In Bookish and the Beast, Rosie Thorne finds herself unexpecidly working to pay off a debt by organizing a library in a creepy house in her small town. The mood is not improved by its prisoner Hollywood royalty, and star of the Starfield movies Vance Reigns who was sent there to cool down after a recent run in with the press. You’d think any fan of the Starfield movies would be thrilled to be in the same house as one of its leading stars, but even as much of a fan as Rosie is, she gets over Vance’s attitude real quick and the feeling is mutual.

As they get to know each other, their outside personas start to crack and they reveal who they truly are inside. Maybe, just maybe they could see past their first impressions and become more than just passing acquaintances?

What Did I Like?

I LOVE the inclusion of LGBTQ characters. There is a little bit of everything and not one of the LGBTQ characters is a side liner. They are right in there with the action. The story itself reminds me a lot of Beauty and the Beast with a twist that the beauty is not forced to stay in the beast’s castle against her will.

What I Didn’t Like?

Honestly, nothing. The pace of the story, the way the chapters are laid out from alternating points of view, and the cast in general were all wonderful. It’s a book I plan on picking up again once I get through more of my reading list.

Who Is This Book For?

Any fan of Beauty and the Beast will find this take refreshing with the main characters being teenagers instead of adults. It might be a young adult novel, but being an adult myself I still found it enjoyable and a breath of fresh air. Even when things get heated between Rosie and Vance (and you know they will) it’s not over the top and takes its time to warm up.

Overall Impressions

As stated above, I really enjoyed this book and plan to pick it up again. This is the first book in the Once Upon A Con series I’ve read and to be honest, I don’t feel I missed anything by doing so. There are some references to the other books and it’s obvious that Vance was in at least one of them but it doesn’t really pertain to the story at hand so feel free to skip to this one if the other two do not interest you.

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