Rating: 🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠
Publishing Date: 27.3.2025
“For all you know, he eats babies for breakfast and kicks puppies before bedtime. Annnnd that’s the guy I’m going to marry. Great. Fae-fucking fabulous.”
There is a reason why fairytales survived in our society. I am not sure what reason it is, but I am as hell sure that I love to read retellings of fairy tales😅. Especially those that are in modern world setting and deliciously spicy. And Blackmailing Belle is one of those fantastic retellings that just captured my attention and did not let go till the end.
Short description:
The story follows Belle, a curvy, sassy owner of a romance-only bookstore, who finds herself entangled with Dominic Blackwell—the ruthless, scarred, and notorious mafia boss known as the Beast of Boston. When her father’s dubious actions lead to a perilous ultimatum, Belle must marry Dominic or watch her father suffer the consequences. As they navigate their forced proximity, primal desires ignite, blurring the lines between captor and husband.
Book Specifics
Dual First-Person POV, Retelling of Beauty and Beast, Spicy, Plus Size Heroin, part of Lost Girls Series can be read as standalone
Review
Overall review: 5/5 🦁
Characters: 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
Atmosphere: 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
Plot: 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
Logic/Relationships: 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
Enjoyment: 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
Spice: 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵
Belle
“She pets and caresses my human arm in soothing strokes. In mere moments, I feel calmed by her touch. “There. Now that you are calmer, use your big boy words.””
Belle is my new favorite FMC 😍 I would love to have her capability to stay calm and collected when others (my kids especially) are throwing tantrums and screaming. You just have to love women that is Holly writing.
Smart, funny, witty and in this case plus size. Belles internal monologues made me giggle through the whole book. She is no bullshit kind of gall, but with so many insecurities buried in her that I am not sure how Holly was able to pack it so she seems real. Belle could be the most rational human in the world at one time and just seconds after that she was acting purely on her emotions, her brain forgotten somewhere.
Understandably, some people may find this irritating, but I found it so fun (ehm, ehm I am so not identifying my personal traits in fictional character😅)
Beast of Boston
“Should I text her? Write a note? How does one properly invite their wife to bed? Dearest wife, fancy a shag tonight?”
Well, what can I say about Beast of Boston? He is tall, he is dark, he is possessive, controlling and has a filthy mouth. Oh, and he is also half-shifted to lion and has a backstory that broke my heart. I am completely and utterly obsessed with him and well I have some really vivid imagination about some parts of him 😎.
Romance and Spice
“His nostrils flare, and he sets his tablet aside. “Your scent. It’s stronger than usual.” I want to die. I want to crawl under the rug and never come out. “I-It’s probably the lotion I used,” I stammer, desperate for any excuse. His brow quirks. “Is it? Because it smells more like arousal.” There it is. The mortification. The earth might as well swallow me whole. I need water. Or air. Or both.” I think this is the part where I get up and leave,” I mutter, my voice high and strained.”
The romance between Beast of Boston and Belle is delicious. It is like dark chocolate with cherry in it. Deliciously dark, sweet, and sour perfectly balancing each other. He is not bending for anyone, only for her, she is bringing his better side to the world. You cannot want more from Beauty and Beast retelling than this book is providing.
For spicy scenes, I will just say that you don’t want to read them while sitting in your in-law’s living room 😅 My poker face was tested thoroughly🥵. But for real, Holly just knows how to write a spicy scene. I read more books from her, and she never disappointed.
Other
“The flying fuzz bombs dart and dive through the hallway, their tiny wings beating furiously as they perch on sconces, banisters, and even on Dominic.”
THERE ARE FLYING BUNNIES!!!!!!!
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