THE BEAST OF BESWICK by Amalie Howard is a “beauty and the beast” tale with a scarred war hero and a feminist heroine way ahead of her time. This story has an odious villain whose actions are the catalyst for the heroine to find her hero, but the bulk of the story is about the hero learning to trust and let himself be loved. Lady Astrid Everleigh finds herself in quite a predicament at the beginning of this novel. Although she’s a resourceful and intelligent young woman, she finds herself in a situation that only a marriage of convenience can fix. The dastardly Earl of Beaumont has designs on her younger sister and seeing her wed the earl seems like a fate worse than death. It’s galling for Astrid to have to turn to a man for help, but she is out of options and almost out of time.

Thane Harte, the disagreeable Duke of Beswick has some psychological scars, in addition to physical ones, from his time as a soldier. Consequently, his manners are definitely “beastly”. Astrid’s offer of marriage strikes a discordant note with him for all kinds of reasons. I like the heroine in this book, the steamy scenes, and the independent heroine, but Thane can come of as a bit of a drama queen at times. His social isolation has only made his insecurities and sense of hopelessness when it comes to ever finding love and acceptance that much worse. Thane and Astrid are both very strong-willed, so their encounters are usually passionate – for good or bad. I like that Amalie Howard writes two main characters are realistically flawed and have struggles that make readers root for them.

THE BEAST OF BESWICK has a fierce feminist heroine and a beastly hero tamed by love. In the end, Astrid’s sister reveals a courageous and crafty side, despite Astrid’s worrying over her. The relationship between Astrid and Thane is something that evolves over the course of THE BEAST OF BESWICK, rather than be an insta-love situation. One thing that I really liked about THE BEAST OF BESWICK is how the heroine stands up for herself, and delivers a satisfying parting shot to the villain rather than have the hero swoop in to save her from him. Thane does get his own knocks at the nefarious earl, but Astrid gets her pound of flesh too.