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A review by cala_p
The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard
5.0
ARC received
I devoured this book!! It was such a fantastic read. Being a Beauty and the Beast retelling made it all the better.
In order to save her sister and their inheritance, Astrid runs off to Thane, war-torn lord. She proposes a marriage of convenience for both of them, promising him heirs.He ultimately turns down her offer until she and her sister shows up on his doorstep. The story consists of them breaking down their pasts together.
Astrid is probably the strongest female character I have read in a historical romance. She wasn’t annoying or pushy or anything like that. It was a well balanced mix of wit, charm, feminism, attitude, and strength. She thought of a plan and essentially executed it well.
Thane is the complete opposite. The war left scars all over his body and soul. He hides from public from exhaustion of being stared at and called a beast. It really is a heartbreaking tale as he gained all those scars from being a soldier in war. After so much time being cooped up, it affects a person's mind. He’s cynical, cruel, and cold at first. Until Astrid breaks him down. He brought a perfect level of angst to a story like this. Everytime they made two steps forward, he brought them four steps back. His internal scarring left him with no confidence anymore. When they do go out together, people react exactly as expected and this only makes him push her farther away.
Together they were explosive. Like I said, the angst was perfect. A) because angst just is. B) because it suited the two personalities to have it and C) it suited their story. The attraction between these two was hot. There was so many good messages that could be taught from these two: moving on, don’t judge a book by its cover, women are as smart as men, etc. It’s a pretty radical book (for the time period it is set in).
I loved this book so much!! 5 stars all the way
I devoured this book!! It was such a fantastic read. Being a Beauty and the Beast retelling made it all the better.
In order to save her sister and their inheritance, Astrid runs off to Thane, war-torn lord. She proposes a marriage of convenience for both of them, promising him heirs.He ultimately turns down her offer until she and her sister shows up on his doorstep. The story consists of them breaking down their pasts together.
Astrid is probably the strongest female character I have read in a historical romance. She wasn’t annoying or pushy or anything like that. It was a well balanced mix of wit, charm, feminism, attitude, and strength. She thought of a plan and essentially executed it well.
Thane is the complete opposite. The war left scars all over his body and soul. He hides from public from exhaustion of being stared at and called a beast. It really is a heartbreaking tale as he gained all those scars from being a soldier in war. After so much time being cooped up, it affects a person's mind. He’s cynical, cruel, and cold at first. Until Astrid breaks him down. He brought a perfect level of angst to a story like this. Everytime they made two steps forward, he brought them four steps back. His internal scarring left him with no confidence anymore. When they do go out together, people react exactly as expected and this only makes him push her farther away.
Together they were explosive. Like I said, the angst was perfect. A) because angst just is. B) because it suited the two personalities to have it and C) it suited their story. The attraction between these two was hot. There was so many good messages that could be taught from these two: moving on, don’t judge a book by its cover, women are as smart as men, etc. It’s a pretty radical book (for the time period it is set in).
I loved this book so much!! 5 stars all the way