By the Book is part of the Meant to Be series, all retellings of classic fairytales brought to the screen by Disney. This story is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with Isabelle a jaded editorial assistant and Beau an angry former child star. It’s sweet, but grown up fun too.

I think I might have seen the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast once, so there may be more easter eggs for fans of the movie. One character has the nickname Kettle and Isabelle does feel occasionally like the furniture talks to her. There’s a giant library inside an even bigger house but that’s where the major similarities ended for me. I think you could enjoy this story even if you didn’t know the original fairytale, as it’s been thoroughly updated. Isabelle is a publishing assistant, ready to take New York by storm. But years later, she’s still in the same role with a demanding boss and passed over for promotion. She’s overworked and the sparkle that made her career so magical to start with has disappeared. On a conference trip to L.A., she boldly suggests that she might be able to get some words out of Beau Towers, a notorious child star with a bad reputation. He’s signed up to write a memoir, but hasn’t done anything. Izzy’s boss agrees and she is sent to work with Beau. At first, it’s more than difficult as Beau ignores her and divides his giant house into off limits zones. But as they get to know each other over a mutual fondness for snacks, they become friends and Beau starts to trust Izzy. Now that he’s writing, Izzy’s job is done. But can she leave the magical world of California for the harsh reality of New York?

This is a fun story. Initially, Izzy’s fairytale heroine level of positivity irritated me, but it did get back to reality levels after the first chapter. It’s also quite a sweet story, with the heat seen in Guillory’s other novels dialled down quite a lot. (Perhaps this is a Disney requirement? Also, in Australia at least, the book is published by Scholastic, home of school book orders which might be a factor). But it’s not a problem as Guillory proves she can do sweet romance just as well with her well developed characters. Her other trademark, descriptions of food, is out in full force. A huge snack cupboard filled with all the chips, crackers and dips you’d ever need? Tick. A hero with a baking secret? Done. A housekeeper who makes every delicious treat known? Easy. The chemistry between Izzy and Beau is nicely done too as it turns up to fever pitch. There is a good case of enemies to friends to lovers here. Plus, both Izzy and Beau’s journeys to writing are fun to read, with each character hitting road blocks and the other helping them through it. Add some fun emails, and it makes for a cute and enjoyable read. Perhaps it’s because I don’t know the original fairy tale/movie in great detail, but I found this novel didn’t have the rigidity that some retellings have. Izzy and Beau had their own modern story and characters, and it turned into a charming read.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com ( )

3.5 ( )

This book is fine. This is part of a series based on Disney fairy tales and I knew that going in so it's pretty wholesome and entirely predictable.

I'm enough of a Disney person to be amused by the nods to the movie and enough of a book person to like the setting in the world of publishing but everything else was......meh.

Not bad, not great, just OK.

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It was okay but not great!

I did find it annoying that both times Beau throws a fit when Izzy is being honest with him about his writing he is a total jerk. Then when he apologizes to Izzy, she ends up feeling bad and worried that he is mad at her. NO! He was a jerk and should be the one that feels bad. Izzy was being honest like HE asked her to be and he got butt hurt about it. ( )

I was not expecting it to be a type of retelling. Had no idea it was part of a series, but you didn't need to read the other books in the series. Overall, I liked it. It was fun and i eager await the next. ( )