Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham

Beauty Reborn falls into one of my favorite genres... Fairytale retellings. This particular one is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. The book begins with Beauty's family having lost their fortune and being forced to sell their estate and all their belongings and move into a hovel. When Beauty's father steals a golden rose from a castle he returns home to bid his 4 children goodbye. The price for his theft is his life. On a dangerous whim, Beauty takes the charm that was meant to magically return her father to the castle. But when she arrives to take his place, the castle is empty. She goes through the castle looking for the hideous beast that demanded a life's debt, but all she finds is the magic of the castle as it attempts to make her comfortable. Eventually she "meets" the beast, however, every time she tries to steal a glance at him, he vanishes without a trace. Soon she falls into a comfortable pattern of existence,  even going so far as to spend her days in the library reading to the beast. However, when the beast continues to ask her to marry him, dark secrets from her past are brought to light.
As far as I understand, this is Elizabeth Lowham's first book. While there were definitely moments where that was very evident, overall I really enjoyed this book. I’m a sucker for any fairytale retelling, but my bread and butter really is Beauty and the Beast. I don’t know what it is about the story, but it resonates with me and it always has. Lowham does a good job of adding her own touch to the story that made it feel just that little bit different from other versions I’ve read. Though on a fun side note, I felt a lot of A Court of Thorns and Roses undercurrents peppered throughout this version.

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