Series: Once Upon A Con #3
Release Date: June 16th 2020
Publisher: Quirk Books
Pages: 320
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis

In the third book in Ashley Poston’s Once Upon a Con series, Beauty and the Beast is retold in the beloved Starfield universe.

Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.

On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he’s forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.

When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual.

But as Vance and Rosie begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off—and they may just find that there’s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening their hearts.

Review

When I read Geekarella I fell completely in love with the geeky and adorable characters Ashley Poston had created. When I picked up Princess and the Fangirl I had some pretty high expectations and yet again I loved absolutely everything about it. So when Bookish and the Beast was announced it pretty much became one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite fairy tales so I was incredibly excited to see Poston’s take. If it’s possible I loved this one even more than the previous two books and I am pretty much obsessed with this series.

Bookish and the Beast follows Vance Reigns, a character we’ve met briefly in previous books. He’s incredibly famous and wherever he goes scandal and wrongdoing seem to follow. To get out of the spotlight Vance is shipped off to a remote town till things cool off. There he meets Rosie, a young girl struggling with everything – the death of her mother, her college applications and her future. When the two are forced to work together it’s clear they can’t stand each other but after weeks of working in a library will their feelings stay the same?

Bookish and the Beast is honestly just the perfect sweet contemporary read. This book is pure escapism, it’s sweet and cute and just the best read to get lost in for a few hours. I love going to comic con and I love all the fandom references that are littered throughout the book. Rosie and Vance are brilliant characters and it was so easy to root for them. There’s quite a few secondary characters I really liked too and it was lovely to get glimpses of characters from the previous two novels too.

This story is beautiful and addictive and I didn’t want it to end. (I also kind of want Ashley Poston to write a Starfield series because honestly it sounds like the kind of thing I would just love). I loved the way Poston incorporated the aspects of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale and I cannot wait to see what story she tackles next.