Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.
On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he's forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.
When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual.
But as Vance and Rosie begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off—and they may just find that there’s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening their hearts.
“What's home for you?" he asked.
"A small town and a quiet library, where the sunlight slants through the window just right, making everything golden and soft."
Was this totally cringe? Was it written almost like a fanfic? Did it have so many cliches?
But did I still enjoy it?
Look, I knew exactly what kind of book this is - a silly, banter-full, cliche-filled Beauty and the Beast retelling - and that is why I could enjoy it so much, I didn't have any expectations whatsoever except to have fun. And that is exactly what I had.
There are 3 main characters that are recognizable from the old story. We have our Belle = Rosie, who is a sassy nerd, then Gaston = Garret the annoying boy who can't take no for an answer and of course the Beast - Vance the rich boy who starts off annoyed at Rosie but of course, changes his mind later. We all know how this ends, but there is something comforting in reading a story you know has a happy ending.
The banter walks a thin line between cute and cringe but I was in a mood for this so...I didn't care 😂 I have to admit thought, that there were plenty of scenes where I felt like I was watching a kdrama - e.g. the girl almost falling and the guy catching her...I mean....you can FEEL the cringe just from the description
The one thing that bothered me is the fact that this book falls into the category - "have to make this as diverse as possible to tick all the right boxes and make Gen Z love it." Besides that and the obvious cringe, this book is short and fun. Also, any book that references Tom Holland's lip-syncing, Tony Stark's "love you 3000" and Yoda HAS to be fun, at least for a nerd like me 😂 + bonus points for all the cute doggo moments
The cover is adorable, it's simple, it fits the lighthearted theme and it has a dog AND A LIBRARY which is good enough for me 😍 Although, I would change Vance's hair color, it's a bit too yellow for me, and the haircut screams "rich preppy guy" which I'd say doesn't fit the character.
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