Lish McBride

Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling's curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother's choosing before her eighteenth birthday. . . 

Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family's cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom. . . 

Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother's debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match . . . but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

Curses

(Narrated by Jayne Entwistle.) Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling's curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother's choosing before her eighteenth birthday. . . 

Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family's cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom. . . 

Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother's debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match . . . but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

Caroline Clutterbuck Kapulkin

"Very few people could pull an outfit like that off, and I wouldn't have thought your brother would be one of them. But he is stunning." Ellery's head tilted. "Are there any ugly people in your family?"

“We're just ugly on the inside," Tevin said. "It's protective coloring, like those brightly colored poisonous frogs.”

Ostrich shenanigans have been one of my favorite things about this book 🦤

Together they entirely filled the private train car Willa and Diadora had rented. Except for Cedric — despite his title and status, he'd been made to ride in the cattle car. No matter how well dressed or genteel the ostrich, it still couldn't ride in a first-class passenger cabin. Tevin didn't think that was an actual rule, but the conductor insisted that it was.

Curses taking a page from the book of SHREK 😎 Gotta love a fantasy with a wedding to crash ✨

“I’ve always wanted to go to a big posh wedding," Val said, examining her invitation. “And this one is going to be even better, because we get to wreck it."

Tevin slammed the book shut. “Well that’s rubbish. Why do you still have it?”

Amira BEN

She would get to wake up every day and deal with the good and the bad of living, but with her friends and Tevin at her side. That was the real happily-ever- after--not that there was no adversity to ever be dealt with, but that you had people to share and ease the burden of it.

 "Yes. The underworld take me for it, but I love her something fierce."

Tevin gave up arguing with them. "Fine, I'm not selfless at all, I'm just a big coward." 

"It's funny how similar those things can be," Val said.

There was a slight tickle as she reached out, running her claws gently through his hair. He didn't move, afraid she'd stop. She paused a moment, waited for him to complain, and when he didn't, she ran her claws through his hair again. He leaned into the touch. It was like the fire. He didn't need it, but oh, how he 

Tevin pulled her close. "If you manage to look absolutely smitten with me for the rest of the dance, I'll reward you with a trip out to the terrace for some fresh air and a moment of not smiling at anything." 

She beamed up at him and batted her eyes. 

"But I'm not. I hate everything, and I want to get out of this dress." 

"That can be arranged." He winked at her.

Tevin acted affronted. "I happen to know that I have a very sexy wink. Sensual, even."

He adjusted Ellery's hold, stepping back to look at them again, one hand cupping his chin, thumb pressed into his lower lip. Merit had started to have a lot of indecent thoughts about that lower lip.

Edit: Her answer to that 😭 the banter is delightful to read 😂

 He grinned at her, and her stomach twisted. "I bet I can make you swoon."

 "I bet I can push you into the lake," Merit said.

My god I am so dirty minded 😹 I guess I’ve read too many erotica for my own good lol

Tevin tapped his pencil against Merit's horns. "I wouldn't go off with him unescorted, then. Just in case" Merit fixed him with a glower. 

«I’m simply looking out for you," he said, his expression all that was innocence."You don't want to be stuffed and mounted, anyone do you?" 

« I’m going to stuff and mount you in a minute. »

 "No need to be filthy, Merit." He used his pencil to make a ble, so note on the paper. "We'll leave him as a maybe."

"I’m pretty sure I can manage one afternoon in a library with Tevin DuMont without losing my heart." Merit stood up, shaking her hem out.

"Ellery, do sit down," Tevin said, suddenly realizing how long he'd been staring at Merit. He straightened abruptly, waving his hand at the tray of food. "And have something to eat. Your fussing is upsetting Merit."

"Yes. Like I said, you remind me of him." She waved a hand at him. “All of this. The handsome and charming thing. I don't want to be charmed. Marriage is until death, Mr. DuMont. I'd like to make it at least a few years before I start considering poisons and a shallow grave for my husband."

This dialogue is making my day 😂 I didn’t expect the feminist elements in this story lol

"My curse states that I need to marry by my birthday, which is six weeks away. Specifically, I need to marry someone who meets my mother's approval, which doesn't include you, or someone who loves me, which also doesn't include you 

"Why?" Tevin said, looking her up and down again. Not leering, but assessing. “What's wrong with you?" 

«I have a brain," Merit said dryly "They don't like it."

 "Full offense." Merit mimicked him, crossing her own arms. 

That seemed to cut his indignation off at the knees. "I beg your pardon, but that is what you 

"Then you inferred wrong." Only years of training kept Merit from rolling her eyes. Honestly. Why was it that so many men thought they were the answer to a question no one was asking? 

"You want to marry me?" Tevin said abruptly. “For a plant?" He spluttered the words, casting the last part at Val. "I’m worth a flower?"

Teeeeeesha

Imagine beauty and the beast but the beast is a girl and the beauty is a handsome boi who is born to a family that cons. It was lighthearted with funny banters but wasn't enticing enough to captivate.

This novel is my favorite kind of fairytale, with a colorful cast and CURSES that change form and loom with real consequences.

A fun, unlikely cast of characters made this book such a pleasure to read. Surprisingly entertaining as a “heist” story, too.

It took a little while to get into the story, but once I got to Merit’s cursed support group scene, and she actually met Tevin, it was a fun and easy read from there.

The audiobook was a delight, I loved Val’s voice in particular. After my loan returned early, I finished on ebook and still read everyone’s lines in their voices. I think Cedric became my accidental favorite character.

I loved the slightly “modern” twist on a fairytale world, and Lish McBride described it all in such vivid detail, the world felt truly lived-in. I expected the bloom flower to play a more prominent role (I may have had some Tangled mental bias), but I like that this story is intimate and focused specifically to its characters.

The idea of enchanted mirror rooms was brilliant.

This novel is my favorite kind of fairytale, with a colorful cast and CURSES that change form and loom with real consequences.

A fun, unlikely cast of characters made this book such a pleasure to read. Surprisingly entertaining as a “heist” story, too.

It took a little while to get into the story, but once I got to Merit’s cursed support group scene, and she actually met Tevin, it was a fun and easy read from there.

The audiobook was a delight, I loved Val’s voice in particular. After my loan returned early, I finished on ebook and still read everyone’s lines in their voices. I think Cedric became my accidental favorite character.

I loved the slightly “modern” twist on a fairytale world, and Lish McBride described it all in such vivid detail, the world felt truly lived-in. I expected the bloom flower to play a more prominent role (I may have had some Tangled mental bias), but I like that this story is intimate and focused specifically to its characters.

The idea of enchanted mirror rooms was brilliant.

So much great ostrich imagery, too. 😂

There’s nothing more reliable than a good old retelling.

It’s even better when it’s a gender flipped retelling.

The girl is the beast ? Well, now I want to read 

And it did deliver. I loved our main girl Merit. Her personality, her pride (yes I loved it), her intelligence. She was also very relatable as a character.

She meets Tevin and she has to rely on this 

 man to find her the perfect match to get married and lift the curse. But handsome men are 

Here you go, you have your enemies to lovers trope with delicious banter and omg I’ve enjoyed their interactions so much. It was 

The way the story has been told was very original and refreshing imo. And the author knew how to play with the clichés of fairytales and all.

The setting was on point and the cast 🤌🏼 I can’t believe I have to say goodbye to the crew , all the characters were endearing in their own ways. Even the suitors haha

Overall, it was really enjoyable to  read and if you’re looking for a real new take on the beauty and the beast then wait no more and pick this one up.

Despite, the tight schedules recently, a reading slump pointing its nose along the way. It was a great pleasure to read it when I had the book in my hands and I won’t forget those characters anytime soon.

There’s nothing more reliable than a good old retelling.

It’s even better when it’s a gender flipped retelling.

The girl is the beast ? Well, now I want to read that beauty and the beast retelling.

And it did deliver. I loved our main girl Merit. Her personality, her pride (yes I loved it), her intelligence. She was also very relatable as a character.

She meets Tevin and she has to rely on this handsome man to find her the perfect match to get married and lift the curse. But handsome men are not to be trusted.

Here you go, you have your enemies to lovers trope with delicious banter and omg I’ve enjoyed their interactions so much. It was chef’skiss

The way the story has been told was very original and refreshing imo. And the author knew how to play with the clichés of fairytales and all.

The setting was on point and the cast 🤌🏼 I can’t believe I have to say goodbye to the crew , all the characters were endearing in their own ways. Even the suitors haha

Overall, it was really enjoyable to  read and if you’re looking for a real new take on the beauty and the beast then wait no more and pick this one up.

Despite, the tight schedules recently, a reading slump pointing its nose along the way. It was a great pleasure to read it when I had the book in my hands and I won’t forget those characters anytime soon.

Sharanya Sharma

Am I going to shout from the rooftops about this retelling? Probably not. Still, this was a pretty cute one! I’ve never read a gender-swapped BatB retelling before & I thought the premise & world-building was intriguing. The characters were cute and had some decent witty banter, which I enjoyed. There was decent POC rep and good queer rep, which I appreciated. I LOVED the side characters — sometimes even more than the romance. 

I felt like there were parts of the magic that made things too convenient though — like the fact that the heroine could drink a potion to resume her human form just long enough to go to parties & dance with suitors. Like, way to undermine the whole point of this story?

Anyway, cute but not amazing.

Torrey

This is a super cute gender bent Beauty and the Beast retelling. We follow Merit who has been cursed by a godling because she refused to marry the person her mother chose. Therefore, she must either marry someone who loves her or marry someone of her mother's choosing before her 18th birthday to change out of her beast form. We also follow Tevin, who is from a family of criminals and con artists. After his mother gets caught stealing flowers from Merit's garden, she decides to trade herself for her son. 

Merit decides that Tevin will have use helping her decide who out of the men her mother chose from, will be the least bad. Be aware that a majority of the story focuses on Tevin helping Merit decide who she should marry and the process of her trying to court these men. 

Curses is funny and over the top and ridiculous. It is a light hearted and fun retelling. The characters in this are all so fun and there are so many different and amazing personalities. This book also expands on the lives of the side characters in a way I really appreciated, instead of just making them there to further to main characters' stories. There is also so much casual queerness it's amazing. Merit's healer Ellery is non-binary and there is a romance between Tevin's cousin Val and Merit's guard Kirya. 

I saw another review in which someone said that this is a romance between two Hufflepuff's and that is a very accurate description. Both Merit and Tevin are very sweet and cute people who have fallen victim to their circumstances. I thought their romance was cute. I loved the fact that Tevin came from a criminal family that literally spends all their time conning people. It made him to be a very interesting character and a fun conflict between him and Merit (aka ANGST) This is because the con that Tevin does a lot of is the exact one that Merit fell prone to earlier in her life. Once again, A N G S T.

The biggest complaint I had about this book, that really isn't that big of a complaint, was the timing of everything. There were some parts of the book that felt a little drawn out and like they weren't quite necessary. It takes a while for the book to even get the part where Tevin will be living with Merit and helping her. I just wish we could've jumped into the story a little sooner.

Samantha Bass

Check out my full review on We Write at Dawn!

This book was good, but it wasn't everything I wanted. I found myself enjoying the store, interested in what was going to happen next, but also fine with putting down the story and not feeling the urge to finish it. This isn't a long book, it's under 300 pages, and yet it took me a while to read because I didn't feel pressed to know what was going to happen next. 

This book was resoundingly good. The plot? Good. The characters? Good. The story, the dialogue, the magic? All good. Nothing really stood out to me and I enjoyed it. It was just good. 

It's sad that I don't have much more to say, but this book was good. It had its faults, it had some things I liked, and it was a good story. If you want a new take on Beauty and the Beast, I would definitely check it out!

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

** spoiler alert **
           I just... wanted more from this book. I didn't want her to end up with the beauty, and I didn't want anything from the bad guys perspective until later on in the book.

Curses

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