Beast release and review!!

Title: Beast: A Hate Story, The Beginning
Author: Mary Catherine Gebhard
Release Date: March 14, 2017
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Once upon a time, I thought love was a fairytale.

I thought selling myself to a mafia boss was noble. So what if they called him the Beast? I grew up in rags, and he would lift me to riches. All I had to do was give him my soul.

He was punishing. Insatiable. Captivating. Nothing like I expected him to be. Each day my reality blurred, leaving me wondering if I was slave or princess.

The longer I stayed, the more I lost myself to him. Even after every cruelty the Beast visited upon me, I longed for his touch. Even after every savage word he spoke, I begged for his lips. I thought the worst thing he could take was my body. I was too naïve to guard my heart.

Once upon a time, I thought love was a fairytale.

Now I know better than to speak of happily-ever-afters.

Beast is the first book in the Hate Story duet. About what it means to fall in love with the person who has absolutely destroyed you, it contains disturbing and graphic situations that may be a trigger for some.

3.5 stars

Beast is the first story of a duet by Mary Catherine Gebhard, this is the first book I have read by this author- so I was intrigued by that- as well as the fact that the synopsis was so good. It combined fairy tale and mafia- with the retelling (a little bit) of Beauty and the Beast- and the Beast himself actually being part of the mafia.

Francesca Notte is the heroine, and her friends call her Frankie. She promises her life in exchange for her fathers. Her family, more specifically her father, owes money to the mob.

And Beast, the hero, who is essentially the Mob boss in waiting, swoops in and handles the situation. But when he arrives, he basically swoons over Frankie- and he needs to be careful what he does from this point forward. He isn’t the mob boss yet, and one muck up could cost him everything he has worked for.

The story was very back and forth- I felt like a yo-yo. Oh yeah, love Beast. OMG, I hate that guy!!! I really enjoy Frankie, OMG, Frankie is the worst! There was so much back and forth- and the story isn’t just cut and dry, so at certain parts- it was a hard read for me. But that said, the writing was incredible.

And it ended on a WTF cliffhanger from the depths of hell!! I couldn’t believe what I was reading, and I can’t wait for the conclusion in the second final installment. 

Mary Catherine Gebhard bites off more than she can chew. She’s lived in Salt Lake City, Utah her entire life but occasionally goes on vacation from reality. Don’t worry, she sends postcards.