Tag: Felicia Grossman

Dearest Beast by Felicia Grossman

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Movie / Story Retelling, Part of a Series, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Dearest Beast (Once Upon the East End #3)Dearest Beast by Felicia Grossman

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Series: Once Upon the East End #3

Release Date: June 30, 2026

Roger Berab and Rebecca Adler have known each other for years, and disliked each other for nearly as long, but they meet one night when they are both feeling vulnerable and share an intimate encounter, which ends with Roger declaring it a mistake and that they don’t need to marry, causing Rebecca to hate him even more. Rebecca is a midwife and chemist who prides herself on her independence. But when her home and workshop is ruined by Roger’s daughter, she has no choice but to accept his offer of shelter. As she heals, she gets to know Roger and his children, particularly his daughter, which adds tension as well as opportunities for growth within the household and her feelings for Roger.

For Roger, status is everything and now that his time of mourning has passed, he is eager to find a new wife who will help him achieve his hope for a seat on the Commission of Delegates and mother to his children. But when his daughter destroys Rebecca Adler’s home, he is honor bound to offer her a place to stay, which brings the two back into close contact after months of avoiding each other after their passionate encounter. Roger finds Rebecca sharp-tongued, opinionated, plain, common, and utterly intriguing.

When I read the blurb for this book, I was intrigued because I love a “Beauty and the Beast” retelling, but quite honestly, I found both main characters rather beastly and am not sure who was the “beauty” and who was the “beast” in this story. I also didn’t care for the fact that Roger had a love interest for most of the book, someone he hoped to marry, even while lusting after Rebecca. The book does delve deeply into Jewish culture and uses a lot of terms that were not familiar to me, so I appreciated the glossary of Jewish terms used in the book, but think it would have been more helpful at the beginning of the book rather than the end, because I had to stop several times to look up a term, which if the book started with that information, I would have already understood while reading. Overall, I wanted to like this book, but I never really liked Rebecca or Roger and found it hard to be invested in their relationship. This is the third book in the series and is connected with the previous books, but it could be read as a standalone title without issue.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

 

Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman

On By TracyIn Fairytale Retelling, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Marry Me by Midnight (Once Upon the East End #1)Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Once Upon the East End, #1

Release Date: August 8, 2023

After the death of her father, heiress Isabelle Lira finds herself being pushed out of the family business, the only way to maintain her position is to marry a man who she can control. But she can’t marry just anyone, she needs a respectable, well-placed Jewish man from a good family. She decides to host some events and invites several eligible Jewish men to attend, but she needs someone to check out these men to determine who will be the best man to fulfill her requirements or at least dig up some dirt on him making him easier to control. Enter Aaron Ellenberg, a custodian at the synagogue.

Aaron is a poor orphan who dreams of a better life, a life with a happy family. He is a genuinely nice person who just happens to be smoking hot too. He agrees to check out Isabelle’s suitors and report back to her. Falling in love was never part of the plan and clearly could never be, but the more time they spend together, the deeper they fall and the more hopeless it appears. But the heart wants what it wants, the question is, will they be brave enough to defy expectations and follow their hearts or will they stay true to social strictures and give up on any hope of a HEA together?

This was a well-written, nicely paced novel with a reverse Cinderella twist, featuring wonderful characters, steamyish love scenes, hard choices, and ending with HEA! I need to point out that this book is the reason I love reading historical romance, I love learning about the differences people dealt with in the past, and it gives me hope that we as a society will eventually learn to live without prejudice. I am not Jewish, and therefore cannot asset to the accuracy of the traditions, etc, but I thought the information given was interesting and I felt the author did an excellent job of explaining the issues that the Jewish communities faced in a predominately Christian society, including the prejudice, discrimination, and hatred they faced because of their faith, as well as the laws that affected their everyday lives and their business dealings. I had never read this author before, but this was the first book in new series, so I will certainly look forward to reading more from her in the future.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*