Book Review: Bellamy and The Brute by Alicia Michaels

When Bellamy McGuire is offered a summer job babysitting for the wealthy Baldwin family, she’s reluctant to accept. After all, everyone in town knows about the mysterious happenings at the mansion on the hill—including the sudden disappearance of the Baldwin’s eldest son, Tate. The former football star and Golden Boy of Wellhollow Springs became a hermit at the age of sixteen, and no one has seen or heard from him since. Rumors abound as to why, with whisperings about a strange illness that has caused deformity…turned him into a real-life monster. Bellamy wants to dismiss these rumors as gossip, but when she’s told that if she takes the job she must promise to never, ever visit the 3rd floor of the mansion, she begins to wonder if there really is some dark truth being hidden there.

Tate’s condition may not be the only secret being kept at Baldwin House. There are gaps in the family’s financial history that don’t add up, and surprising connections with unscrupulous characters. At night there are strange noises, unexplained cold drafts, and the electricity cuts out. And then there are the rose petals on the staircase. The rose petals that no one but Bellamy seems to be able to see. The rose petals that form a trail leading right up to the 3rd floor, past the portrait of a handsome young man, and down a dark hallway where she promised she would never, ever go…

As Bellamy works to unravel the mysteries of Baldwin House and uncover the truth about Tate, she realizes that she is in way over her head, in more ways than one. Can her bravery and determination help to right the wrongs of the past and free the young man whose story has captured her heart?

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I’m struggling with the rating of this one a little bit.

I loved loved loved this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I was not expecting the paranormal aspect to it and it kind of (well, completely) scared the shit out of me. I don’t do ghost stories and this authors descriptions were enough to actually give me nightmares.

This is like a mixture of Ghost Whisperer and Beauty and the Beast. And honestly, I don’t know how those two could come together, but Micheals rocked it. My nose was almost stuck to my Kindle from the second the plot started to unfold until the very last page.

I love how ‘the Beast’ came to be. It didn’t stray very far from the original Beauty and the Beast and I think that made it all the better. I hate when somethings dubbed a fairtytale retelling and all it has is an asshole business man playing the beast. No, this was much much better.

Even though I did love this book, I did find the ending wrapped up a little too easily for my tastes. I did think that there could of been a little more too it, but still, it didn’t take away from the story itself.

I loved Bellamy and her father. Emma and Max were amazing and I honestly love them to death. Tate was the perfect beast and I’m still absolutely fascinated with his whole story. Even the side characters (from the good to the bad) were still oh so good.

I’m going to mark this as a 5, but it’s definitely more of a 4.5 just for that part.

I always prefer to round up my ratings, if I round it down, it doesn’t give the book what it deserves. I definitely recommend picking this one up if you’re looking for a story that gives justice to an amazing fairy tale.

Until next time,