For anyone who is bold enough to read fairy tales and brave enough to believe in redemption.
From riches to rags, from France to Louisiana, from hope to heartbreak—Bellarose Bonnay has lost everything. But her greatest adventure is just beginning.
The first book in the twisted fairy tale series, The Aerowyn Tales.
Detailed Description:
A Cursed Plantation. A Twin Transformed. A Love That Demands Sacrifice.
When Bella’s aristocratic family falls into ruin, she finds herself orphaned and destitute in New Orleans. Working as a barmaid at The Swan, she’s harassed by Gerard—an arrogant war hero whose attention she wants nothing to do with. But when a mysterious encounter leads her to the abandoned Rose Manor, she discovers Gerard is actually the long-lost son of the Count de la Rose, stolen by an enchantress as a child.
Now Gerard has returned to claim his inheritance alongside his twin brother Antoine. But Rose Manor hides an impossible secret: the entire household lives under a powerful curse cast by the enchantress Aerowyn.
By day:
The mansion stands empty, draped in cobwebs and dust.
By night:
Magic transforms everything. The abandoned estate becomes opulent. Servants trapped as furniture, candlesticks, and clocks return to human form. And Antoine shifts from wolf to man, fighting to retain his humanity during each transformation.
The curse will become permanent in two weeks unless Antoine finds someone who loves him unselfishly enough to break the spell.
As Bella helps plan a grand ball to save the household, she discovers that breaking a curse requires more than a simple kiss. It demands sacrifice, truth, and a love powerful enough to transform everything. But when jealousy erupts on the night of the ball and magic spirals out of control, the cost of freedom may be higher than anyone imagined.
Bellarose and the Beast weaves together multiple beloved fairy tales into one unforgettable story. A hunchbacked blacksmith who sees Bella’s true worth. An estate manager trapped as a candelabra. An enchantress who tests the limits of goodness, and a magical library where books literally come to life.
The first book in The Aerowyn Tales trilogy asks: What would you sacrifice to save the ones you love? How far would you go to break a curse? And when everyone wears a mask, who is the real beast?
Beauty and the Beast like you’ve never read it before.
In this lush, magical retelling set in post-Revolutionary War Louisiana, nothing is as it seems:
- The “beast” is a tormented aristocrat who transforms into a wolf
- The “beauty” is a fallen aristocrat working as a servant
- The war hero brother hides a shattered heart
- True love might come from the most unexpected places
- And the enchantress pulling the strings has her own mysterious motives
Perfect for readers who love:
- Beauty and the Beast retellings with fresh twists
- Historical fantasy romance
- Enchanted households and talking objects
- Enemies-to-allies relationships
- Multiple love stories woven together
- Magical curses with high stakes
- French aristocracy and Louisiana Gothic atmosphere
- Redemption arcs and character growth
- Fairy godmother figures with hidden depths
“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” ~ C.S. Lewis
Bellarose and the Beast is book 1 in Carla Reighard’s interconnected fairy tale universe, The Aerowyn Tales, weaving together the threads of multiple beloved tales in a richly imagined YA fantasy series.
Similar Books to “Bellarose and the Beast”
Beauty and the Beast Retellings:
- “A Curse So Dark and Lonely” by Brigid Kemmerer – Modern girl meets cursed prince, multiple perspectives, time pressure on breaking the curse
- “Beauty” by Robin McKinley – Classic retelling with rich detail and character development
Enchanted Households & Cursed Objects:
- Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” – The obvious comparison with talking furniture and household staff
- “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones – Magical house, transformation curses, enchantress figure
Historical Fantasy with Magic:
- “Sorcery of Thorns” by Margaret Rogerson – Magical library (like Layney’s library), historical setting, romance, books coming to life
- “Uprooted” by Naomi Novik – Historical fantasy, transformation, enemies-to-lovers, powerful magic user
Fairy Tale Retellings with Multiple Stories Woven Together:
- “The Lunar Chronicles” by Marissa Meyer – Multiple fairy tales reimagined, interconnected characters“
Romance with Class Differences & Redemption Arcs:
- Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” – Enemies-to-lovers, overcoming first impressions, class considerations
What Makes “Bellarose and the Beast” Unique:
- The magical library where readers literally enter books (very “Sorcery of Thorns” meets “Inkheart”)
- Post-Revolutionary War Louisiana setting (less common than medieval Europe)
- Twin brother’s storyline with role reversal
- The enchantress Aerowyn as an ongoing character across the series
- Multiple love stories at different stages
- The meta-narrative of Bella reading a book within the book
- Blend of French aristocracy and American frontier culture
Check out Goodreads to see what readers are saying about Bellarose and the Beast.
Goodreads
Content:
Only kisses, no swearing, war scenes with blood, character that suffers PTSD, bar with mention of alcohol, characters given sleeping drug, unsolicited bum smack.
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Bellarose and the Beast came about when someone on Instagram asked why there weren’t any Gaston retellings from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. At the time there weren’t any so Carla wrote a book named Gerard, rebranded as Bellarose and the Beast, book one of The Aerowyn Tales where villains receive second chances and each villain has a backstory to show why they went to the dark side.
There are several “beasts” in The Aerowyn Tales that are not necessarily monsters with fur. These stories are meant to show the best and worst of mankind and that even if you can’t choose what happens to you. You can choose how to react.
Bellarose and the Beast – Deleted Parts
BATB Character descriptions
