First published 2022
Isabelle is twenty-five, back in her childhood bedroom, and still an editorial assistant at a publishing house where she is the only Black employee. She expected more from her career by now. When she overhears her boss venting about a high-profile author who has blown past his manuscript deadline, she spots a way out. If she can travel to Beau Towers's Santa Barbara mansion and get him writing again, maybe she finally earns the promotion she has been waiting for. It sounds simple enough. Beau is not simple. He is guarded, worn down, and, it turns out, just as adrift as Izzy. She pushes him anyway, because she needs this. Slowly, his story starts to come. They begin to talk, really talk, and find they share more than a deadline. Jasmine Guillory builds her retelling of Beauty and the Beast around two people who are each trying to figure out who they are, and what they are willing to risk to get there.
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: character-driven, emotional, intimate, introspective, thought-provoking
Tropes: beauty-and-the-beast-retelling, forced-proximity, found-family, slow-burn-romance
Setting: Santa Barbara, Publishing House
Period: Contemporary
313 pages · Paperback · Hyperion Avenue
Content warnings: racism