By the Book
by Jasmine Guillory
Pub Date: May 3, 2022
Hyperion Avenue
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.
* Romance * Contemporary * Retellings
This is not my usual genre but I found this one to be very enjoyable. This is my first book by this author, so I had not read #1 in the series. Third-person POV is always something for me to get used to--definitely not my preferred POV to read. I love that this book includes "real Letters". This gets me every time. I enjoyed the retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
3 stars

I adored this sweet novel full of charm and a healthy relationship. The characters were so realistic from their issues and concerns to their desires and aspirations. The references to Beauty and the Beast were very well done and added a magical charm to the book.

Isabelle Marlowe finally has her dream job as an assistant editor at a publishing house. She gets to read all the books she had to buy. She also is dealing with a difficult client, Beau Towers. At a convention in California, she offers to go see him to see how the manuscript is coming along. From the moment he kicks her out of his house, it seems Izzy made an impression on Michaela. They tried to ignore each other. It seems they were reaching a amicable peace. Izzy speaks her mind and he just wanted to retreat. Eventually he was writing every day and so was Izzy. Feelings were deepening but they live on different coasts. The beauty is he can run his charity from anywhere and Izzy and be an editor and write her book from New York or Santa Barbara. I loved the ending

Loved, loved, loved! I would read anything Jasmine Guillory wrote and absolutely love it. This cover is so cute and so was the story. I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy!

Ok, so this was more of a 3.5 for me. I’ll give you my likes and dislikes…
LIKES
1. Retelling of my favorite fairy tale with POC as the main characters
2. Beast isn’t really a monster just a super angry mean guy
3. Izzy (Belle) works for a book publisher and that’s just perfect
4. The play on the characters Gavin (Gaston), Michaela (Mrs. Potts), and the house feels alive
5. They had beef ragout and cheese soufflé 🤣🤣
6. The work in the library all the time.
7. There are so many nods to Beauty and the Beast, it made my 🖤 smile!

DISLIKES
It was a slow burn and closed door romance. I do not really enjoy them. I also felt it took a while to get to a story line. Once it was established, I enjoyed their relationship a lot. So if these are the only dislikes, that’s pretty great!

Very thankful to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This Beauty and the Beast retelling was an interesting premise, and I loved the aspects of the writing/publishing industry. However, the protagonist was underdeveloped and I felt many of her reactions were irrational.

When Isabelle Marlowe unexpectedly volunteers to get the rich and bad reputation Beau Towers to write his memoir. So, when she travels to sunny California from the cold harsh winter of New York, a blossoming friendship between Beau and Isabelle is the last thing on her mind.

I gave By the Book five stars, loving the relationship between Beau and Izzy. The hate sizzled between them but they couldn’t help discovering what works for them. It was adorable, funny, and swoon worthy. I had such a fun time reading Izzy and Beau’s work relationship and seeing how bad they tried to keep their hands off each other.

By the Book shows how hard it is to write a book, be in publishing, even being a person of color. Izzy worked hard and in the end, struggled to be recognized. I was impressed by Beau’s struggles as well when writing his book. I found in many books, the writing process is blocked out, but for By the Book, we see every detail, every inspiration, every anger or struggle poured out. I really enjoyed being able to read the making of a book.

I loved that Beau and Izzy were both really supportive of each other and although sometimes Beau would get angry in certain situations,

After reading most of Jasmine Guillory’s other books, I found By the Book something to connect with. I loved this book and am so glad to have gotten this.

Thank you again NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for inviting me to read By the Book and providing me with an e-ARC. I was lucky enough my Barnes and Noble sold this early. I know have some loving highlights from this amazing book.

This story was a charming and adorable breath of fresh air.
It's a romance where the drama is almost non-existent, the characters communicate, and you experience the romance growing between the characters as they get to know each other and experience things together. I would have given this book 5 stars just for showing that communication is key in any relationship.
I honestly came into this expecting not to like it because I am so over fairy tale retellings, but the way that Guillory integrates the recognizable Beauty and the Beast elements into the story of Isabelle and Beau is a masterclass in making a story completely yours. You can catch the bits that are callbacks to the fairy tale if you're looking for them, but they're so subtly there that you'd be forgiven for thinking that you're just imagining it. It's that well done.
Overall, it's a romance with characters you care about and a plot that keeps you interested despite knowing that the HEA is inevitable. A great read that has me jonesing to get my hands on the previous volume in the series and hoping that there are more retellings in the future.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the fantastic read!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read By the Book!

Isabelle works for the Tale As Old As Time publishing company, but feels like she'll never get to move up. She feels very unappreciated and underpaid; and her boss doesn't seem to care. One day, Izzy happens to overhear her boss complaining about a difficult client who refuses to finish their book. Izzy then finds herself volunteering to help and on a plane to California to meet the reclusive Beau Towers.

Beau is supposed to be writing a memoir about his life. His family was very prominent in the film industry and in philanthropy, but every family has its secrets and Beau wants to set the record straight. Beau moved into his family home and never really came back out. He's become known for being a recluse, difficult, and standoffish. Izzy convinces him to let her help with his memoir, but she has to stay in the house until it's done. As time goes on, Izzy and Beau become more comfortable around each other and sparks begin to fly. But when Izzy gets a job offer, will she have to choose between her new love or the career she's always wanted?

This was a cute retelling of Beauty and the Beast in the Meant to Be book series by Disney. I have only read one other book by Jasmine Guillory, and I think this one is very different from her other work. I realize that Disney probably had a hand in controlling the spicy bits, and I think it showed...a lot. It seemed like Jasmine Guillory struggled a bit to write closed-door romance scenes because she usually has a lot of spice in her work. Other than that, this book was good! I liked the cute little references to the Disney movie throughout the story and if you're looking for a cute little light romance then this is perfect for you.

BY THE BOOK drew me in from the very beginning. Izzy is a strong woman who finds happiness where she can, but she’s no longer enamored with her entry level job in publishing. Her very critical boss and at least one of her coworkers (whom she thinks has her back) make working there unpleasant. She also still lives at home since she can’t afford an apartment on her own and doesn’t like answering to her parents on a daily basis.

We get to know the characters a little at a time There’s Izzy and her best friend and coworker, Priya. And Beau, who signed a contract to write his memoir but really isn’t doing much writing.

When Izzy and Priya plan to go to a work conference as gofers for their bosses, they’re excited since it’s in sunny California. They get to leave the drudgery and cold of New York City behind for a few days. That turns into more for Izzy when she volunteers to meet with Beau—without his knowledge—at his home in Santa Barbara to find out what’s really going on with his writing since he doesn’t respond to calls or emails. This makes up the bulk of the story, and it’s fun to see what makes each of them tick. They strike sparks off each other, and their interactions display some terrific sexual tension.

The description of Beau’s hometown, Santa Barbara, makes you feel like you’re there; I could hear the waves and smell the ocean. The story has a perfect pace to it, the relationship developing wonderfully. I especially like the story’s closure along with some characters’ hard-fought personal achievements. The epilogue is the icing on the cake. I just wish it went on a little longer. The cover is whimsical and exactly how I envisioned Izzy.

BY THE BOOK is the second book in the Meant to Be series, and I’m so looking forward to more. Note: the first book in the series is written by a different author. Ms. Guillory is an author whose books I’ve enjoyed. In her The Wedding Date series, I’ve read all the books except for PARTY OF TWO, and I hope to read it soon. I look forward to reading more of her books.

I rated the book 4.5 stars but rounded to 5 stars here and on other sites.

By the Book
By Jasmine Guillory
Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
Published Date: 05/03/22
Audiobook Narrator: Sarah Hollis

** Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. **

Synopsis:
Isabelle "Izzy" Marlowe has been working at her publishing firm as an assistant for the last 2 years. With an eye on a promotion, she offers to stay with Beau Towers, a client writing a memoir for the firm. As Izzy slowly starts to get Beau to open up and write his memoir, mutual respect becomes friendship and then more. Realizing their time together is coming to an end, both begin having conflicted feelings and Izzy begins to question if this new and blossoming relationship will have a happy ending.

Thoughts:
This was a cute, clean romance and certainly matched the tone of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Izzy's character was very sweet and had some decent dimensions but also felt a bit boring. Beau's storyline was interesting, but I didn't feel like I had enough of it. I wanted to learn more about Beau's past but the discussions about that topic felt superficial and sanitized. I also found the dialog to be a bit obnoxious. This story was very easy to read, but I found myself not excited to continue. Where was the witty banter? Where was the angst? I get that this is based on a Disney story and Hyperion is a Disney publisher, but it is also a romance that needed something more. A romance doesn't need to go beyond PG-13 to have those things.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

The beginning was a bit difficult to get into because Izzy is a little too much of a "Pollyanna" and references to Beauty and the Beast were everywhere. I thought I would enjoy the movie references but they felt shoehorned in and way too obvious. I didn't want them to pull me out of the story. However as the book continued, the characters settled into being more 3-dimensional and the movie references weren't so stark. The romance was a perfect slow burn and for a while it took a backseat to the discussions about the writing process, which I enjoyed. My favorite parts were the library and their surfing lessons, where they really connected. It's a bit of a shame that we don't see inside Beau's head until the very end. I would have liked to see more of his thoughts throughout.

This is hard for me to admit, but this book just wasn't for me.
Jasmine Guillory is one of my FAVORITE authors. I auto-buy everything she writes and almost all are 5 star reads for me.
Unfortunately this story just didn't do it for me. I didn't really connect with Izzy or Beau. I found myself almost bored for a good chunk of the story.
I will still 1,000% recommend Jasmine Guillory books (if you haven't read any yet, DO IT!). I will also still read the next book in the series to see if this is a series for me or not.

I love Jasmine Guillory and I love Beauty and the Beast, so when the two merge, it's a no brainer for me!

I appreciated the little tie-ins to the original story through the modern take. Izzy is a ball of sunshine and very likable. Beau is darker, has experienced a difficult life and is anything but positive. It was such an easy, fun read with a lot of heart. This has a definite YA feel. but I think there's a lot of good buried within the story

This book was pure fun; Jasmine Guillory can do no wrong. A reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, this is about a young Black woman working in publishing in NYC who is struggling in her career. When her boss sends her to Santa Barbara to work with their most difficult client, well, you can guess what happens. I loved both of these characters so much. The ways they each grew and changed throughout the story, how they helped and supported each other, it had me smiling the whole time. Plus, as with any Guillory book, there’s plenty of food descriptions. And books, of course. For fans of anything Jasmine Guillory and The Assistants by Camille Perri.

Thank you to Hyperion and Netgalley for providing me with a free review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was super cute - I love Beauty and the Beast retellings! I think that all of the Beauty and the Beast retellings I've read in the past have included a lot of fantasy elements so it was refreshing to read one that was set in modern times without any fantasy or scifi elements. Being a huge bookworm, I loved all the references to books and writing (this seemed very on-brand for Belle/ Izzy's character). I also adored all the references/ nods to Belle's story - like the wifi password being "lumiere" and the publishing company being called "Tale As Old As Time" (although some of the references were a bit of a stretch e.g. Beau calling his assistant "kettle"). In my opinion, the ending was unexpected as well as very emotional and heartwarming - I definitely shed a few tears. The romance elements were great, even though it was a very slow burn and there was no on-page steam. I would definitely recommend this book to fellow Disney fans!

This modern take on Beauty and the Beast was a fun and cute rom-com style read. I've always like Jasmine Guillory's writing style and it fits well as part of this multi-author series (Meant to Be). It was the right amount and cheesy, predictable, and innocent.

At times, Izzy's inner thoughts were a little immature/naive, which slightly annoyed me but I liked her overall self confidence. However, the self-confidence she put forth with Beau didn't match up with how she was feeling about her job and letting her boss and co-workers make her feel undervalued, so that didn't quite line up for me.

Beau was likeable enough, although I felt like there was a certain depth missing from him. I think I just found it a little hard to get behind him trying to write a memoir at all because of his age. Can you really write a good memoir if your life isn't even half over yet?

Overall, I enjoyed the style of the story and the development of their relationship. The house as the backdrop sounded beautiful and I was glad that Izzy figures out more about herself and what she wants out of her career.

Thank you netgalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was SO stoked when I heard of about this follow up to the "Meant to be" series. I was huge fan of the If the Shoe Fits book from last year and I can happily say that I loved this one too and I can only pray that they plan to continue on with a modern adaptation of other classic disney tales! I loved the slight changes that Ms. Guillory made from the source material and yet the overall feel of the book gives the same vibes as the Beauty and the Beast story. I love the nods of the names she chose that instantly take you into that world (hello This Provincial life period tv show and Tale As Old As Time Publishing house!) I read this in two days and it will be on my suggestion page for the rest of this year.

This would be a hard retelling to write and Jasmine did a great job. She is a talented writer although this is much different than her other books. Adult content but much more “Disney.” The book was a little slow but the pace worked well on audio for me! Glad I decided to go that route because it enhanced my enjoyment. Fun book for Disney fans!

I’m loving these Disney reimaginings and this latest edition is based on Beauty and the Beast. Even though we all know the story and the main jist of this story, Guillory makes it her own. It was such a great idea to make Disney’s most bookish princess work in publishing in this modernized version. And the “beast,” Beau Towers, is the reclusive author she has to go visit in order to make sure he finishes his new book. It’s a great story about unexpected connections and going after what you deserve.