About the Book

Book: A Dark Beauty

Author: Clarissa Kae

Genre: Fairytale

Release date: March 9, 2021

A Victorian Twist on Beauty And The Beast

Bold and brilliant, Georgiana has a gift for fixing machines—from clocks to carriages—while her father has a penchant for finding trouble. In an accidental fire, Georgiana and her father scar the once handsome face of Lord Pichon, cousin to the queen.
Rumors of Georgiana’s gift raise her family’s status. Her incomparable beauty captures the eye of many gentlemen and the wrath of Lord Pichon. Abandoned by his peers and alone in his cold castle, Lord Pichon is determined to enact revenge.
When Georgiana’s father makes a terrible mistake, she sacrifices herself to pay his debt—as a lowly maid in Lord Pichon’s castle.
Her wit and warmth begin to thaw Lord Pichon’s estate, making him question his version of the past. Will her kindness break the beastly lord or will he hold her family hostage forever?

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Review:

As an avid lover of fairy tale re-tellings I loved the premise of Beauty and the Beast in Victorian London, with something of a gothic, steampunk twist.

Georgiana is talented at fixing watches and mechanical contraptions, while her father works hard to keep their fortune rising. I admired her devotion to her family, and how she didn't shy away from making the hard choices for the sake of family.

I liked the premise of the story, it was slow to start but picked up steam as it progressed. Parts of the story were hard to follow and felt choppy. I personally thought that the disdain to romance didn't work for me. It is a nice twist on a traditional story, I appreciated the addition of intrigue, and the various twists along the way.

Overall, there were many things that I liked about this imaginative reimaging, and felt it did a great job of paying homage to the traditional tale while also blazing its own trail. The story is clean in content, though Dom is prone to dropping "bl**dy" quite frequently. I did rather enjoy Smith who was an odd little butler, and wished that he'd had a few more moments later on. In the end a mixed bag for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

About the Author

Clarissa Kae is a preeminent voice whose professional career began as a freelance editor in 2007. She’s the former president of her local California Writers Club after spending several years as the Critique Director.

Since her first novel, she’s explored different writing genres and created a loyal group of fans who eagerly await her upcoming release. With numerous awards to her name, Clarissa continues to honor the role of storyteller.

Aside from the writing community, she and her daughters founded Kind Girls Make Strong Women to help undervalued nonprofit organizations—from reuniting children with families to giving Junior Olympic athletes their shot at success.

She lives in the agricultural belly of California with her family and farm of horses, chickens, dogs and kittens aplenty.

More from Clarissa

As a young girl most of the fairy tales talked about beauty as the only attribute but when Disney came out with Beauty and the Beast, my world was rocked. For the first time the heroine was a woman with a brain and a plan. I began researching the fairy tale and read every version. When my youngest daughter was born (with dark hair and big beautiful brown eyes) I named her Isla Belle. For as long as I can remember, I dreamed of writing a Beauty and the Beast retelling. And finally, that dream as come true.