Beauty And Her Boss (Once Upon a Fairytale, #1)

by Jennifer Faye

[phyllish]

Author Jennifer Faye’s retelling of Beauty and the Beast was done quite well. The premise behind Gaby needing to work for Deacon made sense. I appreciated the way the author took elements of the story and made it her own, not feeling like she needed to make every major plot element conform to the events of the fairy tale.

The characters, Gaby and Deacon, were written well and the attraction between them was related in such a way that it was clear that it was not just a physical thing. Gaby was feisty and loyal to her father and was able to stand up to Deacon’s gruffness. She was not really bold but was more determined to do what she felt was right and worked through her nervousness to do what was needed.

Deacon was broken from the accident, the scars that caused his “friends” to desert him, the loss of memory of that fateful night, and the nightmares that plagued him. His fears and hurts caused him to become a recluse who really was a beast. His transformation as he learned to trust was realistic and interesting to read about.

Near the beginning of the story, Deacon has some thoughts about Gaby that made it seem like the story would not be clean, but the one night they spent together was completely closed door.