Book received for free through NetGalley

The book was rather obvious about where it was going. That said it was really cute and I’m glad I read it.

This book was so so for me. I have such high expectations and it was my least favorite rom com by Guillory. The plot was okay and I would have liked to see more about how they fell in love for it to be extremely believable. Overall it’s a cute easy to read rom com.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

I enjoyed this romance. Sadly I felt like the beauty and beasts pieces of the story were the framework that the romance was forced around rather than the fun Easter egg parts that fit into the romance itself. I love Disney and belle so I’m disappointed I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. It was a little cringe most of the belle parts and I feel the romance story would have been better without it. Again, overall the romance was one you’d expect if you read any other of Jasmine Guillory's books and was satisfying. The ending was great and it all pulled together nicely. Thank you to the publisher and the net galley for the audiobook arc. The laughing of the narrator was the only thing that drew me out of the story in that form.

I'm a huge Jasmine Guillory fan and was thrilled by the idea of this book. A book about publishing, a Disney retelling, set in sunny California, all done by Jasmine? It sounded like it couldn't go wrong and yet it did for me.

This is a slow burn, closed door romance. I liked how Izzy was very independent and loved the setting of the novel in this kinda magical house tucked away into the hills of Santa Barbara. I liked how the nods to Beauty and the Beast were overall pretty subtle, mostly coming from names of books or the publishing houses that Izzy works with.

However, something about this book felt young and unfinished to me. I never felt like I really got to know Izzy or Beau and what made them tick and why they would be into each other. Part of this could come from the fact that Beau is supposed to be surly at the beginning and we don't ever get his perspective. But I wanted to see more from both of them that would make me like their characters. Overall, I was disappointed especially because of how much I've loved Guillory's work in the past.

Great representation and a positive storyline, but the dialogue was stilted and I really couldn’t get past the overly cheesy fairy tale references.

As usual, Jasmine Guillory delights the heart and the spirit. In By the Book: A Meant to be Novel we get the story from Isabelle’s perspective as she works in her dream job that turns out to be more of low-key nightmare. She works tirelessly to help authors to realize their dreams of publishing while never receiving encouragement or the opportunity to produce her own work. A big part of her job involves helping authors organize their work for publication. When she overhears her boss complain about Beau Towers and his lack of development on his book, she decides to personally stop by to check on his progress. So, what if he has not answered the many emails she has sent him? Isabelle’s first impression of Beau is that he is a spoiled, rich brat but as he allows her to help him craft his memoir, she comes to see that his angry affect hides a wounded heart. Will he allow her to help him author his story and mend his heart? As previously noted, the book is told from Isabelle’s perspective but Ms. Guillory allows us to see their evolution from Beau’s point of view as we are allowed to read a portion of this memoir. I found myself smiling throughout this light-hearted but emotionally satisfying story. So GOOD!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This is a really cute romantic comedy. Jasmine Guillory does an excellent job.

I had no idea walking into this one that it was a play on a classic Disney story. And I loved every. single. breadcrumb that led me to figure that out on my own! Jasmine Guillory put a modern twist on one of my FAVORITES without making it too cheesy, too obvious, too anything…other than likable and smooth and very enjoyable. I loved the tension between Izzy & Beau which was palpable, but not overdone. A lighthearted and lovely 4 stars from me. Now to go back and read Meant to Be #1!

Thank you NetGalley & Hyperion Avenue for the e-ARC!

This is really sweet, and those of us who were oldest daughters born in the '80s and identified hard with Belle will find lots of delightful little easter eggs.

Although this is part of a series, it can completely be read as a stand-alone. This felt a little less like a romance than the author's other books. There is more narration about the main characters, their separate work and writings, their jobs, than there is about the two of them. The eventual relationship didn't feel powerful, because there hadn't been much on-screen pining. The heat level is low, with a fade-to-black scene and no explicit repeats, so this is more appropriate than some of the author's other works for readers who like a PG-romance.

I was worried this would feel same-y with several other publishing-related romances this spring ([book:Book Lovers|58690308] was cute; [book:Meet Me in the Margins|58429255] needed more work). If readers were going to pick only one, this would be my top suggestion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the digital ARC of this book!! *4.5 Stars*

By The Book is a retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story with a bookish twist. Isabelle Marlowe, employee of the Tale As Old As Time publishing company, is challenged by the difficult Hollywood star Beau Towers to stay at his house for a week to help him get his memoir up and running with one on one workshops and motivational speeches. Feeling up for a bit of a challenge and hoping to get the leg up at the company, Izzy accepts...and from there, well who knows what emotions may rear their heads!!

I won’t lie, when I first started reading By The Book I was a little skeptical. I had never read a book by Jasmine Guillory, so I had no idea what to expect. The beginning was rough, and the sort of ham-fisted Beauty and the Beast references were more than a little cheesy to me. Honestly though? That might be my only complaint. My god, when the main action of the plot was put into motion I was ON BOARD for everything!!

I saw so many little hyper specific elements of my own personality in Isabelle, I thought I was losing it. I thought the relationship was done incredibly well in this, first building up a trust and friendship between the two protagonists that served as a great foundation for the long awaited romance. There’s a certain category of romance I have in my head where if I outwardly squeal at how cute a moment or set up is the book is a stunner, and By The Book did hit that mark!

A very lovely, at times downright adorable romance novel. A fairly solid 4.5 stars. Can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory is such a charming book. As soon as I found out it was even being related to or inspired by Beauty and the Beast I was in! Also who doesn’t love a Book about books? YES! Isabelle (Izzy) comes to California to encourage Beau to deliver his book realizing he needs help writing Izzy stays in California, where she is expected to give pep talks to Beau. Can what starts out as a struggle turn into a Fairytale? Even though this is book two, this can definitely be read as a stand-alone as I read that way.
I will definitely be going back and reading book one and any other books that Jasmine Guillory wrote that I haven’t read.

Thank you Netgalley and Hyperion Avenue for providing me with a eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ugh, why is this book over? I didn’t want it to end. By The Book read like a fairytale, complete with characters to love, perfectly convenient circumstances, and a little magic all mixed into one.

We are first introduced to our princess, -er, protagonist in her world of publishing. It’s a story we all know or experienced: an overworked assistant trying to balance getting ahead with getting her dream. The opportunity presents itself when she’s traveling for a conference. Isabelle overhears her boss complaining about an author, holed up in his own world, refusing to write anything: no emails, no texts, and definitely not the memoir that is now overdue. Without even realizing, Isabelle volunteers herself to reach out and make some progress.

Making progress with Beau Towers isn’t as easy as she expects. He’s rough, angry, and has no idea why this random woman decided to show up on his doorstep. It makes sense, but somehow, through divine intervention (or maybe a fairy godmother…actually wrong story) they get stuck working together.

This book was adorable. I found myself grinning at the pages more than once. Isabelle and Beau are both so loveable. The reader watches them grow as the story goes on. Someone once said, “both a little scared, neither one prepared,” and it’s true. They don’t know what to make of each other; they don’t know if they can trust each other, so they take it one day at a time. It’s easy to understand their hesitations, so we’re rooting for them to work them out.

I appreciated the adaptation for reading like a fairytale. I’ve recently learned a bit about magical realism and there’s a bit of those touches throughout the book. The events that transpire tend to work out so well, you know that it’s fabricated, and that’s part of the fun. The little whispers throughout the house, the serendipitous moments, the snack closet? All seem too good to be true, and it’s lovely.

This was the first novel I read in the Meant to Be series, and I can’t wait to read the others. If you want a feel good, happily ever after, this is the perfect book. We all need a little joy and a little more magic in our lives.

This was fine, but not up to what I expect from Guillory. The protagonist read very young for a 25 year old

I actually read the first “meant to be” novel (If the Shoe Fits) and liked this one a lot more!! First book was a complete stand alone and written by another author.

Beauty and the Beast retelling- worked in the amazing library, grumpy love interest, and talking inanimate objects

No spice

African American representation (some mention of it- race wasn’t written as a main factor in the book/ love story like I thought it would).

This was such a sweet and inspiring story. Beau has to work through his issues and Izzy is supportive and understanding. I don’t know how she put up with all of his attitude. There seemed to be a lot packed into such a little book (multiple surfing scenes and the baking scene)- just seemed like more than one cheesy RomCom love bonding scene. I liked all of the lessons that Izzy helps teach Beau and the ones she learns for herself. The grand gesture/revealing their love was SO cute and touching.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Hyperion Avenue publishing for the digital ARC.

Written by Jasmine Guillory, A sequel to If The Shoe Fits (which I should now go and read…), By the Book follows Izzy, an editor’s assistant at a publishing house, as she tries to get a famous recluse, Beau, to write his memoir through sheer encouragement. Did I mention that it is a non-fantasy Beauty and the Beast retelling?

Well, it is. And it does a great job of capturing the overall feeling of Beauty and the Beast without pushing into the fantasy realm at all.

This book was well written and is definitely a nice beach read with a fun, sweet romance. It gets a bit serious, but overall has a light feeling that I think could appeal to anyone who has been looking for a book that does a good job of being a sweet, cozy-style romance and takes an approach to look at how we should communicate to each other.

I will say, this isn’t a deep book, and some of the actions of the main character just made me very annoyed, such as staying at a stranger’s house just to prove them wrong. That just feels so… dangerous, to say the least.

I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a lot of fun. It's very much a retelling of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and has deliberate and obvious nods to the movie. I loved those references. Izzy and Beau are thrown together because of unique circumstances: Izzy works for Beau's publisher and she's been sent to his mansion in Santa Barbara to get him to submit pages of his celebrity memoir. It's a charming romance. I loved the character development the reader sees in Izzy-she learns to speak up for herself and creates huge positive change in her life.

I want to start by saying I am a huge Jasmine Guillory fan. While We Were Dating is one of my favorite rom coms followed closely by The Proposal. I love her novels. By the Book, however, let me down.

Here’s what I liked:
- The general story is there from Izzy’s desire to become an author to Beau’s pursuit of not only discussing his past trauma, but addressing and sharing his side of the story with the world.
- There’s really interesting information about how to write a novel provided throughout.
- The ending was great and the premise was enjoyable.
- I like how the resolution with Garrett (Gaston) was concluded.

Here’s what I didn’t like:
- The Beauty and the Beast retelling is incredibly clear, but so much so I spent more time trying to figure out which character was which than I did actually getting to know these characters for who they are.
- I normally love Guillory’s novel for her mature character descriptions and dialogue, but it’s simply not there in this novel.
- There are entirely too many exclamation points -- so many that it completely threw me out of the novel because I was annoyed by how emphatic all these characters were about everything.
- The dialogue is not well done. Normally Guillory has great dialogue, but in this novel it’s stiff and formal and sounds generally awkward between characters.
- I’ve always appreciated the mature discussions and relationships between characters, especially women, but in this novel the conversations between Izzy and her best friend, Priya, are punctuated with so many exclamation points, words in all caps, and overly enthusiastic verbiage that I was more annoyed than engaged by their interactions.

I am going to continue to read Guillory’s other work, but this one wasn’t as enjoyable for me.

Izzy is frustrated because she feels stuck in her job. She volunteers to go see a writer whose memoir is long overdue to try to help fix whatever the problem will be. He initially tries to get rid of her before challenging her to stay with him and give him daily pep talks. She moves into Beau’s huge house and helps get him on track, but soon finds herself struggling with feelings for him. Will she be able to set them aside and get him to write about the painful stuff he’s avoiding or fail and prove that she doesn’t belong in the publishing business?

A fun take on Beauty and the Beast with likable characters and a sweet story.

By The Book was a cute Beauty and the Beast retelling. This book features Izzy and Beau. Izzy works in the publishing industry and takes on the task of Motivating Beau into writing his Memoir. This book had so many hidden Disney references that are super fun for the Disney lovers. This was a quick read that put a smile on my face. Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great version of Beauty and the Beast. I loved that this version exemplified a “beast” who is truly struggling with relatable and real mental health issues, along with strong emotions like grief and regret.
I thought that the heroine was great—she had all the great qualities of Belle from the movie, like positivity, maturity, and lots of empathy.
I’d feel very comfortable recommending this to a romance reader looking for a sweet comfort read.