Blog Tour - A Beauty So Cruel (Beauty & the Beast #1) by Beena Khan {Review & Giveaway}

 A  Beauty So Cruel

{Beauty & the Beast #1}

Author: Beena Khan

Publication Date: February 14th, 2021

Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

I was a beauty, a stray orphan until the beast took me as his hostage.

Once upon a time...
A Don by the name of Vlad Vitalli ruled New York. He's a mafia man. The leader of one of the ruling families, La Cosa Nostra. He's a monster. A trained killer and a cold-blooded murderer. Tall, mysterious, with icy gray eyes, and he rarely smiles. He's a criminal. Ruthless, cold, dangerous, and is going to kill me.

I was the wrong person at the wrong time.
An innocent at the masquerade ball but I witnessed a murder. The mafia has rules: no witnesses left behind. To save my life, I made a deal with the beast. I handed myself to the cruelest man in the kingdom.

For him, It was supposed to be an easy kill. I'm an orphan raised in poverty. Just as Don Vlad was about to order the hit, I threw off my masquerade mask, revealing my face, and offered myself to him. One look and I was doomed. He took me as his hostage. His captive. He didn't know by taking me, Dahlia Hadid, he sealed his own fate.

Welcome to New York's Underworld.
Loosely based on the fairytale.

{Amazon}

Let me start by saying that I'm a complete sucker for retellings and naturally, I couldn't let this one pass me by without actually giving it a chance to impress me! I was immensely intrigued by the synopsis and knew from the beginning that I would end up enjoying it! Also, can we talk about the title? I'm all in for danger and romance so, let's talk about A Beauty So Cruel now, shall we? The book itself deals with some sensitive topics, so I just want to preface my review by saying that there are trigger warnings which should obviously be taken into consideration, in case you're not comfortable with being exposed to them.

Dahlia, our main character, is basically taken hostage by a mafia boss after witnessing a murder she shouldn't have. Nobody survives the ruthlessness of the Don, but she decides to make a deal with the devil in order to survive. Does her life depend on his mercy though or is there something more sinister and dangerous at play, something that will seal their fates together and destroy them in the end?

I'm not going to get into the plot itself, that was just a brief description of what you should expect, without actually expecting it! Dahlia is quite interesting as a character and that becomes obvious as soon as you start reading the novel. She's strong and determined, without being too overbearing and that made her even more likable. Vlad is obviously captivated by her from the very beginning and their attraction sparks a flame that they can't resist. He isn't your typical mafia boss, which goes to show that reputation doesn't define who you are as a person, but it's immensely important in helping you maintain an illusion of who you'd like others to perceive you as. He was actually quite unpredictable and mysterious as a character, with depth and vulnerabilities, full of emotion, something that you wouldn't have expected from a mafia boss, right?

My favorite part about the book was probably its pace. It was just slow enough to build anticipation, without dragging on and fast enough to keep you on the edge, guessing about what would happen next. I'm not going to say that the book itself took me by surprise, because I was expecting to like it, but the ending? Come on! It was really fast and easy to read, perfect if you're on the hunt for a guilty pleasure that will literally destroy you! The writing was great as well, which definitely added to the reading experience and the portrayal of the characters. And, do I really need to talk about the romance and its build up? I assure you guys, you're definitely not ready for it!

Overall, this book was full of suspense and mystery, romance and heartbreak, combinations that you can never go wrong with! It does deal with the hard topics of prostitution, trafficking and abuse, by bringing light to the harsh truth surrounding them and not shying away from it, which I truly appreciated! I cannot recommend it enough and get my hands on the next book, because the ending kind of destroyed me!

Beena Khan writes literary fiction and edgy, contemporary romance. She's 27 years old and lives in New York. She’s from Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, an immigrant who moved to New York when she was five years old. She currently holds a Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology. She enjoys reading, writing, and netflixing. The Name of Red is her debut novel published at the age of 26. All of her books are on Kindle Unlimited + Free Novella!

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