Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: Beast

AUTHOR: Allison Cassatta & Tracey Michael

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH:216 Pages

BLURB: Ara Costas has it all—riches, power, and the kind of beauty that attracts all the right people. He’s flying high and loves his life, until a serious car accident leaves him horribly scarred. Ara becomes an angry recluse, hiding away in his Chicago high-rise apartment, running his multimillion-dollar business from behind a computer screen.

Ilias Adams is a quiet farm boy who keeps his nose buried in books. A great education and stellar resume land him a job as Ara’s assistant and liaison to the board of directors. Little did he know when he signed up for this dream job that he’d end up working for the world’s moodiest, most uptight boss.

Ilias is scared of Ara at times, but he recognizes the challenge he faces when he meets Ara and sees the reason for the man’s anger. Ara is guarded and suspicious, since he can’t believe anyone can bear to look at him. Despite all this, Ilias is determined to turn the beast into a beauty again, at least on the inside, and tear down the walls Ara has so carefully constructed around him.

REVIEW:

Tale as old as time, two men that are so fine, Beauty and the Beast…

Okay so that’s not quite how the kind old teapot sings it but Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie and once I get this song in my head it tends to get stuck there till I give in and burst out in song.

I’ve read a few variations of the tale and seen a couple of movies that change the story up a bit but Beast is my favorite so far. Before I began reading I wondered how dark this story might get. I haven’t read anything by Tracy Michael previous to this one and the only other Allison Cassatta I’ve read is Sin and Seduction, and if you’ve read that then you know it’s quite…harsh is perhaps a good word. But overall I found the story to be a rather light, non-angsty read.

From the very first page I could tell Ara Costas was going to be the perfect Beast. I don’t think I’ve come across a more narcissistic main character. “He was the most beautiful man on the Chicago club scene, and he was more than well aware of the fact.” He looks down on everybody- people he finds unattractive, the men who allow him to do whatever he wants to them, even his best friend is used as a whipping boy rather than a confidant. Oh how I loved cruel, nasty Ara. Call me bloodthirsty, feel free, I admit to it, but I was salivating at the thought of that asshole being taken down hard. And these authors, they did deliver. “The doctor’s voice trailed off into the ether as soon as Ara heard his face couldn’t be fixed. In that moment, nothing else really mattered. His face, his beauty, gave him his power.”

And then in true fairytale fashion we hurtle forward to seven years later.

Ilias Adams, a beautiful, innocent, smart farm boy has just been hired as Ara’s new chief of operations and agrees to be locked away in Ara’s palace-like apartment until his new boss decides that he’s trustworthy. I’m not sure what the HR department would have to say about that but it’s keeping with the fairytale so I was happy to just go with it. As Beauty goes, I like Ilias in the role. Yes he’s shy and respectful with his employer but that boy can get his sass on when Ara is too much of an ass. The two men are wary yet fascinated by each other from their first meeting.

Barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly… (No, I’m not finished singing yet.)

I like the fact that Ara is still an ass when Ilias first comes to work for him. He’s already recognized the error of his ways but that doesn’t mean he’s going to bother changing them. Except, he’s lonely and Ilias presents him with the first real reason to make an effort to change, the chance to have someone in his life again. “No one had ever loved him, and after the accident, no one ever would. So why bother trying to be a better man? Because you don’t want to be alone forever, Ara Costas. You don’t want to be hated.”

Both a little scared, neither one prepared…

Be prepared for this story to go backwards and forwards, they are together now they’re not, Ara’s a douche no wait he’s nice, and on and on like that for most of the book. While the men do eventually end up in bed together, to me the book leans more towards sweet than sexy. And that worked for me. Naturally Ara has some major issues with getting naked and Ilias is scared of putting a foot wrong and causing Ara to retreat. “He tiptoed his fingers over to gently lay his hand on Ara’s, and he waited with bated breath.”

There was only one thing that I thought this book was missing and that was a big reunion scene between Ara and his ex best friend, who we only meet very briefly in the prologue. Maybe it was knowing all the crap that Beni put up with from Ara but I just felt a connection with that poor guy and I badly wanted to know what happened to him once he came to his senses and ditched Ara. I’m crossing my fingers that the complete lack of any information on Beni could be because he has his own story still to come.

A Happily Ever After (with capital HEAs) is obviously non negotiable, what would a fairytale be without one?And this one completely satisfies.“Ilias made Ara see beauty in everything, not just the surface of human faces. Ilias made him see the beauty in himself.”

Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong. Certain as the sun, rising in the east, tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: Dreamspinner Press