A Curse of Beasts and Magic

Beautiful and Beastly #1

by Jeaniene Frost, Tavia Gilbert (Narrator)

Listening Length: 10 hrs 54 mins

Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher in this dark fantastical retelling, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he’s the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.

Raine Stone was the sole survivor of a horrific creature while camping. Her account of the attack was attributed to shock, but Raine knows all too well that her story is true because now she carries that same Beast inside her!

She’s been restraining its violent urges by letting it 'feed' on the pain and chaos she’s exposed to as an ER nurse, and by playing vigilante against would-be muggers at night. But when Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal a frail elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack, she opens herself to a new world of danger—literally.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows that the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very thin; he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. He also rules the supernatural creatures living in secret among us. Raine’s Beast makes her an intruder on Remy’s territory, but the elderly gentleman she saved is Remy’s grandfather, and her Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule—if Raine allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes… or will the dangerous attraction between them turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Audiobook, Romantasy, Paranormal, Magic

11 pages, Audible Audio

First published May 26, 2026

About the author

Jeaniene Frost is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. Works include the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, the Broken Destiny series, the Night Rebel series, and the Beautiful and Beastly series. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to twenty-three different countries. Jeaniene lives in Maryland with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her.

For information on Jeaniene's books, please visit: www.jeanienefrost.com

Reviews

[Marquise]

"Beauty and the Beast meets The Wticher in this darkly fantastical retelling," they said.

They continue to waste too many words on pitching retellings to me, eh? As I said in my summary of 2025 Beauty & Beast retellings: Beastslaying is for Beauties.

Sold!

[Mai ༊*·˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 ★— And it’s Beauty’s turn to be the Beast!

I’ve read my fair share of Beauty and the Beast retellings and inspired stories, so with the book's blurb and cover, I went into this with pretty mixed expectations, feeling a little worn out by just how oversaturated adaptations of this fairytale have become. I was happy to be proven wrong, because while there are references to the fairytale, this is much more of a traditional urban/paranormal fantasy-style story than anything else.

Raine Stone is a nurse who’s dealing with a mysterious affliction that causes her to "beast out," leading to her being a danger to those around her and to her living a pretty isolated existence.

She learns of a whole other supernatural world she was previously oblivious to through Remy Byrne, who is the ridiculously handsome, ridiculously wealthy, and ridiculously powerful love interest of this book. Truly, do not read this book if you want a male character that’s of a more unique variety, because Remy is the epitome of a power fantasy dialed up to the upteenth degree. He reminded me a lot of Mad Rogan from Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series, so if that is a man you enjoy, you will probably have fun here.

As this is a very fast-paced and easy read, with a wry sense of humor, it hit a lot of what I like in my urban fantasy!

But I will say that the book suffered from some issues for me. I felt like the romance was moving at a breakneck speed, and with this being the first in what will presumably be a series of books, I really wished the author could have paced herself and maybe introduced more tension and just more time before the MMC and FMC gave into their feelings. This is definitely preference-based, as I think people who like a fast burn or want a romance with immediate payoff will be happy with this, but for the slow burn enjoyers and the people who are used to urban fantasy where the couple's bond takes a few books to progress and build up, this might feel a bit too fast-paced.

My expectations for a slower burn were partly rooted in this book setting up an intriguing fake dating dynamic that I thought had so much potential, and that I wish the book could have stuck with longer before letting Raine and Remy get as close as they do here.

But even among all my critiques, my love for this genre and my interest in how this’ll continue won over. I am super interested in how this cliffhanger ending will be resolved in the sequel, and am ready for more Raine and Remy!

🎧Audiobook Notes
🎙️ Narration Style: Solo
⭐ Listener Rating: 5/5
The narrator did a masterful job of inhabiting all the different characters in the story, and I thought that the male voices, especially that of Remy, were superbly done! The fast-paced tone of the book also really lent itself to listening.

______________

Thank you to Tor Books for the ARC and to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

[Rain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good urban fantasy and have enjoyed Jeaniene Frost’s previous stories. However, this one felt flat in terms of emotional connection and I’m so bummed about that.

Lorraine “Raine” Stone (26) is an E.R. nurse, hosting a “Beithíoch” inside her.

Remington “Remy” Byrne (243, not a typo) is the CEO of Frontview Republic, and a warden.

The story was well developed, had decent backstories, sexy scenes, and intrigue. It just didn’t really have a lot of umph, I easily put this down over and over again to pick up other stories.

I didn’t feel their chemistry or their connection.

Trope/themes:
Urban fantasy
Forced proximity
Fake dating
Magic and politics
Baltimore setting
Juvenile dialogue
Cliffhanger-ish ending

After only two weeks, they jump in bed. The sex scenes felt thematic rather than intimate. In their first scene together, he goes down on her and doesn’t quit after back-to-back screaming orgasms.

“Orgasm six had me screaming his name the way every guy wished someone would.”

Overall, I enjoyed the set-up and beginning of this story, and wish that had continued for a few more chapters. I wanted to know more about this beast, and more of Raine as a nurse. It felt like Raine was engulfed by too many plot points, additional characters, and magical politics to really shine. She does get a few moments at the end to kick some ass.

Don’t get me wrong, the story isn’t bad, it just didn’t quite work for me.

[jenny reads a lot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl with a beast trapped inside her fake dates a magical billionaire*.

Cheesy but like, in the best way.

My cheeks hurt from all the smiling I did while reading!

I love when a reimagining is reminiscent enough to recognize the source material but completely fresh and new. This definitely checks those boxes.

I think this would be a fantastic book for romantasy readers who are looking to explore a more fantasy first book. The world is rich + complex but still easy to digest. It feels slightly skewed towards the fantasy plot while still being heavy on the romance! A great bridge book imho!

*So he’s not actually a billionaire bc he gives away and reinvests all his company’s profits back into his employees and his community 😭 LOVE THAT

Whats to love…
- urban fantasy
- complex world
- blush inducing romance + banter
- strong found family
- mother + daughter relationships (of the found variety)

What might not work for some…
- this is a bit on the nose at times when it comes to the typical lines and dynamics seen often in romantasy. It’s fresh enough in other areas to not feel like other books but those who are looking for a bit more complexity in their romance dynamics might find this one misses the mark a little.
- That said I ate this UP. Sometimes you need a little cheese in your life!

Audio Narration: 5/5
Style: Single Narration (also single POV)
Narrator: Tavia Gilbert
Length: 11 hours 28 mins
DAMN. I’m adding Tavia Gilbert to my favorite narrators lists ASAP. She absolutely killed it. Pacing, pausing, inflection were perfection. Her voice variation was fantastic and her male voices?! HOT. I’d listen to her narrate a male pov over a number of male options! Definitely a must on audio!

4.25⭐️| IG | TikTok |

Thank you Macmillan Audio & Bramble for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It pains me to rate this 2 stars, but I can’t rate it higher. Raine is too irritating, Remy is too much of a Mary Sue of magical powers, and there are too many descriptions of magical rooms for my taste. Oh and I have a thing about overuse of exclamation points. I could keep going but I’ll stop here.

[Selene · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way I ATE this up like I had my own personal beast inside me telling me to feed, more, feed! Maybe I have a book beast but I prefer to think Jeanine is just a master at her craft! Excellent pacing, truly unique magic, twists you don’t see , lovable characters, perfect level of spice that adds to the story and a “cliff hanger” that leaves you waiting more without cheapening the story! So excited to continue this story! Thank you Bramble for my arc I truly appreciate it , this review is my honest opinion.

[P.C. Cast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! As always, Jeaniene Frost writes likable women and easy to fall for men (loved Bones!). Raine is a heroine who is easy to identify with. She's carried this beast monster thing around inside her since she was a teenager and she's done her best to mitigate the creature's violence. By becoming a nurse she's able to feed the creature the energy it needs while keeping it (mostly) under control. Then she stumbles upon an elderly man being attacked and her life utterly changes.

Enter Remington "Remy"who is a warden over magical beings regular humans have no idea exist and the book really takes off from there. I totally get why Raine falls for Remy! Yeah, he has secrets but so does she. He's dangerous but so is she (well, the monster inside her is dangerous). But he's honorable and seems to be upfront with her about most things. The more we find out about Remy's world and the creature inside Raine, the more the two of them together make sense. And then the plot twists! And the cliffhanger is chef's kiss! Jeaniene gives just enough resolution to some of the plot points to make waiting for the next book bearable. I'll be preordering it! Highly, highly recommend!

[Brittanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who carries a little bit of suppressed rage and inner beast, this story is for you.

✨ A Curse of Beasts and Magic delivers a jolt of adrenaline from page one. This is urban fantasy with teeth. Creatures lurk everywhere, and “aura” isn’t just a vibe, it’s a tangible magical trail that adds a fun twist to the worldbuilding.

👏 The writing leans witty and self-aware, with just enough bite to keep things sharp. Raine makes for a compelling lead. She’s funny without trying too hard, weighed down by guilt and trauma, and constantly wrestling for control over the monster inside her. That tension gives her arc real momentum.

🍯 Scene-stealer award goes to Brenden, the sweet, slightly chaotic grandpa with dementia. Equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking, he brings a surprising emotional depth that lingers.

💛 And then there’s Remy. Confident, capable, and just a little too used to getting his way. He steps in whether Raine wants him to or not, armed with power, resources, and libraries to spare! 📚 Cue Belle with books moment!

💫 The pacing moves fast and rarely lets up, hopping across settings while layering action, magic, (romance scenes that I skipped) and character growth. By the time everything clicks into place, the payoff feels earned and satisfying.

A fun, sharp, and emotionally charged ride that balances humor with darker edges. 4.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance reader copy.

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story 4 stars. Narration 5 stars
This was a total old school urban fantasy/paranormal romance and I was so there for it. Didn’t hurt that this author wrote a few (3)series that I absolutely loved years ago when I was reading and reviewing mostly speculative fiction.

Rain is a nurse at a hospital. She also happens to have a beast inside her that is capable of huge harm to anyone that threatens her. She has to feed him often with low life people that prey on others so that he doesn’t kill the good people and patients in her life. One night she saves an old man from people that are beating him. The old man’s grandson is intrigued and appreciative. Before she knows it, she is caught up in a supernatural world she knew nothing about. She wasn’t born with the beast and only had it enter her after it killed her family. So she knew nothing about any other paranormal happenings. Come to find out, there’s a huge world of them as part of the human world. This ended up being almost nonstop action at times. Of course, there’s also a romance with the man’s grandson. The world building was very clever and unique. Lots of new paranormal creatures as well as dragons that are the worse enemy. I had a good time with this listen and Tavia Gilbert’s narration was pretty perfect. I’ll definitely be reading the next book.

[Alyx Gough · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

I really wanted to love this one, especially because I’ve enjoyed this author’s other series so much, but unfortunately it just didn’t land for me.

There’s a lot of potential in the premise—a hidden beast, a fractured world of mythic creatures, a reluctant alliance—but the execution felt messy and hard to follow. I struggled to understand what the actual plot was meant to be at times, and the magic system needed far more clarity and structure to really ground the story.

The romance also didn’t work for me. I never felt a genuine connection between the FMC and MMC, so the relationship fell flat instead of feeling intense or believable. Even the more spicy moments didn’t really land and felt underwhelming rather than impactful.

Overall, this ended up being a disappointing read for me. I wanted depth, tension, and emotional payoff, but instead I felt confused and disconnected from both the story and the characters.

[Sanja ✵ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Going into this book, I expected it to be high fantasy. Maybe it’s the fact that the blurb pitches the book as “Beauty and the Beast” meets “The Witcher”, or the fact that the cover features dragons and a girl in an elaborate gown. It’s only upon closer inspection that I saw that one part of the cover featured a city skyline.

That meant that it was a bit jarring when the book started and it turned out to be urban fantasy. Instead of a magical world, I got an abundance of references to stuff like Uber, OnlyFans and other pop culture references I can’t stand.

The story reminded me a bit of The Wren in the Holly Library, but while I found that book decent, this one missed the mark entirely. And the main reason for that is that the author really crammed every single idea into this story and left a jumbled mess where nothing is explored properly. I mean, they go to another world for like 10 pages and then it’s dropped entirely.

The “fake-dating” trope didn’t feel believable at all in the story, I feel like they could’ve come up with another reason. But then the story wouldn’t have a gateway into throwing another insta-lust couple our way.

I did consider DNF, I would’ve if I hadn’t listened to the audio version.

[Yodamom · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was good ! Unpredictable, unique characters that are morally ambiguous, (My favorite kind) Unique mystically weird world with dangerous things. :) Urban fantasy done right ! Thank the gods it wasn't another cookie cutter "romantacy" read I'm so sick of them. That ending, oh boy ! I need the next book asap.

[♥Rachel♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

At fifteen, Raine lost her family in a brutal attack, and she’s been left with the Beast responsible inhabiting her body. Her job as an ER nurse helps satisfy the Beast’s needs to feed on pain and her patrolling at night for criminals helps as well.

Everything changes the night she rescues an elderly man from his attackers and draws the attention of Remy, the Warden tasked with policing magical beings. It’s frightening to find out there’s a whole magical world she wasn’t aware of, but it’s also a relief to find out exactly what she has inside her. Remy helps her get her Beast in control in exchange for helping heal his grandfather and pretending to be his girlfriend.

With this arrangement, Raine is dragged into the politics of a magical world she knows nothing about. While there’s a growing romantic relationship between Raine and Remy, she discovers there’s a lot of information he’s holding back. I really liked Raine. She had a strong moral compass and worried over having this powerful entity trapped inside and what it might do to others. She trusts easily, because she assumes the best of people. I think she’s going to be more cautious going forward.

A Curse of Beasts and Magic delivers action, romance and dangerous political maneuvering. The final battle is a high stakes showdown packed with reveals and consequences that I’m sure will play out in the next book. I’m eager to find out what comes next.

I listened to the audio version narrated by Tavia Gilbert. I like her female voices, but the male voices less so. Still, the performance overall made for an enjoyable listen.


I voluntarily listened to a copy courtesy of the publisher. These are my thoughts and opinions.

[Jaime Arkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ended up being a really enjoyable read for me, even if it wasn’t quite a new favorite. The concept immediately hooked me a heroine literally carrying a monster inside her and a supernatural warden responsible for keeping mythical creatures from crossing into the human world, and the book definitely leans into that darker paranormal-romantasy vibe.

Raine was easy to root for. Her guilt and fear over the Beast she’s hiding make her motivations feel believable, and I liked that she wasn’t written as effortlessly powerful or fearless. A lot of her arc is about control, not just of the magic, but of her anger and trauma, and that emotional struggle worked well for me. She makes questionable decisions sometimes, but they usually made sense for her character rather than just pushing the plot.

The romance with Remy was probably my favorite part. It’s very much tension-driven and built on reluctant trust. He falls into the protective, morally-gray hero category, but the relationship works because he doesn’t immediately soften; they spend a lot of time negotiating power, secrets, and boundaries before anything romantic really lands. When the banter shows up, the book is at its strongest.

The pacing, though, is uneven. The opening pulls you in quickly, then the middle slows down with a lot of explanations and setup for the larger world and politics, and by the time the big conflict hits, it resolves a little faster than I wanted. I also wish the magical system and the larger supernatural society had been explored a bit deeper, there are interesting ideas there, but you can feel it’s setting up future books more than fully standing on its own.

Overall, this is a solid start to a series. It reads more paranormal romance than epic fantasy, with a strong focus on character dynamics and romantic tension over plot complexity. I had fun with it and I’m interested enough in the characters to continue, but I’m hoping the sequel expands the worldbuilding and raises the stakes.

Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read this one early!

[Cee · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw that Jeaniene Frost was coming out with a new book, I was absolutely ecstatic. I credit the Night Huntress books with fueling my love of reading. That all to say, this book has big feet to fill and I honestly think it succeeded.

The action starts pretty much from page one and there is never a dull moment. To be fair, I did wish it would slow down occasionally to give me and Raine, the main character, time to process. We're thrown into this world together and that means slowly learning new things throughout the book--not quite understanding immediately how this world and the beings within it work. It seems simple enough though and I wasn't ever confused.

The romance is a medium burn with instant attraction, but how does one not fall for Remy immediately? He's strong, rich, compassionate to those under his care, and powerful enough to defend them. Raine is amazing too, a nurse whose always trying to help people, not sad at hurting people to protect others, and willing to get into the thick of things. Both are loyal and definitely falling fast, even though they are trying not to.

This is single-POV with only Raine's POV. Lots of great side characters I wish we spent more time with.
Really this is so fast paced, so much it happened, I think taking the time to slow down would have been nice. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to where the story will go!

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars ⭐️

I was beyond thrilled to see that there was a new book available by Jeaniene Frost. I have been a long time loyal fan of Ms. Frost for so long, specifically of her Night Huntress series (Kat and Bones.....PNR Royalty.....LOVE, love, love them)

In this book, we are introduced to FMC Raine Stone. She is completely ignorant of the supernatural world with her only knowledge coming from the fact that she was attacked when she was 15 years old and "infected" by something. Something that she calls "The Beast". The two of them now share a body and live somewhat symbiotically. She has (kind of) learned to control it (somewhat).

She has also done her best to try to understand and manage its needs because as long as she keeps it fed, she can stop it from "taking over". It feeds on violent energy such as pain and chaos, and she has learned to keep it fed. She is an ER nurse working in a very busy hospital and is able to let The Beast "sip" on the violence of the ER to keep it under control and manage its urges. She has also become somewhat of a lone vigilante, with her late night activities helping to supplement the necessary difference.

Raine has spent the last decade trying to learn anything she can about the paranormal world and discover what exactly she has become. There is no one she can ask, and Google can only provide so many answers. Even though she does as much as she can. she is not always perfect and there are times when she loses control and The Beast takes over. When this happens, she is not aware of or in control of what is happening with her body and has no knowledge of the events that occurred. When she comes back to herself, that the only thing left of the people who caused her to lose control (usually bad guys) are piles of ash.

Through a crazy set of circumstances, she tries to help an elderly man when he is being kidnapped, and this is one of the times that The Beast takes over because she is in danger. It just so happens that this event changes everything. She is now in the bullseye of the one man who controls ALL of the supernatural activity in his territory - The Warden.

Meeting Remington “Remy” Byrne (The Warden) finally starts to give Raine some of the answers that she has been desperately searching for - actually throwing the curtain wide open to an even crazier world than she ever thought possible in her wildest dreams. This is when things start to get very interesting.

Raine is actually extremely powerful...with a very unique creature sharing her body. She is immediately dragged into a magical world, with all kinds of political ramifications and power struggles that she is completely unprepared for. Raine herself is a very likeable character - morally good with strong convictions about doing the right thing.

Remy, on the other hand, is responsible for keeping the peace in his territory which requires incredible magical strength as well as the political savvy to be able to control and keep the mediate conflicts with the various magical creatures vying for power. He is EXTREMELY powerful.

There are many layers to this storyline and little by little things begin to unfold as Raine is thrown into the middle of an existing power struggle. There is also an attraction between Remy and Raine.

I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes. There were some issues with this first book, but nothing that can't be fixed as the series continues. The pacing felt a bit inconsistent as there were moments of intense action and then parts - especially in the middle - where things felt like they stalled.

The relationship between Remy and Raine also felt like it went from 0 to 100 - much quicker than necessary as there was really good chemistry between the two and a slower build up could have been awesome.

I liked Remy as a character - he has the right combination of arrogance with a bit of compassion thrown in (which we were able to see with his relationship towards his grandfather). And Raine, I did like her but at times I felt like her behavior was inconsistent. I get it, she's dealing with a brand new world with all kinds of creatures straight out of nightmares. I do get it, but there was just something that I can't put my finger on that bothered me at times. I'm sure as her character develops we are going to see lots of growth from her.

I am definitely looking forward to what's going to happen next :)

[chiara · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5
I'm really sorry to be making a negative review, because jeaniene frost is one of my comfort authors, and i can only imagine how nerve-wracking it must be to embark on a completely new series after decades. however, unfortunately i didn't love this.
this book feels, for the first part, as a cauldron of the most popular tropes in the market, while the story is written around them, and not the other way around. after a certain point, it's like the author changed her mind about what she wanted the plot to be, and the FMC basically becomes useless: she's supposed to be beauty and the beast, but really, that feels like an afterthought, overshadowed by a "male-character-centric" ending.
the MMC is an asshole who feels like an amalgamation of your basic wattpad-y alpha male and an over-powered gary stu.
the female character's backstory is inconsistent and shallow; how she managed to control her beast after being infected at fifteen is beyond me, but the story never really focuses on her, just slaps a "ptsd" label on her and moves on. she also accepts the impossible truths and worlds she's shown way too easily, to the point of disinterest.
I also didn't like the writing. i think the author tries too hard to sound hip and cool, but the result is a product full of info-dumps, exposition, shoehorned modern references - in dialogue, descriptions, and the inner monologue - that only end up outdating it, and forced dialogue. it often reads like a B-movie where a character's traumatic backstory is dropped in a random line of dialogue, and that happens repeatedly throughout the book.
I had a hard time getting in the story at first because it's written in short, clipped sentences that deprive the book of any emotion. the novel is full of repetitions (the male character smiles, grins or laughs characters more than fifty times since his first appearance. I was so annoyed that I started counting them. also, but this is only one of such instances, in the third chapter a variation of the word hope appears three times in the span of two pages: long-denied, long-extinguished, long-forgotten) and even grammatical mistakes. I ended up staying up late reading despite myself, because it is a fun time if you want to shut off your brain, but I am really disappointed.

[romancelibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series, so I was very excited to start her brand new romantasy series. I was very curious to find out just how different the world building would be here, compared to the Night Huntress universe. I am happy to report that the world in this book is very different and Frost's writing is still just as good and engaging.

Raine Stone is a nurse with a beast living inside of her. A literal beast who needs to feed on violent energy every day. Despite the beast's need for violence, Raine can also use its power to heal people. Raine wasn't always like this though. She was a regular teenager when her family was attacked by the beast, who then chose her as its next host. Raine has never come across other supernatural creatures before...until she saves an old man one night. This old man ends up being the grandfather of Remington Byrne, a powerful Warden who introduces Raine to the supernatural world that was previously hidden to her.

Raine and Remy come to an agreement: she will help heal Remy's grandfather and in turn, Remy will help her gain full control over the beast inside of her. But of course, romance laws dictate that they fake a relationship in order to accomplish their goals LOL. Don't worry, there is a perfectly logical reason behind the fake relationship. I just won't bother going into the nitty gritty.

I reaaaally enjoyed this book. I love paranormal romance, but I am not a big romantasy reader. I just find that the romantasy genre is oversaturated. Luckily, this one managed to evade a lot of my romantasy pet peeves (Remy is not an ethnically-ambiguous tan-skinned man! He is a quarter Nepali!). I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I haven't really had issues with Jeaniene Frost's writing and storytelling before.

Raine and Remy have great chemistry together. Their medium burn romance leads to excellent payoff. Are they on the same level as Cat and Bones? Not yet...they have a lot more things to work through before they can become an epic couple like Cat and Bones. The story takes place in the space of less than a month. The pacing is fast and the world-building is rich and easy to navigate. The climax is entertaining and action-packed, as expected from Jeaniene Frost. We are left on a cliffhanger, and I seriously cannot wait to see where the author takes the story! The possibilities are endless!

P.S. I wish they had kept the original title! What Beasts the Night Dreams is a great title and would have made this book stand out from all the other A ___ of ___ and ___.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this as much as I wanted to. I can't point out anything I really disliked about the book, but - and this is going to sound strange - it never managed to make me forget that I was reading a story about characters. I felt about it the way I imagine casual readers probably feel when reading a book. It didn't transport me anywhere, I didn't get fully emotionally invested in the characters, I never truly felt anything for them - not their attraction, not any sense of worry when the plot put them in danger. It never felt like a chore to read it, but it also was easy to put down in order to get a reasonable amount of sleep. The plot and world-building were interesting enough, but while there was plenty of magic in the story, I was missing the magic of a good story.

Some reading progress comments below:

25% done, finished Chapter 11 [I'm interested in the magic system, but not really feeling the attraction between the main characters yet... I think this is going to be a very Ilona Andrews type of romance - Hidden Legacy-ish. The fmc is very down-to-earth... and she had a kick-ass grandma who was in the military (sadly she's dead so we won't actually meet her outside of Raine's memories). The mmc is super powerful, very rich, arrogant... so a bit Rogan-ish. There's a lot of insta-attraction going on, and now they're fake dating... They're based in Baltimore and he just took her on a date to a concert in NYC... in his helicopter.]

38% [And now we've moved from fake dating to just one bed... tropes aren't a bad thing, they can be lots of fun... but here it all feels a bit, idk, ...manufactured? ...forced?
But now a little girls is missing, so I'm hoping for a bit more plot, less romance maybe...
Also, Ilona Andrews' review called this enemies to lovers... I don't really see the enemies part??]

At 61% now. [The plot did pick up just after when I last commented, though not in the direction I was expecting... I feel more invested in the story now.]

At 83%, I was able to put this down with only about an hour left in the book, just before the characters got to the big life-or-death climactic showdown. And it was only midnight on a Friday, so not too late to reasonably keep reading for another hour. (I did finish it about two hours later after I kept tossing and turning because my bedroom was too hot... but the story wouldn't have kept me from sleep.)

[AJ Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, with hints of greatness. World-building, and in particular how they moved between spaces, well done. The supernatural community felt a little haphazard instead of carefully curated, but not necessarily a bad thing. I think I wanted a little more from FMC and maybe MMC as well. Some lines felt weird and out of touch with the situation. Some actions, same. Overall an enjoyable read, I'm just frustrated because of the potential that wasn't quite realized. Fingers crossed for the sequel.

[Belles · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a genre over-saturated by Sarah-J-Mass-formula books, be a Jeaniene Frost.

This book was a breath of fresh air. I immensely appreciated a story about a woman figuring out her life in a supernatural world. Why have most authors stopped writing books like this? I'm so sick of the (stupid) SJM formula where an 18 year old girl (either a pauper or a princess) is the only one who can save the country/realm/universe.

Definitely looking forward to more in this series.

[Blendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!!!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the Beauty and the Beast twist, especially with the “Beast” being a girl this time. As a longtime fan of Frost’s Night Huntress series, I was so excited to dive into this one, and it did not disappoint.

This story has everything I love: fantastic world-building, engaging characters, and some truly memorable side characters. The plot moves at a great pace, and the final quarter had me absolutely glued to the pages. There’s also a bit of other woman (OW) drama, which I personally enjoy in my stories, so it was a fun addition for me If you hate OW drama, just know that the relationship ended awhile back with the character, but per usual, she isn't over him. It's not a recent split or anything like that. The spice level is great too--definitely no closed doors here!

Now, onto the one thing I didn’t love:
I’m not a fan of books that introduce a new love interest late in the story (looking at you, Maas). With how this book ends, it seems like that might be a possibility, though it’s hard to say until I read book two. The cliffhanger definitely left me nervous about where things might go though!

Overall, I absolutely loved this book! It has Frost’s trademark mix of heat, humor, and great fucking story telling. I can’t wait for the sequel!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect mix of world-building, mystery-suspense, and romance!

I couldn’t ask for a more exciting start to an urban fantasy series. The story and world-building take the lead over romance (though that is plentiful and steamy). The MCs are strong and intriguing in which to build a gripping series on. This is a page turner, and I already can’t wait for book two to publish. I loved how the ending here answered my immediate questions yet seeded my curiosity for the next book. And what a spectacular conclusion!

Reading A Curse of Beasts and Magic rivals the rabid excitement I get from an Ilona Andrews book! Though I tried Jeaniene Frost’s Halfway to the Grave series, which has a compelling premise, but I found it to be too dark, touching on sensitive subject matter that didn’t appeal to me. This new series, however, contains dark/violence without being too much. Since the Night Huntress series has overwhelming positive ratings, I would guess I’m an outlier about the darkness of it. I just mention my experience in case other readers that prefer a little lighter read that’s still engrossing may not hesitate to try A Curse of Beasts and Magic.

[Tanya T. · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF@5%
Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Edelweiss for the E arc.

I listened to the audio book and I just couldn't do it anymore because of how many times I picked up on the word 'Beast" being used by the FMC in one chapter. So I looked up the word in kindle to see how many times it was used.

In the first chapter alone, the word was used 25 times in a 14 page chapter. The grand total was 580 times in a book that is only 368 pages long...

That means the word was roughly use 2 times per page and 13 times per chapter...

The kicker is that this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling so I expect the word to be used but not overused like that.

The word is being used by the FMC as something inside of her but she doesn't know what it is, other words could be used.

I looked up synonyms for the word and these are words that could have been used to tone down the usage.

Creature
Monster
Abomination
Animal
Vile Creature
Feral

It was 221 words that meant beast that could have been used in creative ways.

The author needed an editor and a thesaurus..

Also I really didn't care for the FMC because she supposed to be 26 year old nurse but acted like a 16 year old.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit I went into this one with a bit of a side eye. I thought this author's vampire series started out strong, but then it kinda petered out for me. Wasn't sure what to expect with this one.

There is a lot of world building in it, par for the course in a new series. You need to go a bit slow to take it all in, lots of creatures, lots of magic and different roles. Raine was great from the start, you loved her, found myself rooting for her at every turn. I liked how even an info was coming at her fast left and right, she kept her head, learning so much about this new world and herself. Running into Remy ended being a good thing for her on several fronts. First she got to know what she was, how to make this beast work for her and of course there was the spark of attraction with Remy. The two of them worked, probably shouldn't have, but they did. Remy was holding his own secrets, but by the end, he let them out and was accepted by Raine, a huge thing. It will be interesting where things go for these two from here, they will be a formidable pair for sure!

[britta ⋆˙⟡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

An intriguing premise of reverse Beauty and the Beast off to a solid start but then just plods along with flat feeling characters (“tenacious nurse with dead parents” and “ethical alpha billionaire”) around after the first quarter. By the middle I just didn’t want to keep going. Lots of sitting around in rooms in between the action and silly things happening like her being ill prepared for the Sunday afternoon wealthy people pool party where everyone else is dressed in suits and ball gowns. The spicy scene I read included her having 6 orgasms in about as many paragraphs. Me personally, I’m happy with two. In about a chapter. 😇😅

Ps def a fan of her Night Huntress series so rec giving those a whirl if you like vampires/urban fantasy. They are on graphic audio as well!

[Ahana M Rao (Heart’s Content) · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find this review of A Curse of Beasts and Magic on my blog, Heart's Content!

The biggest, most grateful, shoutout to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a complimentary ALC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m going to split the review into two. The large portion of the review is going to be focused on the book—plot, world-building, pace etc—and the concluding portion is going to cover the nature of the audiobook—how well it was narrated, character voices and their accents etc. Please bear with me, this is only my second audiobook review.

You may scroll to the bottom if you’re curious about the narrator’s performance, or stick to the first half if you’re interested in reading the book.

(Unnecessary Anecdote and Unsolicited Advice Column Commences)

Audiobooks have appeared in my life only quite recently. I’ve never felt I had the ability to sustain listening to a story as focused and comfortably as when I read. I’ve found my attention generally drifts and sadly gave up on it. If you’re like me, I want to assure you, you’ll get there! I started with listening to books that I’ve already read and loved before, so listening to it came easier because it removed the pressure of having to focus. However, in time, my mind learned to enjoy listening without getting distracted and today I stand upon this hill of victory, having listened to a book I hadn’t already read before and enjoyed it immensely without a single problem!

(Unnecessary Anecdote and Unsolicited Advice Column Concludes)

I love, love, loved the theme of this book so much! If you love the movie Venom, you should read this book. While yes, I admit it’s not the same, there are some things about it that will remind you of Venom! Love Venom. LOVE Venom! Can you tell I love Venom? Circling back, this book brings such a new and unique concept to the table and I utterly enjoyed the journey the author takes us on in this addictive, action-filled, humorous and emotional tale filled with grit, pain and magic!

The first aspect in any book a reader interacts with is always the writing; it’s what pulls you in, keeps you coming back for more and causes you to build emotional bonds with a book, a series or even just a single character. So much so, that these words on a page become an obsession; they take over your world, run in the back of your mind constantly and help you grow, introspect and cause you to feel a wide range of emotions that will likely stay with you for the rest of your life. In case you happen to follow me, you would know my life was taken over by This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews and I slipped invariably into the most brutal slump of my blogging career because I couldn’t find a book that captured my interest as thoroughly after that.

Enter A Curse of Beasts and Magic. *confetti*

My bubble of pain and strife was gloriously destroyed by Frost’s writing. Gosh, I’m so grateful to have been so wonderfully drawn in by the storytelling, the emotions and situation of her protagonist in ACoBaM.

There was just something so immediately entrancing about ACoBaM that lures you straight into the world and the author does a fantastic job building her world from the very moment the book starts. It was a concept that was so simple, but explaining it and expanding on it is what adds the complexities and layers to the story. I enjoyed that the author took her time to reveal the rules and ways of the mystic world and I think it helped me, as a reader, settle into the story easier and with lesser pressure of having to assimilate several things at once. I wonder if some of the beings in this story are purely from Frost’s mind or if they exist in some cultures in similar forms and are inspirations the author has drawn from a little and then made her own. Either way, I enjoyed not feeling like I’ve seen or read this exact scene, scenario or set-up before and got to truly enjoy a book without knowing or being able to guess where the author is leading us. While, yes, of course everyone is influenced by something and that inspiration is often the seed that they nurture and grow into something that is usually very different from what the original is. But sometimes, when the result doesn’t differ from the original, I struggle to read the exact theme, scene and/or plot arc again. ACoBaM was a breath of fresh air in this regard and I’m so grateful I had the chance to read it!

The characters in ACoBaM are as much a pillar of strength and support for the book as any of the other important elements and I enjoyed every single chapter that explored and revealed their personalities, unique roles in the story and the main characters’ lives. I would say the book has just the right amount of characters that arrived at perfectly spaced intervals with very clear divisions of who they are and what their presence means for the story. With regard to the FMC and the MMC, I think they are best experienced and understood by each reader on their own and in their own time. I personally enjoyed the way who they were—the aspects that the readers cannot know simply because of the nature of how new the world is to us—is revealed in time and only after those traits are first witnessed on scene.

The best part of ACoBam is that it takes its time to build, establish and reinforce steadily, the nature of its world, characters, set-up and stakes. This means that the plot builds slowly underneath all of this, without making a single peep, until we’re at the end of the book and we realise the author has just began to weave what could just be an extremely interesting, thrilling and addictive story. I personally cannot wait to see how far and how much more this story is going to expand and where and how far Frost is going to take us in this journey.
The pace in ACoBaM was extremely even—dare I say, fast—and practically flew by me. Before I realized, I was at the 80% mark, upset that it was almost over, because I wasn’t ready for this book that had smashed the slump that was dragging me to the depths of book-reader hell, to smithereens. But alas, all things must end, no matter how good they are. *falls back in dramatic denial*

I do believe if you’ve come this far into my review, you would’ve likely guessed my rating for this book. Five stars, in case you’d like to roll your eyes and say, “Yeah, I can tell, get to the audiobook part already!” while throwing popcorn at your screen.

Now, to the part that everyone is clearly in toe trembling anticipation for: my review for the audiobook itself!

The narrator has done such a fantastic job in my opinion, in capturing the voices of the characters. I generally love female narrators, and when there’s an additional accent added to the character’s dialogue or a personality quick or a change in tone influenced by a situation, I’m usually left squealing in delight and I believe Tavia Gilbert has truly delivered an experience worthy of Frost‘s writing.

From my observation, what can be a little disorienting is if/when narrators accidentally flip narrative voices, or forget to keep following the same style with one character’s voice throughout the whole story. It makes the listener lose a little bit of the thread on who’s saying what and I personally get a bit caught up in that moment when I don’t have a physical copy to check against. However, Gilbert was fantastic at the consistent representation of the characters, never forgetting to instil their emotions into their dialogues and voices, disregarding how many characters needed to be narrated for in a multiple-character scene moment.

All in all, this book was the perfect story to get lost into and despite only being an amateur listener, the audiobook held my attention from start to finish!

[Liz S ( Liz & Liz get Literary) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot believe we have a Jeaniene Frost out in 2026! Someone pinch me!

I absolutely LOVED this book! A classic Jeaniene! A strong, smart, messy FMC and a hot, brooding, MMC. The spice was amazing, the tension… everything was top tier to me!

I loved that Raine wasn’t okay with what she is dealing with with and Remy doesn’t come in immediately and fix everything.

Beauty and the Beast meets the Witcher.. but beauty is the beast and the Witcher is her warden. 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[Laura.has.too.many.books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Raine Stone works as an ER nurse by day and by night she prowls the streets of Baltimore to feed the Beast that lives inside her with the violent energies of the criminals that roam those streets. But on one night, Raine uses the violent energy of her beast to heal an elderly gentleman that was kidnapped and afterwards her life will never be the same. Because her actions put her straight into the path of Remy Byrne, the Warden tasked with keeping the human population safe from everything that goes bump in the night.

Pro's:
+ I really like a good vigilante story and the beginning of this book does not disappoint in that regard at all. Raine desperately tries to manage her Beast in any way she can and I think that scrappy and slight desperation came across really well from the very first page.
+ The premise of this story is really cool and I really like an Urban Fantasy that is partly in our known world and also has some other realms. The more unique monsters, no werewolves and vampires in this one, also work really well for this story.

Con's:
- I don't understand why, but I found the writing of this story really weird and hard to get into. The story was very choppy at places and I felt like I missed a lot of info in some cases, but I can not determine where I missed it.
- The sex scenes in this book felt misplaced at times and the further in the book you get, the more they seem to replace the actual story. I couldn't get into the romance at all and I have a hard time seeing what the actual relationship between these characters is.

I was looking forward to this book so much, described as 'witcher-like', what would be there that I could not love. Well, unfortunately I could not connect to the writing at all, the pace felt chaotic and the lore of this story was choppy which made me lose information during the reading multiple times. Over the half-way point, most of the story gets replaced with a revolving door of sex-scenes, abandoning the story even more. I can see the crowd this book is for and I wish I would be a part of that, but I'm not and therefore this book was not a great read for me. I wish it was though and maybe in the future I'll find the book that works for me in that regard.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the definition of a good time.

Hot & fun. Didn’t take itself too seriously. Plot was plotting (with some legit surprises!), dialogue was great, spice was 🥵. Quintessential vibe read.

I LOVE a paranormal audiobook when I know I have a busy-ish day and will be slightly multitasking on my listening. There’s no world you need to watch get built, just a few rules to understand and you’re off to the races.

Also, this premise of beauty but make her the beast? Loved it. It was giving me all the best of like, werewolf or other animal transformation / Frankenstein-esque stories. I also loved the fake dating setup. Those two tropes alone never fail to hit for me, and this was no exception.

🎧 I ended up doing this one entirely on audiobook and Tavia Gilbert was fantastic. Loved all of her mail voices and she nailed all the dramatic moments. Kept me engaged the entire time.

Highly recommend for an easy, fun read!

Thank you Bramble & Macmillan Audio for the ARC/ALC!