Beautifully Beastly
About
My father is a king in a kingdom of blood - Barrett Devall, ruthless gang lord, feared by everyone. When war breaks out, I’m forced into hiding, exiled to an isolated mansion deep in the mountains of Hellion Ridge. My only protection? Fenrir Therion - scarred, brutal, and bound to me by loyalty alone.
But Belial House isn't just old and cold. It breathes. It listens. The walls whisper, and something in the shadows is waiting for us.
As a blizzard traps us inside, the lines between protection and possession blur. Fenrir is more beast than man - violent, broken, and infuriatingly irresistible. And the deeper we sink into the house's secrets, the more I can't tell what's haunting me: the ghosts in the halls... or the heat in his eyes.
He was sent to keep me safe.
But no one warned us that the real danger would be falling for each other.
Beautifully Beastly is a dark, haunting romance steeped in mystery, tension, and forbidden heat. Perfect for fans of twisted longing and slow-burning desire in the face of the unknown.
Content Warning: This book explores themes of coercion, violence, gang warfare, death, and suicide.
Praise for this book
As a big mood reader, I put off reading this book as I ‘didn’t feel it’- assuming it was just a mafia dark romance. Boy was i wrong. When i started this book, I finished it within 24 hours- I stayed up reading it… Woke up early to read it and was absolutely locked in. As this Dual POV story progressed it became apparent that there were intensely complex characters and multiple stories intertwined together to create this thriller romance that was nothing like I expected (in the best way). The themes featured a slow slow burn, forbidden love, enemies (not friends) to lovers, touch her and 💀, a morally grey MMC and bodyguard vs mafia princess. Honestly if that doesn’t get you excited, the big morally grey HUNK of a MMC, ‘Beast’ will- with his hard exterior and traumatic backstory, he is such a dreamy book boyfriend who will 100/10 protect you like it’s his sole purpose in life. The thriller aspect of this book really surprised me and i’m so glad I didn’t read about this book before I started, the sub plot had me gasping, looking over my shoulder and absolutely shuddering at times. It was so well written and well balanced with the other aspects of the story- the romance, the controlling family dynamic and strained relationships as well as the FMCs personal journey taking back her life. 6 star read, wouldn’t change a thing and although not my normal read, I absolutely devoured it. Thank you to Hot Tree Publishing for providing me the opportunity to read this breath-taking story.
I went into this book thinking I knew exactly what this book was about, expecting a run of the mill mafia romance for me to absolutely eat up, and this delivered so much more!! I obviously misread a bit of the blurb, because this book has supernatural elements that had me on the edge of my seat, jaw dropped, and needing to know what was happening next and I loved every dang moment.
Maria did not pull any punches, the moments of terror in this book felt all too real, and the highs and lows of this book were heavy hitting, I definitely went on a journey with our main characters Hayami and Fenrir. This book follows Hayami, mafia princess of the Devall family, and Fenrir "The Beast", her body guard that will stop at nothing to protect her as they travel to the mountain estate Belial House for safety when tension between mobs rises. But there is more to this house than meets the eye and Hayami and Fenrir are snowed in. I am recommending that everyone read this book if they love a gritty romance, especially if they love a touch of supernatural events, I have never read anything like this and need more ASAP.
Thank you to HotTreePublishing for sending me an eARC of this book!!
Went in thinking it was going to be a mafia romance, but was fabulously surprised with the horror aspect! It was creepy as it was romantic, it kept me on my toes and I HAD to look up the legend. I really enjoyed it!
Hayami Duvall has been under her father's thumb her whole life. This is the life of a mafia family after all. She gets assigned a new, second, bodyguard, Fenrir, because violence between the crime families have escalated. Soon Hayami and her two bodyguards are whisked away into a secret house just before a snowstorm hits, but when they arrived they started to notice a few oddities happening; think The Shining meets Beauty and the Beast.
Thanks to the publisher and the author for sending me this Arc.
Amazing book, it's been a while since I enjoyed "mafia romance" since normally is not my cup of tea.
But this was amazingly done, the longing, the terror, the back stories, the atmosphere... Everything was well crafted. It was kinda Gothic at moments which I absolutely loved.
Both the main characters were well constructed, especially him.
I was lucky enough to do the pre edit beta read on this book and absolutely adored it! An excellent story with awesome characters. Definitely needs to be on your TBR list!
A mafia romance but make it paranormal - yes absolutely! I ate this up.
Our FMC is the daughter of a mafia boss and our MMC is her bodyguard... what more can I say? But also send them to a secluded gothic manor, throw in a little light haunting with your forced proximity and a little bit of trauma for each of them and you a great story!
Hayami is angsty and defiant and Fenrir is stoic and measured, though easily riled when it comes to Hayami.
The forced proximity is delicious and spicy but layered with a ghost story riddled with trauma and revenge is *chef's kiss*. The story is very character driven, the plot is a little slower paced, but the story didn't feel slow at all. This is a different sort of read for me and I really enjoyed it!