Book picks similar to
Finding the Magic by Jack Lewis Baillot


historical-fiction
retellings
beauty-and-the-beast
fairy-tale-retellings

The Subtle Beauty


Ann Hunter - 2014
    A vain beauty. Glory is the seventh daughter of Balthazar, High King of the Twelve Kingdoms. Glory hopes that - of all her sisters - she can escape the fate of a loveless marriage. But on the night she plans to elope with the royal falconer, her world comes crashing down: Her father announces Glory's betrothal to Eoghan of the Blood Realm - a prince no one has ever seen. The prince is said to be a recluse, cursed and deformed by the gods for the sins of his power-hungry father. Yet when Glory is trapped in Blackthorn Keep she discovers that not everything is what she expected. An insulting gryphon, a persistent ghost, and a secret plan to usurp the prince keep Glory reeling. In this retelling of BEAUTY & THE BEAST, can Glory overcome her vanity to learn that what she wants isn’t what she needs—and save the cursed prince?

Five Enchanted Roses


Anne Elisabeth Stengl - 2015
    An abbey looms as the final defense between mortals and ghouls of the underworld. In the stillness of a throne room, statues stand forever frozen in a moment of terror. Monsters and men stalk their prey deep in the jungle’s shadows. A rose blooms in the dead of winter, sheltered in the ruins of an ancient Scottish castle.And only true love can free the Beast from his prison.ESPRIT DE LA ROSE ~ WITHER ~ STONE CURSE ~ ROSARA AND THE JUNGLE KING ~ THE WULVER'S ROSE

Rose and the Monster: A Modern Retelling of Beauty and the Beast


M. Lowry - 2014
    Upon meeting the secretive inhabitants, she must face the realization that something unnatural is happening. But why? In this modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Rose must ask herself, “Who is the real monster?"

Loved by the Beast: A Historical Retelling of Beauty and the Beast


T.E. Elliott - 2020
    One is seen as a Beast, the other a Beauty. Both long for something more—to be seen, to be known, to be loved for more than what is on the outside. When Léa is faced with the prospect of an arranged marriage or see her father imprisoned, it is a sacrifice she is willing to make. However, when she finds that the rumored beast is nothing more than a gentle and kind man, she is faced with another decision. Can her heart respond to his love even when she has had no power of decision in her life's story?Audric gave up on finding love long ago, so when his mother tells him she has made a match for him, he cannot help but be skeptical of her plans. The rumors he's heard about himself since childhood have even him convinced he's a beast and not worthy of the love of a woman. Should hope be rekindled or squashed entirely? Set in early 18th century France and based on the classic versions of the timeless fairy tale, with a hint of the beloved childhood favorite, this retelling explores the depths of what true love looks like and the lengths one is willing to go in its defense.

Beauty & the Beast


Rebecca Hammond Yager - 2016
    To have any hope of seeing her family again, Beauty must unravel the riddle of the Beast and dispel the shadows of her own past in this lush and vivid reimagining of the timeless fairytale.

Finding Beauty in the Beast


Jessilyn Stewart Peaslee - 2018
    After being spurned and humiliated for the last time, the princes forces every eligible man to present a gift to her under pain of death. The man who brings her the best gift will be chosen as her husband. When Corbin presents his gift, he hopes that his simple offering will keep him safely overlooked. All he wants is to return to his quiet life as a blacksmith away from forbidding castles and beastly princesses. But love works in mysterious ways, and it all starts with a rose...

The Most Beautiful One: A Magical Retelling of Beauty and the Beast


Elise Spencer - 2019
     For years, there has been an odd notice posted every so often in the town square calling forth the most beautiful maiden in the land to serve the kingdom. The Queen decides which of the eligible ladies earns the feared and elusive title. After that, the chosen one disappears, never to be seen or heard from again. A few months later, the game is played all over again. Some say that the Queen boils the women alive to steal their youth, and others insist that they are sacrificed to a great dragon in the North to stop him from invading. The only certain thing, however, is that being beautiful is now a curse. Belara has been terrified of coming of age for years now. Ever since she was little, people have been telling her that she is a beauty beyond compare. Over the last few years, they have said this with pity rather than admiration. Right after her birthday, the same notice is posted again. No one is surprised when Belara is sent to the palace and declared to be the most beautiful of all. She is dispatched to fates unknown by the Queen, who gives her one piece of advice: not everything is what it seems. Armed with years of careful education and everything she learned from her father's library, Belara is determined not to meet the same fate as all the others. The Most Beautiful One is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast featuring a vengeful fairy, a clean romance, and one enchanted monkey.

Belle: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast


Cameron Dokey - 2008
    So she withdraws from society, devoting her time to wood carving. Secretly, Belle longs to find the fabled Heartwood Tree. If carved by the right hands, the Heartwood will reveal the face of one's true love. During a fierce storm, Belle's father stumbles upon the mysterious Heartwood -- and encounters a terrifying and lonely Beast. Now Belle must carve the Heartwood to save her father, and learn to see not with the eyes of her mind, but with the eyes of her heart.

The Rose and the Wand


E.J. Kitchens - 2017
     When prim and proper enchantress Lady Alexandria attempts to bewitch a magic mirror, she ends up cursed—powerless, penniless, dumped in a strange land, and stuck in the body of an old hag. As if that weren’t bad enough, the mirror gives her two tasks: curse the prince whose arrogant cruelty she once ignored and find her way home—before the Magic Collectors find her and strip her of her powers forever and before the mysterious woodsman who finds her lost in the forest discovers who she really is. The prince she cursed must learn to love before an enchanted rose dies or he will remain a beast forever. Will her fate also be sealed when the last petal falls? Note: This book was originally published as The Beast's Enchantress.

Dragon Rose


Christine Pope - 2012
    Rhianne Menyon has dreams of being a painter, but her world changes forever when a single moment of sacrifice brings her to Black's Keep as the Dragon's latest Bride. As she attempts to adjust to her new life -- and to know something of the monster who is now her husband -- she begins to see that the curse is far crueler than she first believed. Unraveling the mystery of what happened to the Dragon's Brides is only the beginning...

Rose Daughter


Robin McKinley - 1997
    And it is true; the center of the Beast's palace, the glittering glasshouse that brings Beauty both comfort and delight in her strange new environment, is filled with leafless brown rosebushes. But deep within this enchanted world, new life, at once subtle and strong, is about to awaken.Twenty years ago, Robin McKinley dazzled readers with the power of her novel Beauty. Now this extraordinarily gifted novelist returns to the story of Beauty and the Beast with a fresh perspective, ingenuity, and mature insight. With Rose Daughter, she presents her finest and most deeply felt work--a compelling, richly imagined, and haunting exploration of the transformative power of love.

Rose of Prophecy: A Beauty and the Beast Novella


Hope Ann - 2016
    Not because she is alone. Not because thick roiling clouds obscure the moon. Not because the wind rushes through the forest like a wild dragon. She is afraid because she is late. And to be late means death. Her life had been happy once. Despite the destruction wreaked by Tauscher, traitor to the King. Despite the distant war led by the Prince and fought with the help of her three brothers. Despite her own poorly-chosen nickname of Beauty, she'd enjoyed life. Of course, that was also before her father left home on a hopeful errand but returned weary and ill, bearing a velvety scarlet rose which he claimed would never wither. But even life in the ancient hall, tucked away in the center of Mosswood, surrounded by roses of every description, overshadowed with mystery and home to a scarred figure who was more beast than man, wasn't too bad after a time. But now...now, in a flash of light, Beauty finally glimpses the truth. And the cost. The price which must be paid, or the sacrifice which must be made. It is a curse which even love alone may not be able to break. Writing in the Light Publishing presents the first of nine novellas in The Legends of Light series! Rose of Prophecy, a fantasy seeped retelling of Beauty and the Beast containing an ancient promise, an invisible spy, and the legendary Stieg der, is more than a mere retelling of a favorite fairy tale. Each novella focuses on one of the nine aspects of the Fruit of the Spirit while also following the conflict between the Prince and Tauscher and expertly retelling and twisting some popular, as well as several lesser known, fairy tales.

Beauty and the Beast


Jenni James - 2012
    Fans of Disney, fairy tales, and fantasy will love the Faerie Tale Collection by Jenni James. A prince by day and a wolf by night—Prince Alexander has been turned into a werewolf and has one year to find someone to love the beast and break the spell, or he will be a wolf forever. He has nearly given up achieving the impossible, knowing no girl would ever fall in love with such a monster.Just when he is about to abdicate the throne to his cousin, he meets Cecelia Hammerstein-Smythe, while a wolf, and begins to hope for the first time in months. Can he balance both worlds as a human and beast, gaining the love and trust of a girl who has every reason to despise him?Cecelia detests the prince. She only knows Alexander as the arrogant monarch—the tyrant who has made her life miserable—though perhaps he's changed right before her eyes. He's not as full of himself as he once was. The prince is gentle now... but then again, so is the beast.

Becoming Beauty


Sarah E. Boucher - 2014
    Long, filthy, and dangerously sharp. They’re the first thing Bella sees after what’s been the worst day of her life. If Bella were the quintessential Beauty—gorgeous, kindhearted, and self-sacrificing—she might have a chance at transforming this monster into a man, but she’s never been the toad-kissing kind. Obsessed with landing a wealthy nobleman and escaping her humdrum life, Bella will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Which is precisely what landed her here, at the mercy of the Beast.In this imaginative retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Bella's sense of entitlement strains both her family's finances and patience. As punishment for her selfishness, she's sent into the Beast's service where she must choose whether to follow the path she's always dreamed of—or risk it all for something even greater.

Before Beauty


Brittany Fichter - 2015
    Prince Everard’s father spent the boy's youth forging the prince into a warrior. Upon the king’s death, however, Everard realizes he’s lost himself somewhere along the way, and in his pain, makes a decision that brings a dark curse upon both him and the great Fortress that has so long guarded the people of Destin. The prince's sin doesn’t simply affect those of his citadel, however. Isa, the daughter of a local merchant, has suffered the prince’s hasty temper before, and it changed her life forever. When Everard’s final outburst cuts off his people’s source of protection with the curse, he demands that she, a crippled commoner, come to help him break it. All the while, Destin’s northern enemy crouches at the foot of the Fortress’s mountain, waiting for the right moment to capture the stronghold that has stood for a thousand years. With the freedom of Destin at stake, can both Everard and Isa find ways to move beyond their brokenness and hatred for one another, not only to break the curse, but to find love as well? Or will they and their beloved kingdom remain under darkness forever?