By The Book by Jasmine Guillory

5 Stars Apr 10, 2023

My review

5/5 stars

I bought this book based on the title alone, not realising it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in a publishing house... safe to say, I loved it.

Izzy was a wonderful character right from the start. She was the perfect depiction of a 20-something woman who is so busy working her butt off to further her career, even though her career has stalled. Her determination and charm won me over throughout the story.

Beau was fun to read because he was a challenge to decipher. He was closed off and, at times, brutish, but I was never put off wanting to know more about him (a great mirror of how Izzy felt about him). He was intriguing and inticing, with an obvious heart of gold hidden underneath his tough outer shell.

The chemistry between the two leapt off the pages and was the main focus of the book. There was great back-and-forth mixed in with a healthy dose of mutual support and just the right amount of sexual tension.

The fact that this story played out around the writing of a book was an added bonus for me, and served as a great plot device for revealing why Beau was as cantakerous as he was.

I devoured this book in 36 hours. Very enjoyable.

Book blurb

Sometimes to truly know a person, you have to read between the lines.

Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing after college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, still living at home, and one of the few Black employees at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves.

All she has to do is go to the author's Santa Barbara mansion and give him a pep talk or three. How hard could it be?

But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. He is jaded and withdrawn and--it turns out--just as lost as Izzy. But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn't there before.