⭐⭐⭐½
Beast and Remedy
The Last of the Heirs #2
By LL Riley
Narrated by Jacci Prior & Christian Leatherman
Beast and Remedy is a timeless fairytale romance – with a shifter twist. It follows Vivienne, a princess who can turn into a bear, on a quest to save her kingdom from a mysterious virus that she believes she had a role in beginning. Knowing her father will be upset, she requests aid from a childhood friend & romantic interest who has been banned from her kingdom in a political scandal involving the death of her mother years before.
This is advertised as a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I would say that probably the only similarities are that our FMC loves to read, her kingdom is vaguely French, and, in a twist, the beauty IS the beast.
This book is technically the second in series, the first following the Snow Queen, who we briefly see in this story, but the books can be read as standalones.
Beast and Remedy felt, somehow, like Once Upon a Time and Brigderton joined forces and threw in a shifter for good measure. The plot and premise were actually fairly unique, and I really enjoyed the storytelling through letters.
With that said I do think that the focus was less on the events of the story and more on the romance, which was kind of a bummer because the worldbuilding could have been amazing! Magical kingdoms whose rulers carry hidden powers, the BRUTAL and agonizing shifts our FMC experienced, and the race to find a cure for the virus sweeping the land were all really engaging.
Sometimes it felt like our FMC lost focus on her goal, thinking too much about the king she’s in love with which would feel realistic in a YA novel, but not for a 26-year-old scholar like Vivienne.
King Beaux is all green flags, super soft and sweet and kind. No complaints here other than I’d like to know more about him.
My major qualm is how quickly Vivienne seemed to get over the events at the end of the book. I can’t say more without spoiling it, but the twist was a GREAT one I did not see coming, and I thought it deserved a lot more afterthought than it was given.
The audiobook narration was great! I was a little taken aback when music would play randomly, but I adjusted pretty quickly. Jacci Prior especially did a wonderful job with our FMC and the main narration, and Christian Leatherman was solid at the supporting male characters.
All in all, the story was really solid, though I think I’d have preferred less emphasis on the romance and more on the plot, and the audiobook was well executed. I would recommend if you enjoy spicy shifter romances, Once Upon A Time, and Brigderton.
⭐⭐⭐½
Thank you to Behind the Pages LLC and LL Riley for the advance listening copy!
More information about Beast and Remedy and the first in the series can be found here.
The Midnight Review 