The Servants and the Beast: In which the ones who saw it all tell the true tale of the Beast Mythology, Folktales, Fantasy, Fairytales
Stonehenge Circle Press
June 28, 2019
146
You think you know the story – prince gets cursed, girl meets Beast, they fall in love and live happily ever after. If only it was that simple. But dating is tough even in the best of circumstances.Ever since the fateful day when we let that horrible Good Fairy into the castle, our lives have been on hold. When she turned our bad-tempered prince into a Beast, she lumped us, his loyal servants, into the curse too, just because she assumed his rude behavior was our fault. Theodore the butler should never have let her inside, and the rest of us should have helped bar the door.Now Theodore is an armchair, and we're all trying to carry on our duties as a piano, a coat rack, a bookcase and the like. At least we have Robert to clean up the pink sparkles piling in the corners from the Good Fairy's curse, since he’s a mop now. We know we just need the Beast to fall in love to break the spell. We're all doing whatever we can to help him find True Love, one visitor at a time, hoping the right person finally comes along--but will the Beast ever learn to love?
Available at Amazon.
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
This was a sweet version of a classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast. A mean-spirited prince, a visit from an old woman in tatters, a plea for food and shelter, and a promise of a wonderful gift. She is greeted with an insult, called an old hag and thrown out. The result as before, the prince is now a beast and, unfortunately, all his servants have met an unfortunate fate.
Everyone in the castle has been turned, a mop, an easel, a piano, a chair, and the list goes on. Only true love can remove the curse and, of course, the beast has never been a loving person. Three women come to the castle, the first a greedy, obnoxious money-hungry girl ready to marry the prince and obtain all the riches. The second girl just recently broke her engagement after finding her fiancé with another woman—the result was days of crying and talking nonstop of the man she loved. Finally, after accepting the beast’s offer of marriage, the ex-fiancé comes calling and, once again, the hope of true love is lost. Woman number three, some fifty years later, is Juliette who has decided to marry the prince and fix up the castle, so she can throw parties. Of course, she makes it known that she would never consider kissing a beast. So, three chances shot, and now eighty years later there is no hope in sight.
Number four is not what anyone expects. I will not reveal who it is, except to say that all good fairytales have HEA’s and this one is no exception.