Dearest Beast

These past few years, I’ve been enjoying Felicia Grossman‘s Once Upon the East End series. Each story centers Jewish characters finding love in 1830s London, and each is a gender-flipped fairytale retelling. The latest release is Dearest Beast, inspired by Beauty and the Beast.

When Rebecca Adler’s home and business gets blown up by an intruding child, she’s forced to stay with the girl’s family for several weeks. Roger Berab became a widower just over a year prior, and when not searching for a new governess for his kids (that troublesome daughter, plus a sweet son), he’s also considering remarrying. Rebecca and Roger have undeniable chemistry, but they’re otherwise not suited for each other at all. Between their different stations in life and their endless quarreling, their temporary time together has a hard end date. But… could there be something more between them after all?

What I Liked:

• Jewish representation. Felicia Grossman is the only author I’m aware of who’s writing Jewish historical romances. (If you’ve read others, let me know!) I’m not Jewish myself, but I enjoy learning about their beliefs, culture, and history. Like the others in this series, Dearest Beast does a great job of representing Jewish characters, including those of different backgrounds and life experiences.
• Forced proximity. I love seeing characters forced to spend time together, especially when they’re as prone to arguing as these two are. They’re also prone to finding other ways to interact, if you catch my drift. From verbal sparring to agreeing to a temporary (and secret) fling, Roger and Rebecca are a ton of fun together. And as they spend more time under the same roof, they’re forced to see the truth of one another, too. As their prejudices and misconceptions fall away, they may find they’re more compatible than they realized.
• Is she truly a beast? In this retelling, although Roger has the mansion and impressive library, Rebecca is the one who’s seen as beastly. By her own estimation, she’s plain, cold, and off-putting. She’s often caustic and not precisely friendly. And yet, underneath it all, she’s a good person who helps others for a living. Perhaps she truly is worthy of the life Roger is offering her, if only she could see that.
• Learning to parent. Roger spends the first half of this book as a rather absentee father who can see no wrongdoing in his children. But I mean, his daughter literally blew up a house, so maybe some actual discipline is in order? Please?! Luckily, Roger eventually starts to not only spend more time with his kids, he also steps up in teaching them right from wrong, taking over governess duties, and defending them against bad potential outcomes. It took him a while, but Roger becomes a much better parent by the end.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Rebecca is smart… but so mean to everyone she deems less intelligent than her! (So, everyone). I’m generally fine with unlikeable characters, but during the first few chapters, Rebecca frequently just complains about how much smarter she is than everyone. It’s funny but kind of annoying. Such a chip on her shoulder! This smoothed out as the book progressed.

Final Thoughts

Dearest Beast is a transformative romance about flawed people who help each other change for the better. Between the hijinks, arguments, and steamy scenes, this was an engrossing read full of wit and charm. I look forward to the next Once Upon the East End book, Dream of Me Until Dawn, which will reimagine Sleeping Beauty. There’s also a series prequel, Shtup Me at Sunrise, which I’ll need to check out!

Special thanks to Forever and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Dearest Beast here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Dearest Beast by Author
Series	Once Upon the East End (#3)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Romance
Setting	England
Number of Pages	368
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	June 30, 2026
Publisher	Forever

Official Summary

Felicia Grossman continues the “revolutionary storytelling” of the Once Upon the East End series with an enchanting retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in Regency London’s Jewish community, in which a single father finds himself entranced by the same woman he once rejected (Entertainment Weekly​).

Despite an unhappy first marriage, Roger Berab always took pride in being a good father. When his daughter’s reckless behavior, however, damages both their neighbor and her home, he’s forced to reconsider. To pay reparations, he agrees to provide lodgings until the repairs are complete. Unfortunately for Roger, the victim is the same woman with whom he foolishly once shared a night of passion . . . and then scorned for her lack of status.

With her sharp tongue and and disdain for fashion, Rebecca Adler is not exactly a community darling. What she does have, however, are her skills at midwifery. That is, until she injures herself saving Roger Berab’s daughter. With her profession at a halt and her haven in disrepair, she has no choice but to accept Roger’s offer of shelter . . . but never again will she believe a man of substance lies beyond his pretty face.

Trapped in the same house, neither Rebecca nor Roger can avoid each other—or the passion still burning between them. But their time together has a deadline, and Rebecca no longer trusts Roger: can he convince her his feelings are true? Or is their tale doomed before it’s truly started?