Acquired Book By: I started hosting with Prism Book Tours at the end of [2017], having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) whilst I was visiting as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. I had to put the memes on hold for several months (until I started to resume them (with Top Ten Tuesday) in January 2018). When I enquried about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. I am unsure how many books I’ll review for them as most are offered digitally rather than in print but this happily marks one of the blog tours where I could receive a print book for review purposes. Oft-times you’ll find Prism Book Tours alighting on my blog through the series of guest features and spotlights with notes I’ll be hosting on behalf of their authors.
I received a complimentary copy of “Beauty and Her Boss” direct from the author Jennifer Faye in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I wanted to read this story:
To be honest – I was hoping this was a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast – as I have been in love with this particular fairy tale for a long time! I still remember going to see the famed animated version starring Angela Lansbury as Mrs Potts as a young girl! The recently adapted live-action with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens not only captured my heart but it truly captured my emotions! I had the hardest time ‘letting go’ of the Beast – to where, I understood why Emma’s character instinctively mentioned she’d prefer if he had a ‘beard’ now that he was transformed back to being a human!
Over the years of being a book blogger, one of the joys has been seeking out aspects of literary adaptation which has held a special interest to me as a reader. Re-tellings, re-envisionings and sequels based upon original canons of work has been a bit of a niche of mine to seek out. Which is why, this isn’t my first re-telling of Beauty and the Beast – as I truly loved Becoming Beauty by Sarah E. Boucher wherein I shared this takeaway:
Boucher does a brilliant job of counter-balancing the fairy-tale narrative we all know as Beauty & the Beast with a new curtain of insight into how Bella fits within the story arc of where the Beast’s presence is going to lead her towards the best discovery of all: seeing herself for the first time without a cloud of untruth glossing over her infractions and faults of character. The ruminative lingering thoughts and the flashbacks of another life having lived before her, I appreciated seeing where the original tale and this one merged into one; granting a stronger impression of the Beast’s devotion and a curious itch into how Bella could befall under the bewitching dreams of a woman who had not yet let go of her beloved Beast.
I simply adore style of conception and creation of fairy-tale re-tellings by Ms. Boucher, who breathes not only new life into a tale you know by heart but she gives a warranted exploration of the depth of the characters therein. Her own imaginative heart is both full of moxie and a redefinition of the classical canon of how a fairy-tale can be seen through the eyes of someone who believes there is a bit more depth out of the superficiality of misguided souls. She transitions herself into a niche of the world of Fantasy and has fully convinced me to keep my eye on her next releases where she embodies her tagline: Bringing Twisted Fairy-Tales to Life.
-quoted from my review of Becoming Beauty
The unique spin on this ‘beauty’ and ‘beast’ story is how the characters are put together – the beastly hero was injured in a serious car accident and his ‘beauty’ is under his employ but they share a past neither of them fully realises until the climatic moment wherein they must decide if they should stay in each others’ lives; at least, this is how the Author’s Note reads to me!
The joy of hosting for Prism these past several months has been a return to reading Harlequin authors – whilst becoming better acquainted with the imprints I hadn’t previously known. Their Romance imprint is one I hadn’t explored previously – finding a re-telling as my first ‘introduction’ to the imprint is quite stellar if you ask me! I am looking forward to seeing what else Ms Faye has in store for all of us whilst she evolves through this series!
Beauty and Her Boss
Subtitle: Once Upon A Fairy Tale
by Jennifer Faye
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours
An innocent beauty, a scarred hero...
Could she be the one to open up his heart?
Handsome but guarded former Hollywood star Deacon Santoro prefers the confines of his mansion since an accident left him scarred both inside and out. But he promised to protect sparky beauty Gabrielle Dupre, his new PA. Can Gabrielle convince Deacon that love will give them the fairy-tale ending they deserve?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1335135049
Also by this author: Miss White and the Seventh Heir, Heiress's Royal Baby Bombshell, Carrying the Greek Tycoon's Baby, Claiming the Drakos Heir, Wearing the Greek Millionaire's Ring (Spotlight), Wearing the Greek Millionaire's Ring , Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise, The Prince and the Wedding Planner, Christmas in Bayberry, Love Blooms
Also in this series: Miss White and the Seventh Heir
Published by Harlequin Books
on 6th March, 2018
Format: Paperback Edition
Pages: 256
Published by: Harlequin Books (@HarlequinBooks)
Formats Available: Ebook and Paperback
Next in series: Sage and Quinton’s story: Miss White and the Seventh Heir
According to the novel, this is meant to be a duet rather than a mini-series – I initially thought there were several upcoming novels – however, it is apparently more akin to a duology with a slight difference. As a duology has two linking stories which are in essence part one and part two of a continuing story-line; a duet are two stand-alone stories which are linked by theme or setting; in this case, re-tellings of Classical Fairy Tales.
Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance & #Harlequin
About Jennifer Faye
Award-winning author, Jennifer Faye pens fun, heartwarming contemporary romances with rugged cowboys, sexy billionaires and enchanting royalty. Internationally published with books translated into nine languages. She is a two-time winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice Award, the CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award, named a TOP PICK author, and been nominated for numerous other awards.
my review of beauty and her boss:
You will find yourself smirking at the quickly changing tides within the opening of this novel. If only to note how fast Deacon can make Gabrielle feel unsettled in her own skin! She isn’t used to feeling off-kilter by someone she hasn’t yet met but there was something sparking between them on their initial phone call – an allure of interest on both sides. Of course, I think any daughter who watches over her father can attest what is most grieving is how sometimes a father acts without thinking about the larger picture in the heat of the moment! I felt for Gabrielle realising the pickle she was in was about to sprout wings be as it were as Deacon had a stubbornness to his personality; quite fitting, of course.
The absence of Deacon’s memories from the night of the accident are immediately presented – as he only has flashbacks of certain moments or even, mere words – which feel as disjointed to us observing them as they are to him to re-live. His conscience is conflicted as I would think anyone would be given the situation. Counter to his issues with not remembering the pertinent details, is the sorrow and absence of life felt by Gabrielle and her father; as the woman who died was her Aunt, his sister. There is a lot of history between the three characters – not all of it good, which stands to reason why both men are unable to be confronted by the past. One wants justice and one wants redemption – if not the recapture of his memories but of his life before everything felt shattered around him.
As this is a contemporary story-line, it made brilliant sense to me to ‘hide’ the beast behind technology – Deacon was calling Gabrielle on the phone rather than seeking to interact with her directly. In some ways, his characterisation was brokering between the classic Beast and a new representation of Mr Rochester. He was aggrieved for allowing his guard to be done by entertaining the notion she would fit into his life and that he could somehow uphold a promise he didn’t even remember giving – this is where Ms Faye encases the back-story with the present day strife both her characters are trying to process and transition out of as neither one has fully emerged out of the tragedy.
You could hear the frustration growing in Gabrielle each time she was turnt off by Deacon for even suggesting they should meet in person as we know straight-away how that would not only upset him but provide him with enough anxiety to run in the opposite direction! He lives on such a large estate, the grounds alone could use a nudge of love and concern yet he has walled himself away from society to such a degree of inclusion, he doesn’t pick up on the fact he ought to allow himself to trust a few people to interact with on a regular basis. If only for human to human contact and not to disappear into a full-fledged recluse which he was starting to take-on the reputation for becoming.
I almost laughed. No, seriously, I did! For all his grunted anger and his short temper, Deacon truly still had a touch of his humanity inside him. He recognised it in the moments where he wanted to do something spontaneous – even if to do so, would be putting himself in emotional jeopardy. He would have to endure what was said or how the reaction of his presence would affect the other person. In essence, he had to be prepared to risk his heart, his soul and his emotional well-being if he wanted to even entertain a quasi-normal life now that his life had become altered. He wasn’t the most forthcoming of chaps (nor was the traditional Beast!) but when he shared his thoughts he all but growled to get his point across; as if somehow by voicing things louder would make you want to react faster!
I loved how they first met – it was unexpected and random – something which surely took Deacon off for a loop as he was a man who liked to be in control. In fact, in his world, he controlled all the variables – or at least, until now, he thought he did. Gabrielle had a way of dispelling his anxiety, though I am doubtful he realised that then, as hadn’t he given her the right of access to this library?
It was Gabrielle’s moxie which was undoing the Beast – he had lost sight of so many ordinary things – like someone’s willingness to get to know him despite his best efforts to scare them off. Of how the outside world might accept his re-appearance if he were to make it worth his time to contribute something other than false hope, rumours of truth and the vacuum of uncertainty about what really happened that fateful night. They were each at a cross-roads – striving to sort out which path they wanted to walk and neither of them certain of the future which loomed ahead of them.
As the public continued to demand answers to what happened, they were both finding themselves in the thick of things which made their lives far more public than they were intending to have them become. There was an incident where their privacy was breached – you feel for them, because it happens all the time IRL where people can’t even find space to breathe without journalists hounding them for photographs. Ms Faye did well with the cross-comparisons to real-life issues being a celebrity but also, of being the focus of a person of interest in an unsolved car accident. She gives you a full rounding of what is happening – to each of the people involved but also, the larger threat of how the general public reacts or rather, prefers to read the details each time new information is released to add to the working ‘theory’ of the ‘facts’.
The best romance is the kind which knits together at a slower pace – such as the one starting to bloom between Gabrielle and Deacon. They were each taken aback quite a bit realising they could have feelings for each other – neither of them were ready to tackle a relationship yet it was something about how they shared their smaller moments; of doing ordinary things and finding companionship within them. They were each only living a half-life until they were brought together and in a way, that is why their romance started to bubble underneath the presumption of ‘work’ and ‘penance’.
Whilst at the same time, Ms Faye was building a strong narrative about second chances, new beginnings and how the heart can mend in the hours where your not focusing on what has caused you the most pain. She takes a direct approach of showing the humanistic side of the Beast as she hones in on the legacy of the fairy tale – shifting in and out of the origins and her own visions of how to tell the story. In this way, it’s quite the enjoyable read – as your partially knowing what might happen next and your partially awaiting to see what new thread of insight Ms Faye is going to instill into her variant of the fairy tale. Including how sometimes the choices you make for reasons you felt justified in making are not the kind of choices you feel can always concur with your principles. There are a lot of overtures of what is morally and ethically right for the characters whilst at the base of it all are two lost individuals who never knew they could be found – each in their own way, they are starting to re-bloom by the presence of the other, finding that sometimes the best endings in romance are the unexpected.
on the contemporary writing styling of ms faye:
I appreciated the way Ms Faye handled introducing us to Gabrielle and Deacon – she started off on solid ground, giving us a reason to have empathy for both of them but also, given us just enough ‘unknowns’ to stay curious how these two would ever come together! She even allowed us the grace of feeling as if we knew a part of Deacon before we properly were in his company – from how attached he was to his rose garden and how his housekeeper was known as “Mrs Kupps” rather than Mrs Potts! Quite clever with the cheek in the name, eh?! I thought so!
She also updated the traditional Belle by having Gabrielle hold a degree in Library Science – thus taking her love of books and reading to the next level. Similarly, she had Deacon struggle with symptoms of PTSD even if he wasn’t diagnosed. She found a way to entreat inside their lives, where one accident had fractured their security about life and given them a path towards finding out what was happening in the lives of someone else attached to the tragedy.
A note of gratitude to the author:
Ms Faye truly gave me a lovely book mail day – as she wrapped the book in a bag wherein I happily found a collection of bookmarks featuring her novels! I love these!! Not only because they are well-made but because it is going to become a scavenger hunt now to find all the lovely stories! Which means to say, once Harlequin & Mills and Boon titles run their course, they immediately go out of print – however, for the savvy reader you know you can either borrow them via libraries or go on the used book circuit to find the copies you can add to your personal library! Sometimes, using both of these routes is my preference – if I want to read something ahead of adding it to my library, the resources at my local library help make my reading life quite full!
She also included a magnet, her calling card and a lovely pen! I used the Beauty and the Boss bookmark to read this novel – it will be the one I use for the time being for my current Romantic Fiction #nextreads! (Smiles) I love to rotate my bookmarks – the blessing being, I occasionally receive one from the authors and thereby, I have a beautiful collection of bookmarks and memories of how those stories alighted in my life!
Special Announcement:
As you know, this is a giveaway-free book blog – as I do not host giveaways here on Jorie Loves A Story (per my Review Policy) however, there is one exception to the rule – I love to talk about and happily promote authors who are hosting a giveaway on *their website or blog!* whilst my review is posting via a blog tour! For this reason, it is with a joy and pleasure to bring this to your attention:
Click the badge to route to the author’s site!
You can have your very *own!* Beauty and the Boss bookmark if you follow the steps on this graphic the author provided to receive one! I realise my blog is read internationally, but this is unfortunately only for those readers and visitors of mine stateside. I love red roses and they play a distinctive role on the bookmark as well as being featured on the book cover!
This blog tour is courtesy of: Prism Book Tours
Click through via the badge to find out what else awaits you! 
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Beauty and Her Boss”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Jennifer Faye, the bookmark giveaway badge and the Prism Book Tours badge were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers & My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Book Review Banner using Unsplash.com (Creative Commons Zero) Photography by Frank McKenna and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
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Comments via Twitter:
Blog Book Tour | "Beauty and Her Boss" (Book One: Once Upon A Fairy Tale) by Jennifer Faye a selection of #Harlequin Romance https://t.co/m0hiFI1bNy via @joriestory
— karen mace (@bookkaz) March 5, 2018
Happy you love these kinds of re-tellings of #fairytales like I do! :) This particular one is a personal favourite of mine – I like getting lost in a #BeautyAndTheBeast story-line – have you read any adaptations on this? IF so, let me know which book / author, I’d be keen to read
— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ??? (@joriestory) March 6, 2018
"It was Gabrielle's moxie which was undoing the Beast…" "Beauty and Her Boss" (Book One: Once Upon A Fairy Tale) by Jennifer Faye a selection of #Harlequin Romance https://t.co/DCZavxbG6i via @joriestory
— Jennifer Faye💖#BluestarIsland 🏖️#LoveBlooms🍹🚲 (@JenniferFaye34) March 5, 2018
Thank you for hosting my book! :-)
You’re welcome, Ms Faye!
I’m thankful you dropped by my blog, as I was hoping to have the chance for you to see how happy you made me enclosing all those lovely bookmarks! I truly look forward to seeking out the stories they are representing! Also, the joy for me of course, in hosting you blog tour was finding a small built Romance where I could tuck into a beloved fairy tale and enjoy your new adaptation of it! Blessings to you!