By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
Series: Meant to Be #2
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Chick Lit, Retellings
Pages: 309
Published By: Studio Press on 3rd May, 2022
Format: Paperback
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Book Synopsis:
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 He is jaded and withdrawn and – it turns out – just as lost as Izzy.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.
Book Review
This is the first Jasmine Guillory book I’ve read. I love retellings and Beauty and the Beast, so I was excited to dive in—but I was disappointed, as the story fell flat for me. Beauty and the Beast retellings are everywhere, but I always enjoy seeing different authors’ takes—unfortunately, this one didn’t work.
The main issue I had with this book was the writing style. Even though this is labelled an Adult novel, I felt the writing leaned heavily toward YA. Everything about the writing was simple. There was not enough depth to the setting descriptions and the dialogue felt flat and boring.
I didn’t feel any connection to the characters emotionally and the chemistry between them was lacking. I like rooting for the characters romantically, but I couldn’t care less about these two. The slow-burn romance didn’t build to a satisfying payoff for me.
Beau the MMC didn’t feel very ‘beast-like’… I know it’s a modern retelling but all we got was him shouting and storming off and at parts it was annoying and unnecessary. Gavin, who I assume was meant to be Gaston, didn’t work for me and felt more like an aggravating coworker. Isabelle the FMC was okay but at times I found her very tiresome with how she reacted to some situations.
I loved the concept of a book about books, but the execution didn’t work for me. Personally, I don’t want to be reading about someone teaching someone how to write a memoir… I think Guillory had a great idea and was shooting for something but it just didn’t work.
Overall, the book paced well, but some parts felt very repetitive. The plot for me was lacking depth. I felt like I was reading it just to get it over with and that took away from my enjoyment.
The ending is what bumped up the rating for me to a 3 star. The romantic gesture from the MMC was cute. Yes, it was a typical Happily Ever After but I’m not mad about how it ended. It definitely gave me Beauty and the Beast vibes whilst reading it but it’s definitely not a new favourite.
Although this book is part of a series, each installment is a standalone by a different author. Even though this one didn’t work for me, I’ll continue with the next book to see how I feel about the author’s writing. I read the first book, If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy, long before I started book blogging, but I’d be happy to review it if anyone’s interested—just leave a comment!
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