Review: A Beastly Scandal

 

A Beastly Scandal

by Shereen Vedam (Goodreads Author)

Inspired by Beauty and the Beast
AVAILABLE NOW

A BELLE OF THE BALL…
Lady Annabelle Marchant was a belle of the ball in London until she used her psychical senses to save a man’s life. She failed miserably, leaving him dead and her disgraced. All she wants now is a chance to comfort his widow by cleansing the woman’s home of her husband’s restless spirit. But the widow’s son, the beastly Lord of the Manor, accuses her of coming to the wilds of Cheshire to snag him as a husband. Thoroughly disgusted, she is bent on proving him wrong.

…BECOMES PERSONA NON-GRATA…
Lord Rufus Marlesbury, the Earl of Terrance, is suspected of murdering his father. He has come home to clear his name by finding the real killer before the new year or the king has promised that Rufus will be called in front of the House of Lords to answer for the crime. He does not have time to waste fending off a marriage-minded miss who has inveigled an invitation to his home by playing on his grief-stricken mother’s worst fears.

…WHEN A MURDERER IS ON THE RAMPAGE
With an unruly manor ghost terrorizing the occupants and corpses piling up in the village, Belle must find a way to see the man beneath the beast and Rufus must learn to believe in the love of a woman who has no reason to trust him. Only by working together can they stop a vengeful ghost before it torments the guests or before the killer strikes again.

A Beastly Scandal is basically a retelling of the wildly know Beauty and the Beast story. You may have heard of it... Disney even made it a movie. Beastly Scandal is basically about a young woman who feels that shes somewhat responsible for the death of a man, so she goes to his home to help comfort his grieving widow and family and to help eradicate his ghost from the home. Yea, you heard that right.



I love that its not one of your typical historical love stories. Although the setting (its in England. Everyone knows that Beauty and the Beast is a French story) and the name of the love interest (Rufus. Seriously, it grated at my nerves everytime I came across it) and the fact that it was wrongly named, made a road block for me, I truly did love this book. It should have been called the Beastly Laird or something, because there really isn't a scandal in it.

I read it in just a few hours, and was actually pleased with the ending. I laughed a lot, wanted to cry a few times, and almost hit myself upside the head because, really -- ITS OBVIOUS SHE LIKE YOU!! Sorry, but I have no doubt that you will scream that too.

The story is very interesting, and I love how the author sticks to the mystery instead of like "Hey, their trying to find out why this guy was killed, but Im going to throw these two together throughout most of the book and at the end, Ill just magically reveal the murderer". Dont you hate that?

And while Im on the topic of murder, Rufus (shudder), the dead guy`s son, goes back home to find his father`s real killer because the king wants to pin the blame on him. Unfair, right? Yea, hes a hypocrite to a fault because he basically does the same thing to our heroine, but its fun watching him "Grow Up".

The characters are colorful and witty, and you never know which way the story will turn. It will leave you guessing up until the very last page.

This book can be read by  13+, and you only have to watch out for some suggestiveness and steaming kisses ;) I recommend this to any paranormal, historical, and romance lover, and yes, I would totally buy this for my personal bookshelf.

What recent "adaptation" have you read about Beauty and the Beast?

I rate this book:

Four out of Five