Just "beautifully" written. ( )

First, let me say I am a sucker for anything that reflects the Beauty and the Beast dynamic. This short book was absolutely wonderful. It was not very long, but that did not leave me feeling unsatisfied in any way by the end (as some short novels can). The characters were lovely and endearing. Once I finished this book, all I could do was sigh and say “Oh, my heart.” One of the best romantic books I’ve ever read. I would recommend this to anyone. ( )

Alix Miller is hired to paint a portrait of Lee Crompton, who is a disfigured recluse. For practicality, she lives with him while she works on it. I'm not going to say more on the plot because the synopsis is pretty self-explanatory.
What I will say is that I absolutely loved this book. I've had Beauty since 1996, and it has made it through every book donation clean out that I've had. It is a quick read - I can read through it in a day - and it is a fantastic story. It's on my "Keep Forever" shelf, and I pull it out and read it every once in a while. I definitely recommend it. ( )

Beauty and the Beast retelling, this time between an artist and writer whose families have been tied together for centuries because of portraiture. I like my Beauty and the Beast with the anguish, trepidation, realization, separation and the happily ever after. No full marks from me because of one of the five was missing for me. ( )

From the synopsis on the jacket to the reviews of enthralled readers, Beauty appeared to hold a great deal of promise. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale and I adore a good re-imagining and this one, set in a modern time without magic or castles or enchantments, was just the thing I'd been looking for.
I wanted to love it, and while there are things about this story that I enjoyed, it ultimately let me down. I appreciated how "present" the Beauty and the Beast theme was throughout the book, but despite that, it suffered terribly from flat, clichéd characterization, awkward and painfully corny dialogue, an out-of-nowhere downer ending, and overall unbelievability.

Beauty is not a bad book, but it's never going to be my favorite retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. As a general romance, I think it fares well and can be very enjoyable if you curb your expectations before going into it.
If you loved Robin McKinley's Beauty as much as I did, however, you will probably find yourself disappointed. Wilson's book is missing everything that made McKinley's so wonderful and magical. I would read the latter over and over again gladly, but I cannot say the same for the former.

For the most part, I did enjoy this story. I would recommend it to any mature reader who enjoys a good, somewhat cheesy romance. ( )