To be honest, I love Beauty and the Beast and this retelling made me so excited when I first saw it. Lana, in the beginning, was showing a lot of promise, and the book itself I had high hopes for. Unfortunately, it didn't have that engaging factor I enjoy when I read a book, it isn't my cup of tea. I particularly didn't care for the ending and couldn't give a clear resolution and I don't like the feeling of incompletion or when a book seemingly drags. I kept waiting on the magic to reinvigorate, but it just didn't feel like it ever picked up past the beginning. Which is such a shame because it started so beautifully. That being said, even though I didn't enjoy it, I do believe strongly that there is a mainstream likability to the book and I feel like other people may enjoy it more than I do. That being said, I would still rate the book 3 stars.

I got excited based on the description. I love a good fairytale retelling, but I simply did not fall in love with this book. Honestly the story fell flat and the world didn't seem as pit together as it should've been.

I admit I was really looking forward to finally reading this one after it’s sat on my virtual shelf for so long. Romance? Beauty and the Beast? A curse in a Historical Fantasy setting? All things very much right up my street. Unfortunately, this didn’t really live up to expectations.

On a technical level, Rome isn’t a bad writer. The writing itself wasn’t bad, but the characters, plot and general execution were not handled well. This is marketed as Romance, yet we didn’t meet the love interest until almost halfway through the book. The book is set in ‘Provincial France, 1700s’ but doesn’t lean enough towards Historical or Fantasy, and the general worldbuilding felt really lax.

The prologue felt so disconnected to the rest of the story, I forgot about it until it was signposted that it had happened, but it caused such a big gap in time where I scrambled to remember what happened, it felt more like a chunk was missing rather than it was just at the beginning. The magic used doesn’t make much sense, and it became really muddled about the curse, specifically what elements of the castle were due to the curse and what was because of the fairy magic.

Basic plot rundown: Lana Moreau is the daughter of a nobleman, and because she cannot stop buying books, he is almost bankrupt, despite the fact she keeps reading the same book over and over. Haha, relatable, right? I mean, sure, but they’re literally at risk of losing their home and their dwindling finances puts her father at risk of being taken advantage of by unsavoury characters, but Lana just has to have her books. It feels almost too forced into being ‘Belle’, but without the elements that make Belle such a wonderful character. In a meeting with a not-bright suitor, Lana keeps dropping in topics she wants to ‘discuss’ with him, while the actual internal POV points out she doesn’t actually know much about the people she’s mentioning. Okay, this guy doesn’t know who Socrates is, but it feels so much like it’s shoving the ‘stupid noble’ idea it doesn’t really work.

Lana overhears her father being told she is “the Belmorta”, who fell in love with a beast and spread famine and destruction. So Lana makes the assumption her father has come to kill her, and she escapes. Yep. She doesn’t even talk to him. Just goes straight to “he’s going to kill me”. Because…she needed a reason to flee? Anyway, there were more things here that annoyed me than didn’t. Some scenes were sweet, but so much of it just felt like things were crammed in for the sake of it. And part of what makes the Beauty and the Beast narrative appealing is the beauty falling for the beast, but when she and the beast start looking for ways to break the curse, it just feels a bit…off? Like both lament their current states, but neither even remotely approaches “well, you’re still beautiful to me” territory. Also, it kind of dragged on for a while.

The book Lana repeatedly reads is a book of fairy tales, of course containing the story of “Belmorta”, yet it never feels like it’s really used that much, and Lana, despite knowing the story ridiculously well, never seems able to draw her own conclusions or see the obvious parallels until it’s beyond a certain point.

Beauty and the Beast retellings are hard to pull off partly because of how prevalent they are now, but also because you have to really tap into what makes these characters and this plot so endearing to readers. Unfortunately The Rose Kiss doesn’t match up to that; the prince is a little bland, and Lana is supposed to be an intelligent bookworm, but isn’t quite smart enough for the role of Belle.

A bit of a disappointing read, but it doesn’t quite put me off possibly checking out more from this author in the future.

I received this book via BooksGoSocial on NetGalley. Views remain my own.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had an amazing plot, but I felt the characters were a bit hard to connect to.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

I love Beauty and the Beast. It’s my favourite, so always eager to read any new version, this was a cute and easy read, the romance between the two leads was so natural , but I did think I would like more, and I loved the twists it took from the original version.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion .

I love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling. Unfortunately, this one isn't the best I've read. It was jumbled and confusing at times, though a lovely premise. I would probably still try the next installment to see if there's any growth.

A fun first book; the Beauty and the Beast retellings are getting a little thick on the ground, so we have to evaluate before grabbing it for out collection, but our fairy tale/romance set enjoyed it

This book was a delight! I always love Beauty and the Beast retellings. And this one was wonderful.
Right from the start I was so glad I picked this book up. Lana and Guarin’s conversation had me in stitches. One hilariously absurd statement after another, it was too good.
And the fairytale of Belmorta and Blackfang, a slight twist in itself of Beauty and the Beast. It was a really neat way of bringing the story together!!! And I was really curious to see how much of that story would connect with Lana’s.

I really loved the way the author retold this fairytale. I haven’t read any with a fantasy twist, so this was really new to me! (Aside from the usual magic in the Disney original)
Hadrian was so perfect for Lana. They shared interests and took up a friendship so easily, I loved seeing their love grow, it was nicely done.

Thankyou NetGalley and Books Go Social for the complimentary electronic copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Content: clean
Romance: kissing
Violence: the usual with B&tB but very minimal.
Language: none

The description of this book calls it captivating and I couldn’t agree more with a statement in my life. I will be diving into anything this author writes.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

This retelling of Beauty and the Beast started off slow for me. It didn’t pick up until it was getting close to the end. I am still curious about the other stories in this series.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

Unfortunately this book was not my cup of tea. I usually like fantasy and fairy tales and re-tellings, but this one was hard to get into. I didn't love the characters and the plot just didn't suck me in.

I initially did not care for Lana. She seemed selfish, buying costly books, knowing her father, who is supporting her is in a financial situation where his solution is for her to marry. I realize that its a crap shute, but after 13 suitors, you wonder....

The story started off well, but I got to a point it was more work to read, than enjoyable. I really can't pinpoint exactly how or when this happened but when time is limited and reading should be effortless, its hard to make a book work for you.

I think this book has a lot of potential and could be very well received by the correct audience.


Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy for an honest review.

this was a beautifully done fairy tale retelling, it kept what I enjoyed from the original fairy tale and made it unique. It was a great start to the series and left me wanting more.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like every time there's a retelling of anything - I will automatically jump into it. Especially when Disney is somehow involved
It was a very quick read, and as much as I wanted it to suck me in, I just couldnt dive as deep into this book as I wanted. I have read many retellings of B&TB because it is my favorite, this is not the worst retelling but it is no where near the best.

This book had a lovely storyline, was well written, and had great characters. The dramatic twist in the story lends an engaging quality to it, making it different from other fairy-tale stories. It was an entertaining and romantic read.

This is not my usual type of read, but the cover was beautiful and it had almost a Beauty and the Beast type vibe.
Premise
Provincial France, 1700. Lana Moreau, beautiful daughter of a bankrupt nobleman, is desperate for a suitor with a brain. But things don’t go as planned when her father takes her to the local prophet, looking for insight into her many failed courtships. When the seer names her as the Belmorta, a woman doomed to love a beast and bring famine and destruction, Lana flees in hopes of reversing her dark fortune.

Escaping the wrath of the frightened villagers, she finds salvation in a seemingly empty magical castle. Entranced by the estate’s mystical marvels, she discovers choosing to stay may mean giving her heart to the monstrous owner and fulfilling the evil curse…

Can Lana survive her wicked destiny and claim her happily-ever-after?

The Rose Kiss is the mesmerizing first novel in the Fairy Tale Love Stories YA fantasy series. If you like plucky heroines, enchanted romance, and riveting retellings, then you’ll adore Esme Rome’s captivating story.
It is definitely the perfect book if you love fantasy type reads, not necessarily my thing, but ai did enjoy reading it and was curious to find out if Lana could break the curse and find her true love.

In this retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Lana Moreau is named the Belmorta (beautiful death) by a local prophet and framed for poisoning one of her unwanted suitors. Fleeing into the forest, she finds refuge at an enchanted castle with invisible servants and a host who requests she never try to look at him. As soldiers search outside, the two become close - but the magic that hides the castle from Lana's pursuers is also hiding them from a greater threat - one who will stop at nothing.

This was definitely an interesting twist on Beauty and the Beast! I like that while Lana enjoyed reading, she wasn't a carbon copy of Belle. The world has a magic all of its own.

I did find the world-building inconsistent and this led to enough plot holes that the pacing felt off. The fairytale feel with two lost souls bonding in an empty castle morphed into a frantic fantasy adventure and it was a rather rocky transition. I also found it hard to like Lana as she came across as judgey and self-absorbed.

I can definitely see potential in the author and that cover is gorgeous, but it's definitely a first novel and I hope the next ones get a little more polish and a tougher editor.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley; all opinions are my own.

Trapped by a curse. Running from destiny. Can their bond bloom in the face of a sinister enchantment?

I'm sorry, but this book was a horrible experience for me. The writing was awful, the story didn't make any kind of sense and the characters were unlikable in my opinion. I didn't like the religious aspect either. I prefer to escape things like that when I read a book, not get more of it.
I can't say I recommend this one.

Im sorry but i really struggled to get into this book. Nothing was capturing my interest and the development was really shallow. The characters were dull and there was very little to even enjoy from this book.