Julie @ Struck by Stories
Written on Oct 19, 2020
A tale as old as time is made new in Ashley Poston's fresh, geeky retelling of Beauty and the Beast. In this third book of the Once Upon a Con series, we meet Rosie Thorne a young woman feeling stuck. She s stuck on her college application essays, stuck in her small town, and stuck on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met back at ExcelsiCon. But 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 she and her dad sold it to pay off hospital bills. Then there s Vance Reigns he s been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember, with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. Vance s world comes crashing down when a tabloid scandal catches up to him and he s forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never think to look: Small Town USA. At least the house he s stuck in has a library. Too bad he doesn t read. When their paths collide and a rare book is destroyed, Rosie must work to repay the debt. But while most superfans would jump at the chance to be anywhere near Starfield s handsome hunk, Rosie would rather be anywhere but. Vance is a jerk, she can t stand him, and the feeling is mutual. But as this pair of opposites begrudgingly gets closer and their careful masks come off, they may just find there s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening up their hearts.
- ISBN10 1683692128
- ISBN13 9781683692126
- Publish Date 4 August 2020
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 2 December 2024
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Quirk Books
- Edition International edition
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 320
- Language English
Reviews
Sam@WLABB
Written on Jul 16, 2020
While trying to do a good deed, Rosie accidentally destroys a very valuable book. As penance, she is sentenced to assist in organizing the owner's home library, and it seems she will be assisting none other than notorious bad boy, Vance Reigns. Needless to say, they got off to quite a rocky start, but with each book that was shelved, the connection they didn't realize they needed grew.
I am such a huge fan of this series, and though the majority of this book didn't take place at ExcelsiCon, Poston did a great job packing in all the nerdy goodness I have grown to love.
THE RETELLING
This tale is being billed as a "loose retelling" of Beauty and the Beast, but it was easy to find all the key elements from the original. A book loving heroine? Check. A spoiled, grumpy hero? Check. An overbearing meathead? Check. A punishment? Check. For me, the major elements were there, and I loved the way Poston chose to interpret them in her version.
THE RELATIONSHIPS
Though Rosie was still mourning the loss of her mother, she was lucky to have some incredible people in her life. He dad, aka "Space Dad", was a former punk rocker and currently a librarian. He was so sweet and loving, and I simply adored him. Rosie was also part of a fantastic trio. She had two bosom friends, who supported her and provided some of their own fantastic moments in this story.
THE ROMANCE
I enjoyed watching Vance and Rosie chip away at each other's barriers. Vance suffered from what many "famous" people do. He had been betrayed by many, and therefore, had trust issues. It was difficult for him to form real relationships, because he was never sure if the person's motives were pure. He wanted to be seen as Vance the person, not Vance the star, and it was wonderful he was finally able to find that in Rosie.
Rosie was still swimming in her grief over losing her mom. Her love of Starfield came from her mother, and she enjoyed delving into that world as a way to connect and maintain her mother's memory. She found it difficult to share this side of her life with many, but eventually found Vance was a good candidate.
I loved when these two finally got together, but I wish there had been more of those gooey moments between them. I will admit, I came for the romance and expected a little more. Regardless, I loved all the romantic bits I did get.
CATCHING UP WITH FRIENDS
I always say this when I talk about companion novels, but it's so fabulous to catch up with old friends. We got cameos and mentions, and one character from a previous book actually got quite a bit of page time. Obviously, I was delighted by this, but I was even more delighted by the big reunion that occurred. At one point, almost all the MCs from this series were in one place, and it was fun to get to spend time with them as a group.
I am not sure how many other books Poston has planned for this universe, but I do hope there will be more, because I enjoyed each and every moment in this world.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
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