Once upon a time, I thought love was a fairytale.My prince was a Beast with blood on his hands and ice in his veins. My family offered to save me. The only price: leaving the tattered pieces of my heart behind.Our love was irrational. Cruel. Unforgiving. Nothing like the storybooks said it should be—but it was perfect.The longer we were apart, the more I lost myself. He was vicious and … was vicious and domineering, but I craved the submission. Together we were destructive, but I was addicted to the devastation. Still, I thought titles mattered. To my family I was princess, and to the Beast I was slave. I was too naïve to understand that even though he’d been my captor, he’d broken the shackles on my soul.
Once upon a time, I thought love meant happily ever after.
Now I know better.
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Beauty/ Frankie has finally escaped Beast but is she truly free? Will she ever really be free? She’s attracted to Beast but their situation isn’t conventional, can either change?
Brutal. Dangerous. Distorted. This is the tone of the romance we find in Mary C. Gebhard’s work. Written from the deconstruction of the story of Beauty and the Beast, this duology achieved, with a particularly difficult theme, to be well executed and very well written. We have a completely unstructured romance, where the main characters are not the archetypes we have based, but two people misrepresented and transposed by illegality.
Beginning from the final events of the first book, Frankie discovers that she has switched to a worst prison than before. Despite being rescued and no longer be in the possession of Anteros, she realizes that such dreamed freedom is more and more distant. Her grandmother is not as sweet as she looks, and worse: she misses Anteros. He in turn, in the course of the first book, was so obsessed by Francesca that he did not realize that everything he fought to build for was falling apart at his feet. In that volume we then have the Beast fighting to return to power, and Frankie tries to survive in the midst of that game.
Now recognized as the Princess of Mafia, since part of her origin has been discovered, and she is a descendant of the original Pavoni family, Frankie realizes that this condition is only a title. Used as a symbol of the Mafia, she is no more than a piece manipulated in the interests of his grandmother. While trying to seek the truth about its origins, it is faced with a web of lies perpetuated from generation to generation.
And it is in this volume that we see that Frankie is not as good as she seemed to be. She is obscure. Much more than Anteros. While he was became so, when he was beaten by his father, abused by his mother, went to live in the street and was rescued by the head of the mafia, that is to say, that’s all he knows, Frankie was raised normally. Her mother died when she was young, her father did not care, but lived in the real world, had family values and teachings. So the fact of this life to attract her, she likes the power, the dark side, the deaths, the blood, shows us that the real danger is her.
Anteros on the other hand is in a complicated situation. He saw his empire crumble. He no longer has the prestige of before, partly because of bad decisions or lack of them. He is threatened by Lucia, his relationship with his henchmen is no longer the same, he has to deal with the certainty that there is a traitor among his men and still remains completely obsessed with Frankie.
No longer able to deny what they feel for each other, the two indulge in this passion and decide to reign together, overthrowing their enemies and conquering all power. The way to the goal is long, bloody, scary, stuffed with death and twisting.
I did not know the author, it is not a topic I usually read, but it surprised me positively. She was able to arrest me, I was very curious throughout the chapters, and I even hoped that Anteros would escape in some situations. I confess that in the end I even managed to accept their relationship. I recommend reading.
Shocking: While most women are happy to receive flowers and chocolates, Frankie stays radiant with an unusual gift: a box with a person shredded inside. Updated psychopath definitions.
Shocking 2: Gabby has not learned anything even after so many years in the Mafia. Still a pawn.
The scene in the church: Anteros listening to the confession. Okay, there was a big misunderstanding, but the fact that he was going only because she called him because he needed him, it’s cute.
BRILLIANT. No other way to describe it.
This is my first Mary Catherine Gebhard read also my first mafia read in a long time. The story of the Beast and his slave is definitely not a sweet fairy tale romance read. It’s story filled with angst, desire, darkness, some insane secrets, and some interestingly mysterious characters. I am doing a double review together because I couldn’t put the book down after being left on a crazy cliff hanger after finishing Beast I jumped right into Beauty not gonna lie.
Frankie ready to give up herself to save her Papa’s life from harm after a debt owed little does she know just what kind of deal she has made until she’s taken by the beast to stay like a caged slave in his penthouse. Beast who was once a orphan that got an opportunity to become rich and feared has worked his way up the food chain along with his trusty wolves by doing a lot of dirty work of course. Beast never thought anything was more important then business no one could tame someone like him. Frankie changes thanks to the Beast she becomes broken. She didn’t know that he would be the one to put her back together again. Beast who soon becomes known to her as Anteros has only one thing in mind and that’s Frankie,everything else seems to slip and it begins to show especially to the wolves. While all this is going on there is a blood war happening so Anteros has to act quickly. Can The Beast still be a ruthless leader and take out the head mafia family? The darkness rises in Frankie and all the secrets about her birth and true family comes to light. What will Frankie choose to be the Princess or just a slave to the Beast?
The character development was amazing in the story, I really loved how there was a softness to them both but also a darkness that they were able to bring out in each other. A heart-stopping read and full of detail. This duet is a must read for those who love a good mafia romance story full of wickedness and death of course.
I will say there was a lot of this part of the book I did not see coming. Of course, I won’t tell you what those parts are but man there was some OMG moments. Those are parts of the book that I love. Keep me surprised! I really am happy I waited to read the first book till this one was out, man I would have been on pins and needles to read this one. This book answered a lot of questions from the first book and took the story to a whole nother level. Loved Beast and Frankie’s love story. It is diffidently their own.
1/2 Stars all the way folks.
So I really adored Beauty: The End (Hate Story, #2) by Mary Catherine Gebhard,
I would love to have given this the full five stars, but I removed half a star as there was something that really bugged the hell out of me, it so got my goat and I Will reveal all later.
So first things first folks, this is part two of our very screwed up dark beauty and the beast tale, a story of a mafia boss and his princess and it’s quite a ride let me tell you.
We last left these two (and I’m assuming you have read Beast so this won’t be a spoiler for you) with Frankie escaping Beast/Anteros, this is not without a little help from those she assumes will provide the sense of family and affection she craves.
She leaves Beast with her personal calling card, permanently etched over his heart.
Sweet!!!
Beast being a true psychotic and with a truly unfathomable reasoning process, becomes even more enamoured with Frankie (eye roll) I know, I know, it’s not romantic but it really sort of is for these two. you so have to be there to get it.
So In “Beauty” our two star-crossed lovers are on opposite sides of a war zone with both sides wrestling for power and Frankie and beast finally realising none of it really matters unless they’re going to reign side by side together.
Frankie realises she’s gone from the frying pan into the fire and that the grass isn’t always greener.
Beast is trying to gain back his respect from his wolves, while also protecting Frankie.
Gone are the suits, our beast is back in all his full glory, finally set free by Frankie’s darkness, both feeding the other’s corrupt soul.
“His bloody fingers smudged the paper as he turned to the words that had brought the Beast—the real Beast—back. Frankie had drawn a messy black line beneath the sentence Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven, and underneath it, she’d written, Let me fall with you, Lucifer”.
“I’ll catch you, mio cuore. Be my queen”.
“Beauty” has action in spades and there’s certainly never a dull moment to be had.
It is also so much darker than “Beast” hence I really should warn you that this deals with a lot of sensitive subjects.
There’s Murder, Blackmail, torture, human trafficking, rape (not of our Frankie).
Lots of blood as Frankie realises she is Anteros female mirror and shes just as dark as him, the two becoming closer as Frankie’s true nature emerges.
Also, can I just say I had to google Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) for short, just out of curiosity, I was convinced it was a made-up illness, but nope my bad, turns out it’s very real.
and I’ll leave you with this one as it’s such an AW!! moment
“Everything is so black and white with you.” “Nothing is black and white to me. Our world is grey, but grey is ugly and you hate that. I’m not going to pretend to be sad that your friend is dead while you get to live. You alive means I get to have you.”
So this was a page-turner that pulled me in and wrung me out so job well done Mary Catherine Gebhard you definitely have a new fan in me.
I’m looking forward to reading more of your work in the future.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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I like dark books. They are always my go to ones when reading romance. This has been a great duet for me.
Beast and Frankie’s story was one I have been playing over and over in my head since I finished book 1. I think I may have set the bar to high for this follow-up. While I liked the book I did have a few problems with it. First there was the first part of the book. It just didn’t hold my attention that much. The middle and the ending did pick up though. I wish there would have been more than just them having sex at first. I would have liked to have seen more story and less sex. There was a lot of running around and not enough communication for me here. Things should have progressed more than what they did.
I was gutted after the first book. I was ready for angst and heartbreak and then having those pieces picked back up and healed. I didn’t get all of that. This could have been so much more. I still recommend these books and I still enjoyed them for what they were. I just wanted more.
Where to begin –
Beauty opens a month after Beast ended – Don’t panic we get back to that – Frankie is finding her inner beast and it turns out no matter how hard she is denying it -she craves the animal – both her own and Anteros’
The new war has begun and Anteros has no intention of losing – he will reign no matter the cost and Frankie will be his queen –
This is packed with all those great things that we love in a dark psychological thriller – secrets,and lies that tear at the soul – so many hidden agendas that bleed out slowly – the thirst for power and vengeance that shred any and all in their path – All that decadent darkness that makes a psychological thriller the perfect read
I absolutely loved how Gebhard weaved this story -all the little moments and choices that led up to and defined each character – their battles and finally their acceptance of the inevitable whether it be to delve into the darkness or swim toward the light – this duet will keep you captivated and entertained to the very end
If you are sensitive to certain subjects or have not spent a lot of time in the emotional dark pool of literature this may not be the duet for you –
I was very anxious to get the end of this story so I one-clicked this right when I finished book one, Beast. I will admit, the beginning confused me a bit. I felt that there was a gap of information I had missed regarding what Frankie did after she left the Beast and what happened to the Beast at the end of book one. We were eventually caught up in almost a flashback sort of way but I would’ve preferred to have known going in instead of playing catch up. For me, the characters of the Beast and Frankie weren’t as strong in this book as in book one. They both seemed to be rolling over and accepting what other’s were doing to them and that was unlike their characters in my opinion. I found myself fairly frustrated with Frankie for her childish behavior at times and her lack of communication with the Beast on the things she knew. It would’ve saved them both a lot of heartache for them to be teaming up together instead of keeping secrets. Aside from that, the chemistry between these two is smoking hot in this book! I also liked that the questions left lingering from book one were answered. I did really enjoy this book and this series and can see myself reading more from Gebhart! Recommend it for mafia and dark romance lovers!
Oh wow I love this book. I just wish that Beast hadn’t made Frankie strip in front of the wolves that first time. This was so good I was rushing to find out what happened. Sad to say I have to buy the next book (I hope it isn’t to much) to find out. I still think that Frankie is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. I also would love to know what is between Beast and Crazy A. Thank you for the wonderful story, I really enjoyed it
Beauty is the second book of the Hate Story duet. The book picks up from where the first one left off with Beauty having come across some big revelations about herself. Although she may have left the Beast, she still craves him like an addiction and it seems that roles have definitely changed in this book.
This book is set as a mafia dark read and it is certainly that, there is a slow burn behind the scenes as you see what happens in a mafia family and how roles are set and taken over when the time is right. There are definitely a lot of dark twists and turns during Beauty and Beast’s relationship and some can be quite cringe worthy. These are definitely two souls who are twisted together around a black heart of complexity and the characters are just as complex. You think you know who they are and what they are about, but you don’t.
Overall, this story ticks all of the boxes for a dark romance: twists and turns, dark taboo sexy scenes, violence, pure and absolute darkness and two very complex characters whose souls are quite similar. If that sounds like your thing, then this book is for you.
ARC received for a fair and honest review.
More of my reviews can be found on my blog: https://thehotmesslibrary.blogspot.com
This was the perfect ending to the series! I love how this book is so much different than the usual dark romance Mafia types. This time, Frankie is just as deadly and devastating as Beast. I loved this book!!!