Cruel Beauty

If you’re excited about the upcoming Disney film Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, don’t miss Cruel Beauty.

The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in this dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Perfect for fans of bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away.

Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known that her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny. But on her seventeenth birthday when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom's mountaintop, nothing is what she expected—particularly her charming and beguiling new husband. Nyx knows she must save her homeland at all costs, yet she can't resist the pull of her sworn enemy—who's gotten in her way by stealing her heart.

• Beauty and the Beast Retelling: She was sent to kill the monster, but in the shadows of his castle, Nyx discovers the man within—and a love that could be her ultimate undoing.
• Forced Proximity: Trapped within the castle walls with her kingdom’s greatest enemy, every shared glance becomes a dangerous test of her resolve.
• Morally Grey Hero: Is her new husband a beguiling prince or a vicious demon? Nyx must unravel the secrets of the man she’s supposed to hate before she loses her heart completely.
• Gothic Romance: With a cursed, magical castle and a world trapped under a parchment sky, this dark fairy tale is steeped in atmosphere and suspense.