The Beast of Beswick

3.5 stars.

Beauty and the Beast meets The Taking of the Shrew?? Uh YES PLEASE. This book had everything you like in regency romances and while it wasn't perfect, it is still worth a read.
Lady Astrid is easy to like. She's headstrong and smart. Everything a lady isn't supposed to be for this particular frame of time. She's protective of her sister and doesn't want her suffering at the hands of a man she knows is without honor. Since years before he lied about her and her virtue after she rejected him.
The Duke of Beswick, or Thane, is a man physically and mentally scarred. As a result, he acts like a beast. Tada

More often than not, covers DO set a precedence for how the book will be in terms of quality. And this cover is...cheesy. Kinda cringy. And so was the book. Maybe it's a personal thing. I liked Astrid and the beginning, but the rest just did not engage me as much as I was hoping (since steamy romances are a fav of mine). Eh, oh well. Not my personal cup o' tea.

Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale because it is the one where the couple's love doesn't happen at first sight. I am always interested in reading an author's take on the classic tale and how they see the couple coming together. I read several glowing recommendations for this book and was excited to give it a try. Unfortunately, my only thought as I closed the book was, "What a waste of potential."