The Beast and The Bookseller Paperback – June 5, 2023

This is quite a good retelling of beauty and the best. I wish it were longer, the drama and the coldness of the duke after they marry would have been more flushed out and give more meaning to their reconciliation.

I liked the set up here quite a bit. Garrett and Elizabeth reading together was very sweet and did a great job of bringing them together. The end felt extremely rushed and everyone was acting out of character, but overall a great read.

The plot and characters of the story was great. Garret and Elizabeth were from two different worlds Garret a duke and Elizabeth a commoner , but it shows you if you love someone it doesn't matter if they are high society are a commoner.

The title of this book elicits exactly what this is--an interpretation of the classic Beauty and the Beast. However, the series title takes us in a different direction. Once Upon a Wallflower suggests a lower class nobility, not a shop girl. This bothered me, and created erroneous expectations. The story itself, once I got into it, became predictable. No surprises. It was an okay read with a happy.

Just beautiful, a story to savor day or night. Friendship, love, dreams. And a very special ending. I am looking forward to reading more stories in this series.

A rousing fun read with a well paced plot two highly worthy and motivated characters. A bit rushed at the end but a fun read regardless! An excellent addition to my hoard of novels!

What a beautiful story. Well written. I can't wait to red book 2. This was my first book read of Eva Devon. It won't be my ladt.

My favorite romance trope: “Beauty and the Beast,” which is followed closely by “The Ugly Duckling.” From the title you can see which one this book is retelling. For me this was a page-turner because I love the storyline. The writing is good, moves along at a good pace, the anticipation is perfectly staged and the ending is quite stunning. Before reading this I never noticed the similarities between the B&B trope to “Pride & Prejudice” either. There will be mention of that novel several times.Miss Elizabeth Sharpe runs her family’s bookstore, which enjoys the patronage of the Duke of Montrose aka Garrett Edward Matthew Maximilion. The Duke is a horrid man, as people say. He is gruff, opinionated, a recluse and in general not well-liked. His best friend is Lord Essex with whom he has shared his past and now his present. He is so afraid of “the disease” that he and Essex meet daily to follow his regimen to prevent it. When he meets Mr. Sharpe’s daughter, Elizabeth his life begins to change.This book is multi-faceted and quite enjoyable. The characters are well-written, in that I was very invested in their HEA. Adore the ending! I’ve never read Eva Devon before but I see where she has multiple B&B books. I guess I found a new author! I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through Entangled and NetGalley.

Two bookaholics find love in this super tale. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Eva Devon certainly knows the bookaholic mindset and the works of Jane Austen

Elizabeth Sharpe is commanded to supply books for the Duke of Montrose. During their interaction with the books, they develop an attraction that builds during the following chapters of the book.

Wonderful story! Well done!A very promising new collection where love will bloom and surprise in Wonderful ways!!! Touching, sweet and so worth it!

I’m not sure what to say about this book. The writing is good in the sense of syntax. I think this is just not a book for me because I didn’t believe the story for the time in which it is set. It seems to be a story that is trying to insert modern ideas and approaches into another era where they don’t fit smoothly, playing off the themes of Pride and Prejudice. There were so many times where I had to force myself to suspend disbelief. That may not seem like a problem to many readers, but it was for me because I want to be captivated by a story so that I’m not aware of it being a story and I wasn’t.. I guess it reminded me too much of the popular notion of trying to judge the past by the mores of the present. If given a choice, I would have opted for a 2 1/2 stars.

This is the first book I've read by this author. I enjoyed the idea behind it (which is what drew me to it) but it could have been much more. I enjoyed the style of writing and setting but was left feeling disappointed. It felt rushed, the story and characters not completely fleshed out. The story was completely unrealistic, but that can be forgiven for fiction if it had been more substantial.