Lord Nathaniel Harte, the disagreeable Duke of Beswick, spends his days smashing porcelain, antagonizing his servants, and snarling at anyone who gets too close. With a ruined face like his, it’s hard to like much about the world. Especially smart-mouthed harpies―with lips better suited to kissing than speaking―who brave his castle with indecent proposals.

But Lady Astrid Everleigh will stop at nothing to see her younger sister safe from a notorious scoundrel, even if it means offering herself up on a silver platter to the forbidding Beast of Beswick himself. And by an offer, she means what no highborn lady of sound and sensible mind would ever dream of―a tender of marriage with her as his bride.

 

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Title:  The Beast of Beswick
Series:
Author:  Amalie Howard
Genre:  Historical Romance
Published:  November 26, 2019
Publisher:  Entangled
My Rating:  4.5 stars

THE BEAST OF BESWICK captured me early on with a heroine who is strong-willed, opinionated, stubborn and not afraid of going her own way in a society that looks down quite strongly on such a woman.  Astrid saw the problem and found a solution.  It might not be everyone’s solution, but for herself and her beloved younger sister, it was the only viable option.  Now, she just has to get Thane onboard and that is going to be a challenge worthy of a warrior but one that she will not back down from no matter what obstacles are placed in her way.

While there are many Historical Romance readers who need to have absolute historical accuracy in their stories who disagree, I am a reader who is in it for the romance, for the heroine and hero belonging to each other and finding ways to make that happen – even when they are being their most stubborn and dense about finding a happy ending.  So, I “get” where some readers may find a bit too much modern ideas within THE BEAST OF BESWICK, well, we all enjoy different types and styles of stories – and I absolutely adored the snark, the bite, the intensity of the characters in this story and would love to see it continue with more of the characters we met in Astrid’s and Thane’s romance.

Thane is an embittered man who faces constant pain, attention, and an angry soul from the events of the war, and by people who caused some of those events to take place.  He has little patience for just about anyone these days – but he’s met his match in Astrid.  To watch this “beast” slowly leave behind the anger and reach out to a woman he never thought would be right for him was magic to see develop.  Astrid, while at her age is firmly on the shelf, will do whatever is necessary to protect her sister from a scoundrel who is the lowest of humans.  Her solution might not be for everyone, yet her boldness, stubbornness, and determination will win her far more than her sister’s safety in the end.  It will win her the love of a lifetime – but she has to get this particular “beast” to give her that chance first.

I enjoyed this story so much.  It’s sexy, snarky, bold, tender, and believable as two bull-headed people clash and along the way discover that there is a love that will change their lives if they’ll only take the risk.  I would definitely recommend THE BEAST OF BESWICK without hesitation.

I own a Kindle edition of The Beast of Beswick.

Available in paperback and for the Kindle