seriously romantic: beauregard and the beast by evie drae

so full disclosure: i am evie's lit agent. and yes, i love all her words. i fell head over heels for her writing when i was judging a contest, and when she sent over the full manuscript i basically immediately offered her representation.

this is not that original manuscript i fell in love with, but one we worked on together. beauregard and the beast is a genderqueer retelling of beauty and the beast, which i've gone on record before as saying it's my least favorite fairy tale. there's something about the stockholm syndrome that has always rubbed me the wrong way.

but lucky for me, this manuscript updates the fairy tale in a way that is, well, perfection. all the problematic aspects of the story are gone. meanwhile we get to meet our "beast," one adam littrell is an mma fighter nearing the end of his career. he's got a rep as a growly, mean mo-fo, but the reality is that he is an ooey-gooey cinnamon roll. when his best friend sets him up with personal assistant extraordinaire beauregard wilkins, it's pretty much love at first sight.

bo expect adam to be a meathead and ginormous jerk, and is pleasantly surprised to learn that he's nothing like what he expected. only problem is that bo is his assistant and what does it mean if he starts sleeping with his boss. all these concerns are handled deftly by the author and the connection, chemistry and genuine friendship that sparks between these two is beyond special.

it's not all smooth sailing, and the way evie updates the story is sheer perfection. i swear this review isn't biased. it's just impossible to hate on evie's writing.