. I loved certain aspects of it, like how organically the author tied this dark romance to “Beauty and the Beast”. I especially love the chipped teacup scene & how their nicknames for each other are Beauty and Beast. However, I find the MMC to be completely unredeemable. I’m not against dark romances, and there are many that I like, but this one made me uncomfortable. Mainly because I couldn’t understand how she fell in love with a man this toxic, who left her chained to a bed to the point where she pissed herself. I just think this was too dark of a romance for me, to the point where I thought it was more abusive than love.

This is a dark fairy tale retelling based on Beauty and the Beast.
This book is so twisted, I just spent a lot of it wide-eyed, not believing what I was hearing. I'm sure this book is too people's liking, but I could not vibe with it.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Never have I ever not cared for the MMC nor the MFC in any book I have read. Both “Beauty” and “Beast” tore my nerves up throughout the story. I didn’t feel a real connection between the two at all. There were times I listened where the scenes jumped from one to the next leaving me a little confused and feeling like I missed something. The narrators were absolutely amazing. A couple of times I wanted to shelf the book but at the same time I had to see it through.

First, I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

When I saw this was a retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales, I was thrilled to add it to my library. However, this book fell short of my expectations as a lover of twisted, dark romance.

The narration deserves some praise: the FMC’s voice was spot on, but the MMC’s felt overly forced, which made me uncomfortable. This might be a personal preference, but it did impact my enjoyment.

My bigger issue lies in the book’s claim as a “retelling.” Apart from the captor/captive dynamic, there’s little to connect it to Beauty and the Beast. This was my first major disappointment, as I expected a more meaningful reimagining of the classic tale.

Despite this, I kept listening, but unfortunately, it only got worse. The story felt disjointed, with the focus heavily skewed toward steamy moments between Kairus and Azeira. The lack of character development made it hard to believe in their relationship. Instead of a natural connection, it felt like two mismatched puzzle pieces forced together.

The chemistry between the characters was practically nonexistent, leaving their dynamic flat and unconvincing. Additionally, the book felt like a dark romance stuck in 2016, with minimal depth and an overemphasis on erotica. It would’ve been more appropriate to market this as a “dark erotica” retelling, given the lack of emotional or narrative buildup to support the romance.

One scene, in particular, made me cringe: Kairus is about to fight for Azeira in full “caveman” mode when she holds him back and whispers “Beast” in his ear, calming him down instantly. Even now, just thinking about it gives me chills—and not the good kind.

Then there’s the use of certain terms, “juices,” which made me visibly wince. And let’s not forget the tattoos. He inked his name on her lower belly and her pinky. My soul left my body at that moment. Why the lower belly? What’s the logic here? Anyway, let’s not even try to rationalize it.

Lastly, the portrayal of Stockholm syndrome was poorly handled. The FMC’s shift from “Why am I here?” and “He’s dangerous” to “Oh my, he’s hot” happened far too quickly. This abrupt transition not only undermined the story’s emotional weight but also veered dangerously close to problematic territory. To make matters worse, the book failed to address key trigger warnings, which could be upsetting for readers sensitive to certain themes, like knife play, blood play, graphic description, etc.

In conclusion, while I appreciate the opportunity to review this audiobook, it simply wasn’t for me.

Oh boy. This was not for me. The whole book felt incredibly rushed and choppy, I don't know if it was just the audiobook not translating well from paper to spoken word but it felt like scenes would start and then bleed into other scenes. I found it rather confusing at times. The spice was dark but also somehow boring and the scenes ended so quickly. As a fairytale retelling, it barely tried. And for someone "captured," she sure went out and did whatever, whenever.

Kairus was insufferable. Having the "Beast" character have facial scarring made me feel a little icky. He's already a sadist murderous bastard, that's beastly enough you don't have to rely on old ableist notices of a scarred person.

I had hopes for Azeira at the start of the book but the girl just kept getting stupider and stupider as it went on. Stockholm syndrome must have hit her hard.

I was very excited about the Beauty and the Beast retelling. I enjoyed how the fairytale elements were implemented with a dark twist. The characters and the plot needed to be developed more. I did not believe the romance. Some of the spicy scenes felt unnecessary and did not add to the plot. I enjoyed the narrators. They brought the characters to life.

• Audiobook Review •
3 ☆
She was only supposed to be a holder for an unpaid debt. When I was taken, I didn't think I would fall for my captor. This is Tay Mo'nae's first attempt at dark romance. First, let me say she has an amazing catalog, and I love her books and storylines, but this book didn't do it for me. I didn't really vibe with it.

The audiobook is dual narration, and it was good. Myles Washington's female voice is low-key one of my favorites. He always does a great job telling the story. Tamike Antoinette did a great job as well.

Thank you, Netgellay, and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Dark romance! You need a pokerface when reading/listening in public.
Be aware of trigga warnings and be prepared for a DARK romance..
This is a great retelling of Beauty and the Beast!

Post on IG (one_fairy_tale_at_the_time) the 3.jan 2025 !

Ehhhh!! Idk these 2 people in the book wasn't made for each other the writer seems like she forced them to be together!

The MMC was annoying AF and very i wanna be in control of everything! Like some stuff sir you just can't be in control of!

The MFC- she was just BLAH!!! Lady chill out!!!! I wanted to DNF so bad! But it's not in me to put down a book! I needed to finish it so I just pushed through the thing!

The 2 stars are fot the narrators the lead this story! Very well and keep you from getting bored with it!

Now I'm a love a good dark romance but this just wasn't it at all!! No chemistry!! Very forced story line!! And way to much blood play at werid times! Like why the heck! In some of these parts and what's up with some of the words like digits!!

I’m so sorry I couldn’t get on with this.
The main characters didn’t flow right there wasn’t much chemistry.

The narrations from the MMC was quite bad I think he would have come across so much better with a different narrator maybe.

I do think for a dark romance the story is definitely there and could be there possibly another round of edits and consideration of a different male narrator and this could be so much better.

I’m so sorry

Thank you Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

Azeira (middle name Belle) is a good girl whose father owes a lot of money to Kairus (aka Beast), so Kairus decides to keep Azeira as his captive until he pays his debt.
This captive/captor, dark, Beauty and the Beast retelling romance was really good! there were a few plot holes (like where the hell did her father get the money?!?), but it was still entertaining, and the spice was good. This was my first book by this author, and I will definitely take a look at their backlist. One little complaint regarding the male narrator in the dual narration, he gave the female main character an accent the female narrator did not give her. Consistency would've been nice.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review volutarily.

I normally love a dark romance, with a dominant MMC. I can’t put my finger on why this one didn’t do it for me. Maybe I would have liked to hear more about the build up between “beauty” and “the beast”. It just felt like the story got right into it and it didn’t have a bit more of a slow burn and why the beast was so obsessed outside of hiring her as an escort. Just seemed forced.

There are triggers in this audiobook, but none seemed too dark for me personally.

The narrators were both great, easy to understand, and full of emotion. I listened at 1.75x.

This was a huge DNF for me at 34%. Way too dark and aggressive right from the start. I’m usually a “no trigger warnings” type of gal but this was just awful. The MC is awful right away and this is just classic Stockholm syndrome behavior.

This is definitely a very dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast! This book features enemies to lovers, possessive MMC, morally grey MMC, mob style business and lots of trigger warnings!

Kairus is probably one of the most possessive characters I've read in a while who is into everything BDSM making him the perfect Beast. Azeira definitely portrayed Belle's character really well but also portrayed a strong willed woman. The touches of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale is sprinkled throughout which was nice.

This book is extremely dark but also had some cringy moments with some of the descriptive language. This book portrays knife play, breath play, and aspects of BDSM.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration by Myles Washington and Tamika Antoinette was ok. I had some issues during Kairus's character when Myles Washington attempted to do a female voice.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook. It’s a stalker mob romance. She’s a call girl whose father has gotten into debt since her mother is sick with cancer. Instead of taking her help to cover bills he declines and gets help from the mmc, and when he cannot pay back the money the mmc takes the daughter as collateral stating that she is his now and to do with what he will. She then works at his mansion and sneaking out when she can to see her family, getting caught he kills the guy she snuck out to see the first time.

The narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life, I was a huge fan of the male voice but still did a great job.