Another cute romance from Jasmine Guillory! Heart warming and engaging, a perfect beach read that continues in a wonderful series. I always appreciate Guillory approach to creating heroines that are relatable.

What a sweet book! A very good Beauty and the Beast retelling that had good character growth for both MCs. Guillory always knocks it out of the park with her writing.

Tropes: enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, forced proximity, kind of workplace romance, off-page action.

I always love Jasmine Guillory's books. This one is no different and I love it's unique take on Beauty and the Beast.

When editorial assistant Isabelle goes to a reclusive author's house to convince him to write the book owed to her boss, she doesn't expect to live out the plot of Beauty and the Beast in his SoCal mansion complete with a full library, grumpy former Hollywood star, and lots of snacks and tension.

As Izzy works with Beau to finally write his memoir, their clashing personalities give way as they get to know each other, trust each other, and learn they're more alike than they thought.

I really loved Beau! It's single POV but you know that pining is not one sided and he adores her!

I appreciated that the author essentially gave us Beau's POV through his book. His writing allowed us to see inside his head and omg I loved what we saw!

Seeing Izzy become confident and not only ask, but get what she wants and deserves was great. She had options and was seen for her value and I was so happy for her. Their HEA personally and professionally was perfect!

Tropes: enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, beauty and the beast, forced proximity

Closed door romance - no spice but lots of tension

Thank you to Netgalley and Hyperion Avenue for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

I really wanted to love this book since I'm a huge Jasmine Guillory fan, but it just fell a little flat for me. I don't know if it was having to stick to the Beauty and the Beast storyline or what but I just couldn't get into it. It felt a little too contrived to me.

I didn't realize this was YA until I started. I have loved Jasmine's writing for a while now, and I was really excited about this one. But maybe it was because it was not her regular romance, that I felt like this fell a bit flat for me. It was still enjoyable enough.

𝟑.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

This is such a cute story! But, with that said, I'd make a few changes. If it makes any sense, the book felt overly long. Some parts were simply uninteresting and carried on when I didn't think they should have been. We needed more banter between them because the chemistry was evident, but it felt like we were getting nothing out of them together.

Isabelle is a pretty optimistic girl, but she desires something exciting in her life after working her tail off for two years. She leaps at the chance to assist this guy named Beau. Beau has been working with this publishing business, despite the fact that he hasn't submitted his manuscript and they haven't heard from him in a long time. This was her time to make an impression on her boss.

When Isabelle arrives at his Santa Barbara address, he is clearly not pleased. However, they come to an agreement that she will stay with him in his home to help him write this book.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸

It’s a tale as old as time…

One of my favorite authors making a beloved Disney story into an adorable modern day romance? Count me in! @jasminepics writes some of the best romance books out there with genuine characters, body diversity, real problems and they are always eating delicious food.

By the Book is a flip on Beauty and the Beast. Isabelle works for a publisher who is trying to get a memoir from a former child actor who went wild and he’s stopped responding to emails. While out in California, she decides to go visit him to see if she can get him working. She goes to meet Beau Towers at his Santa Barbara mansion and ends up staying there to work with him one on one while he writes this book.

I liked this a lot, but it’s definitely a departure from Jasmine’s usual witty banter. There’s still some and there’s a whole trope about a snack cabinet that I would love to get my hands on. I loved all the Beauty and the Beast Easter eggs dropped into the story such at Beau’s assistant is always offer them tea and he calls her Kettle (she’s Mrs Pots!). The Wifi password is Lumiere! Because this is a Disney book, there’s also zero steam. But I really thought it was done well and I now need to read the first book in the series which is about Cinderella.

Thank you so much to @disneybooks and Jasmine for my gifted copy. By the Book is out now!

Loved this light, quick, Beauty & the Beast re-telling, a great part of Meant to Be series. The publishing intern chasing down a reclusive writer to try to force a manuscript out of him is a twist on this trope I did not know I needed in my life but wow did I need it! Jasmine Guillory is a delightful writer and the voices of her characters show it. From the beginning, the voice of Isabelle is clever and tempestuous in the best ways, and the banter between her and Beau sparks. She also builds in enough good plot development and beautiful friendship development that I found the more slow-burn style romance - which I usually don't enjoy as much - warm, engaging, and natural. This is an enemies-to-lovers that I can definitely get behind!

A quick caveat: I am not always a fan of a retelling! I want to like them and some are absolutely magical, but I do also often find them disappointing. That definitely wasn't the case with this book as a retelling of a classic story, but parts of the retelling connections the book made were too on the nose for me. But if you tend to love a retelling you'll be delighted! I didn't fall head over heels like I did with the first Meant to Be novel, but it's still a brilliant addition to this collection and one I will likely be going back to read again! And I really enjoy that this "series" is bringing in different authors for each book, they bring such unique wonderful additions to the retellings!

I also want to know, for those who read it, who else called the little twist at the end?? Very fun and playful, a delightful read from start to finish! Many thanks to Net Galley, Hyperion, and Disney Audiobooks for the ARC access!

I am normally a huuuuuuge Jasmine Guillory fan in addition to a fan of Beauty and the Beast retellings, but I could not finish this. I found Isabelle to be annoying AF, and I couldn't put up with her long enough to even really get to know Beau. DNF!

I'm not normally a YA reader and I didn't realize this was YA until I started. This was a cute retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I loved that it centered around books and reading but I didn't feel any connection with the characters.

I was so happy to get an arc of this book as I LOVE Guillory. This was really cute. I love a good retelling and this fit that mold perfectly. This is much cleaner than her typical books but the chemistry between the characters was well done!

This book combined a lot of things I love about Jasmine Guillory, and a few things I didn’t love so much.

Isabelle is a likeable character, sympathetic and fairly well-developed. She works as an assistant in a publishing house, and I found the description of the work fascinating. Izzy actually gets to coach, prod, and cajole struggling writers, in addition to reading new manuscripts. It’s a dream job, though she struggles with a boss who’s demanding and uncommunicative.

While at a conference in California, Izzy volunteers to drop in on one of their long-overdue writers. Beau is a hot-tempered, trouble-seeking actor who has a contract for his memoir but who hasn’t yet produced a word. Beau initially refuses to talk to her, but then (inexplicably) invites her to stay and help him with the book.

I enjoyed the very tongue-in-cheek adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (specifically, the Disney animated version). Beauty and the Beast is a hard story to adapt to modern sensibility (a captive falling in love with their captor, for one thing). But thankfully, Guillory doesn’t try too hard to fit her story to that one. Instead, she sprinkles fun references to the movie throughout the book, with off-limit rooms, struggling rosebushes, a yellow dress, and even a wifi password “Lum1ere”.

I also really enjoyed the contrast between New York and California, something that resonated as I’ve lived on both coasts. At one point, Izzy plots a course on her phone to walk a couple of miles to a bookstore and she discovers that walking a mile in NYC is completely different from walking a mile in California, where there are hills and no sidewalks.

The idea of Izzy staying with Beau doesn’t make a ton of sense though. Who moves in with someone on a business trip? Here’s where the adaptation felt a little forced, and even though Beau lives in a huge place, it felt like all kinds of privacy boundaries were crossed – but with a fairy tale adaptation you kind of have to go with things like that.

One thing about Guillory that drives many readers crazy is her near-obsession with food. I enjoyed that in The Wedding Date. It shouldn’t be strange to read about women who enjoy food without being self-conscious in front of guys, but sadly it is. But while I appreciate that, I found it annoying in this book. There’s a whole cabinet devoted to snacks, which would be fine if there wasn’t so much conversation about snacks.

I liked the slow nature of the story and I also found this a moving read in terms of Isabelle’s personal and professional growth. But as a romance I was left with mixed feelings. Beau and Izzy are two strangers who are forced to live together and rely on each other professionally, yet everything felt too easy and I never sensed any real sparks. While I appreciated that there weren’t a lot of forced situations or misunderstandings, I still think a good love story needs conflict. Here, all the conflicts were internal (Izzy’s fear of letting her guard down) or resolved too quickly (Beau’s sensitivity about his writing).

I also never felt like I got to know or understand Beau. He switches from growly and mean to sweet and understanding without much transition. The story focuses on one aspect of his life, but there wasn’t a lot of backstory to explain who he is. And his dialogue with Izzy is so focused on his memoir (and snacks), it didn’t feel like these two really got to know each other.

This was a book I enjoyed reading, it just wasn’t a romance that I found terribly memorable.

Note: I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley and publisher Hyperion Avenue. This book published May 3, 2022.

I’ve read a few Jasmine Guillory books and By the Book is my favorite to date. This novel is described as being a re-imagined fairytale, and I can’t help but think it fits into the Beauty and the Beast slot? I’m not 100% sure but Beau is definitely a beast to her when she first arrives and she is a girl who loves her books, just like Belle! Our Belle, nicknamed Izzy, sees the golden heart inside of her beast and through helping him write helps him deal with some personal family pain.

This novel is not just about helping Beau see what he needs to reveal in order to heal but it’s also about Izzy being true to herself, not letting others undermine her, and sticking with her dream. I really liked how supportive they were with each other as well as how each of them opened their eyes and looked beyond the surface.

If you are a fan of Jasmine Guillory, By the Book will not disappoint. She has a wonderfully easy style of writing and I often find myself enmeshed in her stories not wanting to put the book down. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

A tale as old as time—for a new generation…

A modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast but instead of a beast it's a reclusive millionaire with a book contract that won't return emails and beauty is the assistant to the editor trying to break into the publishing world by being a yes woman.

When she showed up at his house and he dared her to stay to help, I knew I was locked in. Also when the bathtub started talking to her she was so lonely, it's nice that I'm not the only one. I love when there are parallels to the Disney originals but there's also kissing.😂

But I love how these two characters backstories opened up and changed and the depth of why he was the way he was. Why he wanted to write a memoir and his growth with her help.

I love retellings and I love the way this one went about it. Even her coworker doing some Gaston gaslighting. Can always count on some workplace fun to liven everything up. 


Thank you disneybooks and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

“By the Book” by Jasmine Guillory
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 5/3/22

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! I really enjoyed this book! This was a fun spin on a Romcom.

Isabelle works as an editor assistant at one of the biggest publishing firms in New York. She has always loved books and even wants to be a writer. The problem is her job is sucking the life out of her. One author in particular is driving her crazy. Beau Towers never responds to her calls or email on requests on updates for his memoir. When she goes to Los Angeles for a conference she gets the idea to go to Beaus house and make him talk to her face to face. Her boss is ecstatic about the ideas. She heads to Santa Barbara and when she gets into Beaus house she meets a hot grumpy guy. He propositions her to stay at his house and help coach him on writing the memoir. After weeks of staying at Beaus they become closer and closer while getting some solid work done.

I have not been captivated by a book like this one did for a long time. This is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with a bit of underhanded sneakiness thrown in for good measure. I've read several adaptations of the Beauty tale and enjoyed them all, but this one has that certain je ne sais quoi and joie de vivre intertwined to make a thoroughly enjoyable read that is hard to put down.

Izzy is working for the Tales As Old As Time Publishing company as assistant to the editor. When she goes to a book/publishers convention in California with her boss, she hears her boss talk about one of her problematic authors who is dragging his feet about getting his manuscript in. Izzy volunteers to beard the lion in his den and convince him to get his story written. When she gets to Beau Towers' house, she is greeted by his housekeeper, Kettle, who tells her that Beau refuses to see her. Then Kettle (aka Michaela), escorts Izzy back to her car, trips, and sprains her ankle, so Izzy helps her back to the house. Her first face to face encounter with Beau is him blasting her into the next galaxy with his anger, and she gives back just as good as she gets. Beau allows her to stay and help him with his memoir. It's not love at first sight, it is uncovering hurts and anger, making amends, working past defenses, and finding there has been something to love all along.

Jasmine Guillory is so good with her craft that it is easy to see the amount of work that has gone into writing such a fine novel. Her settings are breath-taking, her characters are real people with flaws the reader can relate to, and the plot pacing is perfect.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a homemade pastry for breakfast.

Hyperion Avenue provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Normally, I really enjoy this author, but found this book to be absolutely unreadable in how poorly it was written. The sentences were choppy and felt like this was someone’s first attempt at writing. I made it through the first 3 chapters before setting it down. Sadly, a big miss for me, which is disappointing as I was really looking forward to it!

A tale old as time........

Jasmine Guillory has written a sweet, light, and fun retelling of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

It is refreshing to read a clean romance novel. A story that isn't so laden with sex, extremely explicit sex, even more sex. Yes, there was innuendos in this book but it wasn't over the top like so many recently published books.

3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4. a solid refreshing rom-com that tackles regrets, betrayal and friendship.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I started reading this in March… it’s now May and I still haven’t gotten into it.

I’m currently not in a place in my life where I can read romance and not cringe.

I will not be requesting romance moving forward.

This is no fault of the authors, and the little bit that I did read was fantastic!