A tale as old as time: she needs a place to stay, he’s a grump with a secret and an extra room…can love find a way? Meet the Naughty Princess Club, a series from USA Today bestselling author Tara Sivec that brings readers to Fairytale Lane and the hilarity–and romance–that three women fall into once they decide to strut their stuff and bring on their own happily ever after. Living in her … after.
Living in her overprotective dad’s basement, shy Belle lives her life through books. Being a part of the Naughty Princess Club is the first adventure she’s ever had, plus she desperately needs the money to save one of her favorite places – the local library.
But when her new friends and new business gets her kicked out of her dad’s house, Belle is rescued by the surly Vincent “Beast” Adams who invites her to be his house guest until she gets back on her feet. Despite his attitude problem and long list of rules, Belle finds herself warming to the muscled man with a penchant for growling and starts seeing a gentle side to him that wasn’t there before.
Yet there’s a room that Beast keeps locked and Belle keeps getting hints that Beast is hiding something…can a nerdy librarian tame the beast or will their romance be over before it has a chance to blossom?
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You might remember when I discovered the magical awesomeness that is Tara Sivec’s Naughty Princess Club back in April. At the Stroke of Midnight was a fantastic introduction into this hilarious and sexy retelling. As soon as I finished it, I couldn’t wait for the follow up, In Bed with the Beast, in which my favorite librarian and the grumpy security guard mix things up in a Beauty & the Beast retelling. I totally loved it.
Beauty & the Beast is one of my favorite fairy tales. I’ve always loved it. The grumpy hero, the awkward heroine, the freaking amazing library — I love it all. In fact, I think I’ve read more B&tB retellings than any other. None of them were quite like Tara’s take, however. (Man, I love this series.) I’d basically fallen in love with Isabelle (and the other “naughty princesses”) in the first book. I couldn’t wait to see what happened when Isabelle broke from her shy, smart, awkward, sheltered Isabelle broke free and came into her own. It was everything I wanted and more.
Belle and Beast were the absolute best. I just adored their story. They had so much chemistry and complemented each other perfectly. I loved how protective he was of her. He might’ve been a giant beast of a man, but he was really sweet and swoony under all that exterior grump. The banter was amazing, the slow burn gave me life and the romance, overall, was just flat out wonderful. It’s always a treat to watch a character I love figure out who they really are. That, when mixed with a smexy romance and literally laugh out loud moments, made In Bed with the Beast total perfection for me.
Now, I can chomp at the bit while I wait for Ariel to get her story. I REALLY need to know what’s going on with all the animosity between her and Eric. Plus, Ariel delivers one-liners that have me basically busting a gut laughing so I’m positive her book will be amazing. I can’t get my hands on it soon enough! If you’re not reading this series, you’re totally missing out.
FAVORITE QUOTES
I’ve lived my life in black and white, content with being the shy, quiet wallflower who does nothing but read, just waiting for something exciting to happen to me like it does for the heroines in my books.
“Boys in books do it better,” Vincent reads aloud. “True story.”
He takes a step towards me and leans forward, placing his hands on either side of the counter, caging me in.
“That’s because they’re boys. Maybe you should try a man.”
“Dude, have you seen the size of him? Your first time can’t be with a guy like that. He’d snap you in two, and you’d never want to have sex again. He wouldn’t just pop your cherry, he’d make a cherry slush.”
I guess fairy tales really do come true for a nerdy bookworm-turned-stripper.
Tara Sivec’s take on Beauty and the Beast was such a fun ride. It has long been my favorite fairytale, as I have always identified with Belle, so this was the story in this series I was most looking forward to. There were tons of hilarious moments in this book, but it was also peppered with a significant number of poignant interactions between the characters. In Bed with the Beast was a great choice for a weekend afternoon read.
Belle had a phenomenal growth arc, especially when you consider where she started in At the Stroke of Midnight. She started out as a timid, bookish, floormat. She had no fire, no backbone. She gained so much by first losing everything she’d ever counted on throughout the course of this book. Witnessing her realize her own strength and gain confidence in who she was as a woman was fabulous. By the end of In Bed with the Beast, she was an impressively strong female, and there was no doubt she’d do whatever she needed to ensure her own happiness.
Beast – aka Vincent – shocked me. He’d been so brutish and nearly silent in the first book and the beginning of this one, I was sure he was kind of an alpha meathead. My mistake. He impressed me with his background and his gentle, protective strength. He was the perfect person to help bring Belle out of her shell and show her everything she already was. I loved how his veiled vulnerability and how he opened up to Belle when he hid so much of himself from the world.
The plot of In Bed with the Beast was so fun. From Belle’s disastrous go at online dating to her notecards to Mrs. Potter this book was rife with comedic relief. My hands-down favorite part of this book, however, was how slowly Belle and Vincent moved from friends and roommates to more. Her slow seduction of him – with the guidance of her friends – and his refusal to give her more than he was certain she was ready for was adorable. I loved them together and their genuine care for one another shined from the pages.
In Bed with the Beast is the second book in Tara Sivec’s Naught Princess Club series. These books are interconnected standalones and do not need to be read in order. The characters and the idea of the club are all introduced in the first book, At the Stroke of Midnight, so I would highly suggest reading that book first, though nothing about Belle and Vincent’s love story is lost by not reading it. In Bed with the Beast is written in first-person perspective, narrated by Belle.
Tara Sivec has once again impressed me with this romcom. I’d already fallen in love with her writing in her heavier books, she delivers some crazy emotional stories, but she’s quickly winning me over to the comedy-side with this series. I may yet become a romcom fanatic if she keeps delivering these smart, fun stories.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It spoke to my inner princess and my love of Disney fairy tales in all the best ways. The mix of humor, romance, sexiness and vulnerability was beautiful to me as a reader. Isabelle needs to save her library, her only job and the only outlet her father has given her over the years. When he forbids her from seeing her friends, Cindy and Ariel, who are members of the Naughty Princess Club, well, she leaves. She stands up for what she wants and fights for it but she doesn’t have anywhere to go. Vincent noticed Belle the first night she was at the club where he works. When he figures out Belle is without a home, he offers his though he doesn’t see himself as relationship material especially as the strong, silent type. Well, Belle’s vibrancy and love of life can’t be swayed by Vincent which makes their interactions a joy to experience. As Belle works to save the library from closure, will she find love with Vincent? Will Vincent lose out on love by staying silent? I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.
A blonde, a brunette, and a red head walk into a strip club…
It sounds like the start of a joke or a porno but no. It’s the start of a fun and highly entertaining business venture (or a book series). The Naughty Princess Club is everything you expect from suburbanites turned strippers. What!?! You haven’t read how it all begins!? For shame! At The Stroke of Midnight started off this series of dominoes. In an unstoppable and way too much fun adventure, it’s continued in In Bed with the Beast.
This time it’s Belle, the book worm nerdy librarian’s turn at the pole! Clearly the Naughty Princess theme is key to this series. In these re-imaginings of the classic stories, it’s hard to remember that it’s an homage. The cute and funny side of Tara Sivec will blind you to the idea that you’ve read the basic plot before. The twist is worth it. The humor is definitely worth it.
Tara Sivec brings a wildly inappropriate sense of humor and a bucket of lusty need to every book she touches. It would be a terrible disservice to not get naughty with the Naughty Princesses and their unintentional princes.
Beauty and the Beast may be a classic that we all love and adore but In Bed with the Beast is definitely going to have you smirking and giggling long after you’re done strutting your stuff. Awkward facts and all, Belle is everything you want in you new best friend.
***5 ‘You Are Not The Boss Of Me’ Stars***
From the very first page I was laughing and cringing all that the same time. Not that I didn’t expect it. After reading At the Stroke of Midnight, I knew that Belle and Beast aka Vincent’s book would leave me with quite a bit of whiplash as well as more random facts floating around in my head than I thought possible, but it’s one thing to know what is coming and another thing to actually experience. But outside of the laugh/snort out loud moments and gaining of knowledge, In Bed With the Beast was all kinds of sweet, smexy and crazy and I adored every second of it.
I adored Isabelle, even when my eyes went a little cross eyed, I adored her. She may be awkward, she may be prone to spouting off random, though pertinent, information there was an honesty to her that made her extremely likeable. The fact that she owned her quirks was a huge draw, but watching her find herself and finally see how strong she could be was what made everything worthwhile.
Vincent. Beast. Vincent…No matter what you call the man, he is all kinds of growly, beastie, smexy alpha AF male goodness. His definitely has a short fuse, and there were moments were even I was like “Oh no he didn’t” but he proved time and time again just how golden his heart was. The man made me all kinds of dopey and twitterpated.
As for their journey to their HEA. It was a mish mash of adorkable, angsty, laugh out loud goodness with a dose of smexy that I didn’t expect but felt it was perfect. I loved it when they went at odds and went toe to toe as much as I loved when they were sweet and smexy. They got each other on a level that no one else could have, and one neither realized until they had both fallen hard for the other.
I have to say I really liked how the author took the various themes from the Beauty and the Beast fairytale and made them her own. Some aspects she kept, some she didn’t, and some she put her own twist on and I thoroughly enjoyed the little tweaks she made. Of the new characters we meet, Mrs. Potter is my favorite and I have no doubt she will be yours too. Catching up with Cindy and PJ was fun and then there is Ariel. Now, I wish her book, Kiss the Girl, was on the Kindle right now, I do, believe me, I do, BUT as much as I love her I know I will need to prepare for the hurricane that is Ariel, even if the themes from The Little Mermaid are followed we will still be IN her head, so the mental prep is starting now, because I NEED to find out how Eric breaks down her walls in a big, big way!
~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~
I really enjoyed this second installment of the Naughty Princesses. Tara Sivec knows how to do Rom-Com, that is for certain! Seeing Belle come out of her shell for her “Beast” was a delightful. And the twists on the old fairy tales are once again so clever. The only negative I have is that there was certain things that were exact repeats from the first book. If you don’t read them one after the other you might not even notice. But I read them consecutively and I did have “deja vu” moments. Still a highly entertaining read though!
In Bed With The Beast is the second book in the Naughty Princess Club series by Tara Sivec and is filled with just as much ridiculous fun as the first. I have to say I think this might be my favorite int he series, though I’ll wait for Kiss The Girl to call it. But then again I have always been a big fan of Belle!
A shy librarian stripper and a brute of a strip club bouncer make for quite the pair. When these two opposites become roommates they couldn’t be more different. Their attraction is obvious but something is keeping them from acting on it. I loved how he brought out the spunk in her and she found the softness in him. They really were a perfect pair.
The series as a whole has to be taken with a sense of humor and fun. You can’t take it too seriously or it’ll end up losing some of its whimsy. While a tad silly it is full of a ton of heart, some amazing female friendships, and heroes who are more than they appear. A great escape from reality!
4.5 Smooches
~miranda
In Bed with the Beast by Tara Sivec is book Two in The Naughty Princess Club. This is the story of Belle and Vincent “Beast”. I haven’t yet read the previous book, so for me this was a standalone book. I will say that I enjoyed this one so much that I really wished I had read the previous book just to get that extra background on the characters in this book.
Belle is money challenged because she is trying to save the library she runs. All her money goes it keep it going but the board is wanting to shut it down. Belle and her two friends each have personal issues that they need money for so they came up with The Naughty Princess Club to Princess strip parties to get money. But Bell is shy and bookish so she is struggling to get an ‘education’ on seduction. Vincent is the bouncer at a strip club that they are friends with the owner and now Vincent is making it a habit to come into the library at closing to see Belle. Vincent offers his place for her to stay when she has a fallen out with her dad and is living at the library.
This opens them both up to learning more about each other…but Vincent isn’t as up front as he should be on why he is befriending Belle.
Really enjoyed their story!!
This story may have similarities in the tale of beauty and the beast but not many. It is a fun and quick read and Isabella Reading is a hoot! When her dad kicks her out she sleeps in the library she works at till the bouncer Beast from the nightclub her friends boyfriend owns takes notice of her. Isabella is also in partnership with her friends in a stripper for hire business which she hopes to make money to save her library. Isabella can’t be a stripper till she gets some male experience so she tries online dating, but Beast realizes she is sleeping in the library and offers his couch. Isabella’s blind dates and her interaction with Beast made her such a lovable character you are routing for her the whole time.
Reviewed on behalf of Once upon an Alpha
The premise behind the story of the “Beauty & The Beast” is and always will be one of my favorites. It has been done a variety of different ways and in different settings but the concept is always the same. I can’t get enough of it and Tara just nailed my need for another right here.
“I’m nobody’s hero, princess. And this isn’t a fairy tale.”
This is such a great spoof on the Disney classics. The first one was Cinderella and now this is Belle’s chance to find happiness. The play on stuff from the movie was done just enough to make me chuckle but not over done to where I would roll my eyes at it. This could stand on its own just like the first book and I love that Tara made sure that they could.
“Sweet mother of pearl, he’s got the V.”
My only request would have been to get a little more one on one time between Belle and Beast. They had a lot scenes together and everything about those scenes were fantastic, I just wanted them to not be so short. Well sometimes they felt that way and I know he was a man of few words but I would have liked to seen the connection between them more. This doesn’t mean I didn’t love the book, because I did. I just missed that part and that’s my favorite part of reading romance, the fall. Nothing makes me swoon harder than watching a man fall in love. It’s book crack I tell ya!
Tara you’re amazing at what you do. Keep it up and I can’t wait for Ariel’s book! She’s basically me and I’m ready to fall for Eric. I love me some love-hate angry sex. The harder they fight it the hotter it is. LOL!
I’ve read a few books by Tara Sivec before, so I know she can write. I forgot just how well. I hadn’t read the first book in The Naughty Princess Club, but I will certainly be going back to read it now. I very much enjoyed In Bed with the Beast!
Belle is the youngest of the Naughty Princesses. She is working hard to try to save her library, as well as move out from her father’s basement. But when he kicks her out, she doesn’t know what she’ll do. Vincent “Beast” steps in and offers her a place to stay, but as she doesn’t know him that well, she’s a little hesitant to do so.
I greatly enjoyed Belle and Beast. They work well complement each other. I also enjoyed the side characters. The plot was well-developed, and the characters were likable. I will most certainly be reading more in this series!
I will admit…the whole premise of The Naughty Princess Club cracks me up. How cool is it to have the tables turned and it is a woman who is living in her over-protective dad’s basement when she decides to break rules? And her goal is to become an exotic dancer so she can keep her day job??? OMG, Belle is having a bad year. She goes from living in the basement to living in the library that she runs…until she is “rescued” by Vincent, or Beast, as he is known.
I loved how this story was funny and sad and crazy and sweet and smexy as all get out. Belle’s two friends are hilarious, even when they are acting like clueless idiots. Seriously, sometimes the three of them reminded me of another slapstick trio from long ago.
I really enjoyed the story, felt for both Belle and Vincent and their backstories, and recommend this story. I read the first story in this series but it is a standalone so no worries. I can’t wait to see how Ms. Sivec tops this book with the next Naughty Princess. I received a free, advance copy of this book from the publisher. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.