Bellarose and the Beast

The Aerowyn Tales, Book 1

By: Carla Reighard

Narrated by: Elle Jackson

Magical Library.

Distorted fairy tales.

Time travel.

Bookworm Bellarose, egotistical Gerard, geeky Quinn, and mysterious Elayne are thrust into a fairy tale through a magical library. The problem? Most of these eighteen-year-olds’ memories have been wiped clean of life before they became characters in a familiar, but twisted story.

In this first tale, despite insulting banter and recent grievances, Bellarose must join forces with Gerard to break the curse the enchantress Aerowyn has placed on a hexed plantation. The stakes? Those they care about will be cursed forever. The unknown price? They will be stuck inside the warped fairy tales where they may become the villains.

©2025 Carla Reighard (P)2025 Carla Reighard

This book was an amazing mix of portal fantasy, time travel, and fairy tale magic!

This book was an amazining mix of portal fantasy, time travel, and fairy tale magic!

This book was such a unique take on Beauty and the Beast! It starts out in modern day with an abandoned library that can magically transport you into books, and ends with the characters trapped in the story, with only odd flashes of memories of their old life, which they have forgotten. Even within the story, it's a truly unique setting, taking place in America during the Revolutionary War, instead of in France or in some fairy tale world... but don't worry! There's still a beast under a curse that has to be broken before the spell becomes permanent on his birthday! All of the traditional Beauty and the Beast elements are there, just presented in a fresh way!

I really liked how complex the characters were! Gerard especially was very interesting. Seeing him go from a humble boy who just wants to support his family, to an arogant war hero who tries to use others to forget his own pain, to setting that aside and being selfless again, was fantastic! I loved the banter between him and Bella once they started to be friends instead of just antagonizing each other. And Bella and Quinn were too cute! The fact that Bella loved someone like Quinn, despite her own privileged past, says so much about her! I can't wait to see how these relationships develop in book two! Speaking of... this is definitely a series to be read or listened to in order, as while the Beauty and the Beast story wrapped up nicely, the overarching plot of being trapped in a story remains unresolved, and some characters have found themselves hanging off a whole new cliff by the end of the book.

The narration was fantastic! While the story takes place in America, the book characters who our heroes take the role of came from France, and the narrator did an excellent job of switching between accents! It was really fun to listen to!