Thank you to Amelia Wilde and the team at Dangerous Press for the advance reader copy of Secret Beast.

I had never read anything from Amelia Wilde before and I was super excited that the Dangerous Press was finally giving me the opportunity to read something from her. Leo Morelli has been a fixture of this universe since the beginning and I am so excited to be finally getting his story. To see him as a hero and love interest rather than to keep seeing him as a foe and rival as in other stories. Plus after great success with Dangerous Press’ Cinderella retelling, I am super excited to read a Beauty and the Beast reimagining in this world.

I am a member of Dangerous Press review team, but I stand by my reviews remaining honest and true.

Check out the Goodreads synopsis…

“The beast hides a dark secret in his past…

Leo Morelli is known as the Beast of Bishop’s Landing for his cruelty. He’ll get revenge on the Constantine family and make millions of dollars in the process. Even it means using an old man who dreams up wild inventions.

The beauty will sacrifice everything for her family…

Haley Constantine will do anything to protect her father. Even trade her body for his life. The college student must spend thirty days with the ruthless billionaire. He’ll make her earn her freedom in degrading ways, but in the end he needs her to set him free.

SECRET BEAST is a new full-length novel from USA Today bestselling author Amelia Wilde about revenge, family secrets, and the redeeming power of love.”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Haley Constantine is in the final semester of her English Literature degree. She is the sister of Cash and Petra; she is the niece of Caroline whom you might remember as Winston (Cinderella series) and Keaton (Wicked Idol). Haley is the daughter of Phillip who lives nowhere near the same lavish lifestyle as the other Constantines. They still live in Bishop’s Landing, yet they have a much smaller house with no staff. Leo Morelli gets dragged into the story as he is Phillip’s investor. This causes drama, panic, and mayhem as the Morellis and Constantines have a rivalry that can only be matched by the Capulets and Montagues. Leo is known as the “beast of Bishop’s Landing” so when Haley’s father does not promptly return from their meeting she rushes out to confront Leo. Leo being the ruthless businessman he is does not want out of the contract so easily, so his offer to Haley is that she is his prisoner for the next thirty days.
• Setting: Bishop’s Landing is the setting as always but more precisely Leo’s place takes center stage in this story. Similar to how Belle would float around the Beast’s castle in Beauty and the Beast, Haley is forced to leave her room during the day by Leo and gets to do some exploring. The place is Leo’s sanctuary and he only allows a small number of people to enter it. This is demonstrated by the skeleton crew of staff he has on his payroll as he is very leery with his trust.
• Pacing: This is the first book in what will become a trilogy so it does end on a cliffhanger. So for those who hate this, I would probably recommend waiting until all the books are out and going on a reading binge. Besides that, I enjoyed the fast-paced this story took and how Amelia did not feel the need to fit the entirety of the retelling into a standalone.
• Romance: I mentioned earlier I was super excited to see Leo’s love story and I could not be happier that it is with someone like Haley. Our previous alpha leading men in Bishop’s Landing have needed ladies who match them in passion and intensity. Leo on the other hand has some baggage that I was not expecting, hence the beauty of finally getting his story from his perspective. I do not want to spoil it here but his beef with the Constantines is pretty well deserved and because of that falling for one floored him. Throughout the first installment these two fight the feelings they have begun to develop for each other. Haley is reluctant as Leo will treat her harshly yet he has these heart-achingly beautiful moments of kindness, and that is how she begins to fall. Leo is reluctant again because she is a Constantine and he struggles with trust. While his alpha tendencies make him rough in the bedroom, yet once he becomes attached to Haley he will go out of his way to protect her, her family, and her happiness.

Secret Beast receives four out of five stars.

You can pick up the story below…

AMAZON: https://amzn.to/35PHUtl
AMAZON WORLD: https://bit.ly/2NaliND
APPLE BOOKS: http://apple.co/3szlfLC
NOOK: https://bit.ly/3qvbcpa
KOBO: https://bit.ly/3qrFXLy
GOOGLE PLAY: https://bit.ly/3sCyg7k

Thank you again to Amelia Wilde and the team at Dangerous Press for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!