GENRE: Romantasy
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc
Would I recommend to others?: YESS! Why was this fairy tale retelling of beauty & the beast just so perfect?

Review:
In Deceiving the Cursed beast, we follow the journey of Isabel, who is forced to go to a castle due to being trapped by magic from her father's wrong doing. She meets the duke of Truthhold as a beast and learns he needs her help to break the curse of transforming into a beast. She is, understandably, upset & wants to find a way to bend the magical force that is forcing her to help the Duke and return to her life and job as a constable.

So this is a fairy tale retelling of Beauty and the Beast and it gets it so right! There is a magical library, a beast MMC (who is albeit more cute beast than full on beast) & a strong FMC who learns to appreciate herself and love who is she despite what society has told her.

I think Deceiving the Cursed Beast reads as a Romantasy with elements of Cozy Fantasy/Romance. I loved how the book was written, the pace it went at and the FMC + MMC. I equally loved their banter and how their relationship develops and their interactions.

We also get to learn about the magic system and how Isabel deals with truth telling, truth listening & what role the node plays in it all. We see how Isabel begins to understand this magical system and explore it with her and Felix. Here is an example of Isabel explaining how truth works:

"Truth isn't black and white, Your Grace... I'm used to hearing more than simply if a person is lying to me. I can tell when a statement is one truth meant to distract from another, or when an uncomfortable truth is hidden behind a sarcastic comment. My power is far more subtle than your node's interpretation of the truth. Nor am I naive enough to believe that you couldn't manage to twist words around in such a way as to lie to me even if you were subjected to the truth-telling enchantment."

All in all, I'd recommend this book to others as it is a quick and lovely read with a slow burn magic and a lovely FMC & MMC who have amazing banter between them!

Thank you to the author for a copy of the eArc in exchange for my honest review.