Exactly what I needed to lose myself in for a few hours whilst everything in the world continues to go down the toilet. I’ll come up with a proper review when my brain is in gear, but in the meantime if you fancy a well-written Beauty and the Beast themed historical romance featuring a feisty independent woman and a brooding scarred hero, then this is one for you.

You can growl all you but you don’t scare me.”

Copy received courtesy of Mills & Boon via NetGalley for an honest and unbiased opinion.
2020-reads27 s Claire2,316 726

5 - The Beast Stars!

I am a sucker for any type of Beauty and the Beast retelling, and although loose in the tropes used Ellena and Braeden’s story was similar enough to leave me smiling.

Pitch a strong willed female not looking to be subservient anymore, in a male dominated world, against a scarred-alpha knight, protector, and absolute sweetheart, and you get sparks, fiery conversation and smouldering attraction. This couple’s story kept me entertained, engrossed and I loved them more, the further I read.

This is the second Mills & Boon~ Historical, I have read this week, and although not normally a genre I dive into with any regularity I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality, and escapism both books I have read offered. I definitely will be taking more time to immerse myself in this genre going forwards.

ARC generously provided via Netgalley, in exchange for the above honest review.
m-b11 s Yukino1,049

SERIE THE HOUSE OF LEOFRIC vol. 1

L'avevo messo in wl, perchè, ormai lo sapete, tutto ciò che può anche lontanamente riproporre la storia della Bella e la Bestia, lo devo assolutamente leggere.
Così quando l'ho visto in offerta non c'ho pensato due volte e l'ho preso.

E' ambientato in Inghilterra, ma questa volta siamo in pieno Medioevo, con castelli, feudi e lotte per le terre.

Sir Braedan Leofirc, soprannominato la Bestia, è al servizio di Lord Ogmor, che gli ordina di andare a prendere sua figlia Ellena. Era sposata con uno molto più anziano di lei e ormai vedova, è assediata dai proprietari terrieri vicini, che mirano alle sue terre. Così suo padre, sia per difenderla sia per farla sposare con uno suo prescelto, in modo da poter ampliare le proprietà, manda appunto i cavalieri al suo servizio per riportarla a casa sana e salva.
Il più feroce di tutti e acerrimo nemico di Lord Ogmor è Sir Copsi, che vuole rapire Ellena e sposarla.
E sarà lui il "cattivo" della storia.

Mi ha un pò deluoso. Mi aspettavo di vedere la trasformazione del loro rapporto, da conflittuale all'innamoramento. E invece il libro inizia già con i primi sguardi languidi dove lei pensa che ci sia qualcosa di più in lui, e viceversa.

Peccato, perchè i personaggi avevano tutte le carte in regola per avere un pò di spessore dato il loro passato. Ma tutto è affrontato con leggerezza.
Lo so che è un Harmony e non mi devo aspettare l'introspezione psicologica, ma un minimo si, giusto per farmi entrare in sintonia con i personaggi.
Però non mi è dispiaciuto. Ci sono momenti divertenti e altri molto teneri. La loro fuga iniziale da Copsi ha dato un pò di brio alla storia, e anche la vita nel castello mi ha interessato. Anche qui però non aspettatevi dettagli storici rilevanti.

Tutto sommato godibile. Tre stelle, non di più. forse sono stata anche buona. Ma alla fine si lascia leggere.

Ho scoperto, dopo avelro acquistato, che è il primo di una serie, e ho già capito chi sarà la prossima coppia. Non è ancora uscito in Italia, per cui ho tutto il tempo di decidere.
Magari gli do una seconda possibilità. Vedremo2021 2021-kindle kindle-serie ...more8 s 🐝 Shaz 🐝 495 29

This was a nice story. Scared knight escorts earl’s widowed daughter, back to her parents . They encounter lots of obstacles on the way. 4.5 stars books-i-own-to-be-read hero-heroine-with-scars mad-about-a-series-2022 ...more8 s Cheryl2,094 21

This was a good paced story with plenty of action, some dangerous, tense events and moments of passion. The two main characters were very able. Lady Ellena Swein was a determined lady, who having suffered through her first marriage, had no intention of marrying again. Sir Braedan Leofric, was an honourable man, who was trying to help his family from their situation. He had battle scars on his face that earned him the name of The Beast. Travelling together, they found they were attracted to each other but each had their own plans. I loved the way Breadan was so caring of Ellena, given her past experiences. This is just the type of story to whisk you away from the present situation. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.4 s Elaine - Splashes Into Books3,663 121

Travel back to the times when there were castles and knights, when travel was on foot, by horse or horse drawn carriage and when the Lord ruled their lands in this action packed historical romance! Sir Braedan Leofric has been sent to bring Lady Ellena Swein, the widowed daughter of his Lord, back to her father. However, there are others who wish to marry her to gain the lands she now controls and they're not above using force or kidnapping her to get their way! On a long journey fraught with danger, will Braedan be able to keep her safe and deliver her to her father? How will she react when she discovers his promised reward for doing so?

This is an enthralling read with a feisty lady determined never to let a man control her again and a man nicknamed the Beast who is actually honourable and protective. It is a lovely read to escape into with great characters, plenty of action and a slow burn but potentially passionate romance. Her first marriage sounds an abusive nightmare but she's made a much better life for herself now and really doesn't her father interfering. She's adamant she'll never marry again but that's before she got to know Braedan . . . . He doesn't think he has the status to ever be good enough for a lady Ellena but his attraction to her continues to grown as they travel on their dangerous journey. There are secrets shared, obstacles to be overcome, fights to be fought and enemies to be killed before this romance concludes with an amazing epilogue. It is a lovely story to read if you're wanting to be distracted from our current reality and I have no hesitation in highly recommending it to anyone who enjoys reading historical romance.

I requested and was gifted a copy of this book and this is my honest review after choosing to read it.2020 adult adventure ...more2 s Samantha430 39

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Lady Swein is successfully running her castle, the only problem is now that her husband had died her father is demanding she go back to his castle to remarry. So far no one has been successful at getting her to return until The Beast convinces her that she can bargain with her father for her freedom. What The Beast doesn't tell her is of his ultimate betrayal.

This book is absolutely delicious! The plot is really good and the execution is fabulous. Matthews takes us on a journey that is filled with thrills and adventure from start to finish. The chemistry between Lady Swein and The Beast is hot and thick. Their relationship is a juicy whirlwind of emotions. It's dramatic and will make your heart race with hope and expectation.

The first couple days I started this book I barely had a chance to read it, then on the third day I completely devoured just under 300 pages. Putting it down was torture! It was so engaging and exciting I couldn't help but just get completely lost in it.

This is the perfect guilty pleasure read. It has all the drama and steaminess to satisfy any lover of smutty romance. I loved it!

Https://fourmoon.blogspot.com 2 s Vonne519 17

Nice to see a debut HQ Historical Author come out the gate with a fairly decent couple and story. Unfortunately, wow, this felt similar to another medieval HQ Romance I read a few months back. When it got down to the eventual closing in on the HEA...I felt I had read this book before but realized I couldn't have because this just came out for the month of April. But what was similar is how the tables got turned on the female MC, Ellena, at least this time there was no 2nd forced marriage of convenience and the male MC, Braedan, attempting to cow-tie his new, rambunctious wife...after lying to her for over half the book. Same situation here.

Braedan goes to "escort" a King's daughter, Ellena - The King having forced his offspring into marriage with an abusive septuagenarian - her husband dies, making her a Widow. And now her father...The King/the male MC's liege...sends him on a Quest he knows he won't come back empty-handed from. He's forced to escort her back to her father and then from there, the King will, once again, marry her off to an unknown man. She wanted to stay back at her husband's estate/castle because he had been a terrible landowner, rather cutthroat and violent to his own people, but once he was dead, she turned that entire land around and was actually making profits.

The King had already sent two prior envoys with escorts to bring her back home, but she had always managed to finagle a way around and got them to leave without her. But this time Braedan was The King's best soldier...and he was bound and determined to not leave without Ellena in his keeping. He was battle-scarred and weary, exhausted from a general melee of routine life and unsure what to do with himself once he does bring her back. Braedan lied to her face in order to get her to come with him...and it bites him in the ass at the end, toward the HEA.

It was The King's plan all along to, yes, give Ellena's husband's old castle to Sir Braedan, but then to also offer him up to Ellena as her next husband. By the time Ellena learns of the lie, things have gone too far between them, so it's murky whether she can trust he genuinely loves her or is he just complying with His Liege and agreeing to take ownership of the castle and then marry Ellena. There is a decent discussion of truths eventually but not before miscommunication brings around some dramatic moments.

There is a running Villain who seems to have this "need" to not only chase after Ellena throughout the book but kidnap her and force her to marry him. A good majority of the book is simply Braedan and Elleena being a two-person esort... forced proximity and also pretending to be "husband & wife" whenever they stop at inns and such. This bad guy has lands or a large estate that borders The King so, he keeps popping in and out. Especially when Braedan is simply trying to escort Ellena back to her childhood home.

There is a small trigger warning for much of the marriage Ellena had with her much-older husband. It ranged from sexual assault to abuse...to even locking her in a room without food or water. So, yeah...she will flashback to these terrible moments as it sours her for future relationships with men. Especially huge brutish-looking men Braedan

For a first novel, it was really decent which is why I gave it the rating I did.1 Ellie570 14

This is the second historical romance book I’ve read and I’m starting to love the genre more and more.
I LOVED this book. It had excellent writing, a great plot, wonderful characters and a beautiful ending. There was a lot of chemistry between the two characters but not a lot of x-rated scenes however this wasn’t a downside-the script worked perfectly for the story. I also loved how we didn’t have to wait long in the story to see if our noble lady would feel for the knight, and once we found out she did the story built and built with no dips in plot - it just kept going right through to a strong ending.
Only thing I could have asked for more was more pages because I loved it so much!1 Daniela57 2

Una lettura d'evasione, giusto per decomprimere un po'. Senza infamia e senza lodeengland historical romance1 Jane Kelsey1,028 79

This is the book I needed to bring me out of the reading slump and put me in a good mood. This romance was well written, full of action, romance and sexy scenes, as well as loads of angst. The pacing was a bit uneven and found myself towards the end skimming a bit - I think it needed to be a bit shorter in my opinion and the ending was a bit tooooo dragged out. I could see where it was heading from miles away.

Overall, a good read.


Thank you to the publishers via Netgalley for a copy of this book! 3-stars1 Kelly151 12

A light read. Lots of action and adventure as well as romance (it took surprisingly long for them to even kiss), but a lot of telling, not showing, which was a bit frustrating. I felt things were being explained to me rather than me figuring it out on my own.1 Elodie’s Reading Corner2,527 133


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