This book started out very strong, very interesting. A truly delightful prologue followed by several really enjoyable chapters. Both the "Dragon" and Gwen were likeable and endearing. Unfortunately, I became bored around halfway through. It felt like a great story just turned elastic and was stretching on and on and on...

I really wanted to see the happily ever after that I'm sure must be at the end, but I really don't see the point of punishing myself for another ten plus chapters to get to something I can probably guess. I tried skimming, but it didn't help so this one is a DNF for me.

a quick & fun read with some new favorite characters i’ve ever come across

Light, fun, and romantic. This was one of my “break reads” - a book I read when I need a breather between reading heavier things.

I read this YEARS ago and really enjoyed it. I love Beauty and the Beast, and dragons, and virgin sacrifices. Teresa Medeiros is an excellent writer. And I still love this sweet little story. For newer more recent readers, I can see that they may not like it as much as the heroine falls in love with a guy who is holding her captive. However, if you go in with the perspective that this is fictional and meant to be a fun read, I think the story is still great. I definitely recommend it.
.......Spoilers below....
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Gwen was 9 years old when the Laird’s 15-yr-old son stood up to a village bully for her. She then promptly falls out of a tree and lands on him. That very night their castle is attacked, and the whole family is seemingly murdered after being betrayed by a clansman for 1000 gold pieces. Fast forward years later and a “dragon” is demanding food and payment as part of a curse. The village decides to give Gwen as a virgin sacrifice instead. Her captor locks her in a room making her as comfy as possible and always hides in the shadows. Hmmm. Guess who it is? Gwen’s father turns out to be the traitor and the gold is buried on top of her mother’s grave. Gwen is forced to marry Bernard and then he runs away to London only to have her go to him and fight for him to come home. At times the way things play out is unbelievable, but it is a work of fiction and a sweet little story.

Actual Rating: 2.5-3/5

Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favorite fairytale and after watching the live action film I've been craving to read any good retelling. I was pretty excited for this book. I was so looking forward to an actual dragon shapeshifter but I was soooooo wrong. The story and characters didn't WOW me. I did enjoy the banter and the surprise twists. Though at one point when Gwendolyn revealed her big secret I was anticipating some MAJOR drama and I felt super excited about it, wondering how the characters will go about this moral dilemma only to be let down again. The sequence of actions after that felt very rushed which left me confused. Another thing that bothered me was the "Beast" wasn't really beastly(?) My overall opinion is very "meh"

Final Thoughts: Read/PASS

It was ok

After reading the cover blurb and through Chapter 2, you can pretty much see exactly how the rest of the book will go. Now, that's no problem, if engaging characters, rich dialogue, or humorous situations keep you entertained while you read. No such luck.

Hero is boring, emo, 1-D. Dragon analogy is stretch throughout the book in non-clever, corny ways. I must be revenged! What? I love her? Ok.

Gwen is curvy/plump. Don't worry about forgetting it, because it's shoved in your face about once a page. Besides having an IQ higher than an orange and a childhood crush, that's her main personality.

Side romance is also shallow. Not charming, as I think it was going for. Dumb as rocks sister falls for kind/boring/harmless sidekick.

Mostly for plot purposes, villagers transcend idiocy past the point of belief. It was awful.

Their "love" comes more from mutual attraction than anything else. They interact a few times (nothing happens) and all of a sudden they are in love. And we're suppose to believe it. It's actually very annoying.

Ugh.