Reviewed by Susan65
Title: Beauty, Inc.
Author: Tara Lain
Series: The Pennymaker Tales #3
Heroes: Belle/Magnus
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 121 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 8, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Is beauty only skin deep?
Chemist Dr. Robert “Belle” Belleterre loves flowers, green trees, his best friend Judy, and “his baby”: the new face cream he developed to help put his father’s small cosmetics company on the map. Sadly he gets no help from his alcoholic, gambling-addicted father who loses Belle in a poker game to Magnus Strong, the CEO of Beauty, Inc. the largest American cosmetics company—a man infamous for his scarred ugliness.
Belle finds himself uprooted from his home, living in a wildly crazy apartment in New York owned by Mr. Pennymaker, and completely unprepared for his mad attraction to the charismatic Strong. Feeling like a traitor, Belle fights his passion only to see more and more of the goodness and humility hidden by Strong’s ugly face. But when Belle’s family starts manipulating his life again, the odds turn against happiness for beautiful Belle and his beloved beast.
Review:
I am not a fan of fairy tales, but I am a fan of Tara Lain, so this was a surprise four star hit for me.
Dr. Belleterre and Magnus Strong are basically “Beauty and the Beast”, whereas Magnus is considered hideously ugly due to a car accident that scarred his face, and Belle is unnaturally beautiful. Both are in the beauty business, with Strong being the biggest competitor to Belle’s father’s company. Belle is a chemist on the cutting edge of getting his family business back in the black when Belle’s alcoholic and gambling-addicted father “loses” Belle to Strong.
The parallels with real life and fairytale were written so well that I easily saw where things were leading but I still wanted to follow along to see how they got there. There are no pumpkins, no magic pills, or Magnus finally becoming a beautiful prince, but there is a slow growing admiration and love that shines through and wins at the end. Great story and recommended.
Overall Impression: I really liked it!
*I purchased a copy of this book for this review.*
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