New Release Review:
Deceit (The Beastly Tales #2) by M.J. Haag
I am an unabashed uber fan of Melissa Haag’s YA paranormal series, The Judgement of the Six, so when I was given the opportunity to beta read her new adult/adult series, The Beastly Tales, I could not pass it up! So today I bring you my spoiler-free review of Deceit (The Beastly Tales #2) by M.J. Haag. This is a fairy tale retelling broken up into a 3-part serial release, each book releasing a month apart and each book is close to 200 pages, so it is a lengthy serial. If you are interested in reading what both Sara & I had to say about, book 1, Depravity, check out our reviews!
Deceit (The Beastly Tales #2) by M.J. Haag
Category: New Adult, Paranormal Romance, Fairy Tale Retelling
Publication: July 21st, 2015
Purchase: Amazon, iBooks, B&N, Kobo
Safely hidden within the estate’s enchanted walls, Benella no longer has time to fear her tormentors. She’s too preoccupied attempting to determine what makes the beast so beastly. It might be the taxing visits from the aged enchantress who cursed him or his growing vexation at not being allowed to touch Benella.
In order to gain her freedom, she must find a way to break the curse, but first, she must help him become a better man while protecting her heart.
Note: Intended for adult readers only due to sexual situations, violence (attempted rape), and moderate language.
Spoiler-Free Review:
[book rating=5.0/5.0]Deceit is the second part, of the three part serial, The Beastly Tales and this may contain minor spoilers from book 1, Depravity. Deceit blew me away and I felt like there was so much going on in part 2 of this series that I am not sure how much I can say without spoiling everything! We pick up exactly where we left off in Depravity, and we find Benella and the beast in a quite a game of cat & mouse. He wants her for way more than just helping to break his curse.
Benella is growing into such a strong independent woman in part 2. She is seeking knowledge to help free the beast as well as continuing to try and help her struggling family. She is so good natured and her heart is kind that she continually tries to find the best in everyone around her even those who have done her harm in the past. She also has such a talent for defusing situations, which makes her perfect for the beast, however some of her ideas do tend to put him in more of a fury at times!
This book had such great character building, I found myself loving everyone Benella did and her emotions and frustration had me transfixed. I can say that I am not nearly as patient or as forgiving as Benella. I would never have put up with that BS as much as she did. I think her ability to see nothing but the good in people may have also blinded her to the real awfulness inside them and caused her to get into a little too much trouble. The relationship growth in this book was just so enjoyable and we find that Benella is totally falling for the beast which is expected, this is a fairy tale we all know, right?
One thing that this fairy tale is not, is for kids! This second part is way more naughty and mature than book 1. I am talking about some serious face fanning going on! There are also some heated sexual and violent scenes in this book too. So please, please be aware of that going into this book/series.
I will say one thing that can be spoiler-ish all on it’s own, but I have to just get it off my chest, that there is a crazy cliffhanger! But it’s a serial release, of course there is a cliffhanger! Luckily we only have to wait a month before we get to read Devesatation, the conclusion of the Beastly Tales! Seriously, this ending was nothing short of devastating. I never wanted to throw my eReader more than I did after I finished this book…the anger overcame me and it was hard to move onto another book for a good long while.
I know fairy tale retellings are very popular these days, but I implore you to give this series a go! It is so much fun and well worth the read–even if I wanted to toss my Kindle at the end!
