Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy!

tl;dr
A fairy tale romance with a great twist on the Beauty and the Beast formula. MC can be frustrating at times.

About
All Jessamyn Elisdream wants is to keep her family's bakery running. The latest job catering for the prince seems like an amazing opportunity until she loses a family heirloom and has to sneak back into the palace to retrieve it. The prince she meets that night seems an entirely different person - because he is. He's been cursed by a witch to become the most evil version of himself when night falls. Jessamyn is now imprisoned in the castle to keep the prince's secret, but the longer she stays, the more she finds herself torn between the prince's two forms.

Thoughts
I love a fairy tale retelling, especially the kind that dig a little deeper into gray morality, so I enjoyed this book's exploration of Prince Nikolaus vs. the version of himself that he most feared becoming. The use of a Jekyll/Hyde transformation was really effective. His character arc is really nicely paced, and I found myself rooting for the romance the entire time. I have mixed feelings about Jessamyn. First off, hooray for curvy girl rep, hooray for someone who isn't a doormat, and I always love a character who bakes. But she often blurs the line between "I don't feel like I fit in," and "I'm not like other girls," which was kind of a letdown. She also doesn't seem great about considering consequences for her actions, which is fine for an individual, and not a good idea if the entire kingdom is going to be rocked because of a single choice. The final major character Finn is a very rare, and very appreciated, male friend who isn't there to make a love triangle happen. He is easily my favorite character in the entire thing, and I appreciated the emotional foundation that he brought to the story. I worried early on that he was going to wind up not nearly as cool as he seemed, but he is, in fact, as cool as he seems.

The romantic aspects are direct from a fairy tale, with messages to follow your heart and lines about being the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom. Romance is largely spice-free. Readers will find a lot of cute interactions and banter along with some passionate kisses and

one fade-to-black style sex scene

.

Extra thoughts that I couldn't fit anywhere else:
-The book includes several small sketched illustrations which are absolutely lovely. I found myself looking forward to them.
-I'm having trouble placing the (imagined) time period. Characters live in a castle, ride horses, and the best weapons tech are swords and bows (and magic). But indoor electricity exists (albeit, it's rare), and characters of all genders regularly wear jeans, sweaters, and tank tops.