Bend Her

A Dark Beauty and the Beast Fantasy Romance

By: Cassie Alexander

Narrated by: Victoria Mei, Matthew Holland

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Bend Her: A Dark Beauty and the Beast Fantasy Romance is the story of Rhaim the All-Beast, a cruel beast mage doomed to die at the hands of the woman he must protect at all costs, and Lisane, the sheltered Princess of Tears, who has been given into his care and who needs him to teach her magic so she can be free—no matter how much it might hurt her.

The intro follows....

Lisane:

My whole life, I had been a creature used to candlelight.

But I wasn’t accustomed to my own breath hot against my face, or the rough feeling of fabric against my cheek—or knowing that my wrists were tied behind my back, painfully tight.

The last thing I could recall was being in a carriage…. We’d been running away from the Deathless...

And now I was here.

Wherever here was.

Tied up, in the dark, on the ground, with a bag around my head.

The very thing my father had been afraid of for me for my whole life—and the reason I lived in a gilded cage, only getting to leave the palace when I had throne-sworn mages by my side—had apparently happened.

I had been kidnapped.

Rhaim the All-Beast:

Every mage gets one clear vision on the eve of their Ascension into their full powers, right before they get the brand of their mage-mark: you see the thing that will cause your absolute demise.

Some men see snowy peaks or waterfalls, others bucking horses, and some lucky few see themselves with old and wrinkled hands, passing peacefully in their sleep.

In all instances, we’re told, the reasoning behind the visions is the same: if you’re strong enough to be trusted with powers, then you must learn to accept the hand of fate, as surely as you’d earned it as your mage-mark.

You need to know, deep in your bones and now scarred on your skin, that while there are things in the world you can change with your powers, death comes for us all.

There is no amount of magic that can escape it.

And so, when a group of soldiers brought a bound and drugged woman to my doorstep, to bribe me to fight in their war, and pulled the bag off of her head and I saw her there—the woman from the vision at my Ascension, and who has haunted my dreams ever since—I knew it was the beginning of my end.

She had no idea who I was, or what we were to each other. She knew nothing about my fate or future with her, or how she was destined to kill me.

Which meant in the present...she was mine, to do with as I pleased.

And I wanted to see her crawling.

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©2022 Cassie Alexander (P)2022 Cassie Alexander

Fun Fantasy Romance

What do you get when you combine a moth, an all-beast, and a spider creature? A magical, dark fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Bend Her was my first book by Cassie Alexander. Fantasy is not my go-to genre, but I enjoyed this rollercoaster adventure. The characters were unique and the story is not overcrowded with a plethora of fantastical beings to track. Cassie’s storytelling is bursting with vivid imagery, dynamic characters, and pulse-pounding plot twists. I found the evolution of Rhaim and Lisane’s relationship captivating. Cassie’s storytelling is enchanting, steamy, and action-packed.

Victoria Mei and Matthew Holland were new-to-me narrators. Victoria’s characterization of Lisane’s demure princess-turned-resilient survivor was fascinating. Matthew Holland’s performance of the gruff, reclusive, seductive mage, Rhaim was compelling. Their styles and pacing worked well together and lent to the flow of this rollercoaster adventure.

Loved this!

Whoa! This book surprised and thrilled me! Yes its a take off the Beauty and Beast story with its own twists. It has the paranormal element and it is a little dark but I really enjoyed that storyline. The little touch of BDSM is okay but not my thing and it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. Each character made me *feel* for them and just like each of them I looked forward to their time together. I want to hive a shout-out to Rhaim’s first magical creature as he was a delightful add to the story.

This does end in a cliffhanger but there is a snippet of the next book that appeases. I look forward to the next in the series! I did listen to this on audio. Victoria Mei and Matthew Holland did a wonderful job narrating. Ms Mei I have listened to many times as I adore her work. Mr Holland is a new to me narrator and he did very good with the changes in the all-beast

Absolutely devourable

Cannot wait for the next one. I absolutely ate this up! Suspense with a hint of “forbidden” love when you want something that is “bad” for you! I like a good bad boy… dark desires and impulses. Definitely can not wait for more.

Great Enemies To Lovers

I really like this book. This book is my favorite troupe, enemies to lovers. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale. Lisane and Rhaim kinda excited me. This book had me hooked from the first paragraph. I like how Rhaim doesn't get forceful with Lisane. The narrators are new to me but they fit the characters perfectly. I can't wait for the next book in this series to come out.

Lovely reimagining

I found this dark reimaginging of beauty and the beast to be delightful. It does end on a cliffhanger, but I expected this and cannot wait for the future releases. I felt the author did a wonderful job of building the world and creating amazing characters. Lisane is 18 years old and I was concerned she would behave obnoxiously for her age but I was pleasantly surprised to find she did not. You get a good feel for her naivete, but I never found her over the top which I appreciated. I loved Rhaim. There is a slight bdsm element which isn't my cup of tea, but it did not take away or ruin the story for me. I listened to this book on audible and thought the narration was fantastic.

I was blown away by this fantastic production.

I was given an ARC copy of both the audio and digital version of Bend Her in return for my honest review, and I was absolutely blown away by the quality of both the audio and the story.

This is not an AI human-sound-alike, as many audiobooks are. The narration was natural, fluent, emotional, and sexy (especially during spicy parts). Both voices fit their respective characters perfectly and each voice actor had incredible range to portray the other gender and also a loveable spider-cat.

The story itself is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but with so much more emotional depth and magical world building. Each character's inner struggles are portrayed against flying castles, wars, libraries, and mysterious magic with lethal consequences. It doesn't end on a cliffhanger, per say, but it definitely leaves you wanting more and anxious for the release of the next book: Break Her in May.

Not your Grandmother's Belle!

This is a decidedly different take on the age old Beauty and the Beast tale. Extremely well written and performed. I eagerly look forward to continuing this version.

Lisane and Rhaim

This is my review of the audiobook Oh I loved this dark re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. Here Lisane has been drugged and kidnapped and i when she comes to she realizes she has hood over her head to cover where she is going. She thought she was being taken to see her bethroth, but alias she has not. For some reason her father and brother seeked help from Rhaim the All-Beast. A mage and shape shifter of a wolf and guardian it seems. They both can create magic it seems. But he has been alive for ceintures and has seen visions of death or accession. Of that image of the person who will kill him. And when he finds he drugged masked girl he knows right away she is the one of his vision. In order to help fight with her father he sacrificed his daughter. Now that Rhaim has her in his kingdom he will make her crawl and do what he wishes to her. But, she doesn't want to stay there. She was suppose to be wedded to the man she was promised to. And plus her father and brother would pay anything to get her back. But what she doesn't know is that they gave her up in order for him to help in their battle of war. Will she accept this? Or is there others with a secret plan of their own? Also, this is a trilogy soo this does leave on a cliffhanger. Questions not answered...ooh i can't wait for the others. Well done!

Awesomeness

I’m only sad I have to wait until May for the next book to be released.

Disappointed

I really was interested in this beauty and the beast retelling. It just leaned too hard into BDSM. That ruined this fantasy romance for me. I could not grow to like these characters when their relationship would cross the line into near abuse.