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 !

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

What a great book! I really enjoyed this book. I couldn’t put it down. The author has such a good writing style. This was a first for me by this author but will not be my last! I enjoyed the characters. They had good chemistry.

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.