To Love A Beast

To Love A Beast: Once Upon A Time In Texas: Book One by Karen Witemeyer

Book # 7 for 2026

I typically don’t read much fiction for myself. I read aloud and listen to fiction with my family while most of my books for myself are nonfiction. I have read a string of kind of intense self-help/parenting books of late and I was due for a fun and light reading break.

This book was a recommendation from A.M. Pine at hearthridgereflections.com when I read her post about the genre (fairytale retellings) and I thought I’d give it a try!

I enjoyed this retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Beauty and the Beast has been one of my favorite movies since the Disney animated version came out in 1991. It was fun to notice all the little tie-ins and nods to the movie that the author managed to include in her version of the story. Since I have the movie practically memorized, I noticed lots of them.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style, and here are some of my favorite lines from the book:

“It felt good to be organized. It renewed both her hope and her optimism. She had everything she needed to be successful. Her tools, her training, and her unwithering determination. All right, so maybe her determination had withered a bit…” page 64

“Books are magical in that way, don’t you think? Capable of eliciting joy even before one opens them. It’s why the sight of an abundant library never fails to lift my spirits.” page 87

“But those who lived outside the pages of novels could not craft their futures with pen strokes and wishful thoughts. They must bear the fetters of reality as they hobbled forward one step at a time, making choices that affected not only themselves but those they loved.” page 169

📚 Have you ever read a fairytale retelling? What did you think of it?