*I received a free copy of Beauty Inc. from Dreamspinner Press via Enchantress Design and Promo. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Beauty Inc. by Tara Lain Series: The Pennymaker Tales #3
Published by Dreamspinner Press on 8 June 2016
Genres: Adult, LGBT, Romance
Pages: 121
Format: eARC
Source: Enchantress Design and Promo
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.
I absolutely loved Beauty, Inc. – it’s one of the best Beauty and the Beast re-tellings I’ve ever read, and I was immediately swept off my feet by both Belle and Magnus.
Tara Lain’s Pennymaker Tales series is truly amazing! I loved spending some time with Belle and Magnus, and Beauty, Inc. was a tale that got me thinking about the fact that we often need to look deeper than what we see at first sight. There is strong friendships and loyalty in this story, and there is family who doesn’t act like family, but friends who do act like family. There are some strong, very smart characters, and some important messages about what is important in life.
A great love story – that’s what the original Beauty and the Beast is all about, and that’s definitely true for this re-telling as well. I truly enjoyed Magnus – almost more so than Belle – because he was in the public eye, had left the scars on his face be, and didn’t think he deserved love or affection from anyone. It was great to see Belle slowly change his mind, just by being loveable and showing Magnus that he was worthy, and while Magnus kept being insecure about those feelings for a while, he was never pathetic or diminished by that. It made him more likeable and realistic to me.
The story spans over several weeks, and while Beauty Inc. is a company inventing new skin care and make-up, it’s also a company that works to help women in need. Sharing is caring, and Magnus brought that to a whole new and important level with his various charities. Written in third person point of view, past tense, but with dialogues to let the readers close to the characters, the story was well executed and made me cry tears of joy in the very end.
Walking behind Kleinschmidt came the most beautiful boy – man – Magnus had ever seen. Pale blond with much darker eyes, cheekbones like a lesson from Michelangelo, and a tall, slim body that filled out a gray business suit as if he were walking a runway.
No one else looked even a little like that, but wow. Belle’s steps slowed. Looking at Strong’s face on the cover of a magazine revealed its ugliness, but in life his pure vitality and charisma leaped across the space between them and ate Belle alive. So ugly he was beautiful.
“I’m glad.” His heart beat so hard they both should have been able to hear it.
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Is someone here?
He looked up just as Belle stepped into his doorway. His heart skipped. What did Belle’s expression mean? Confusion? Anger? Hope? “Hello.”
Belle swallowed hard. “Are you the one who called Judy last night?”
Okay, what had he done now? “Uh, yes. I—I thought—it was so late, and no one else was here.”
“You had a ticket waiting for her at the airport and got Leroy to meet her?”
“Yes.”
“And gave her a job and insurance?”
“I talked to HR, yes.”
Some huge storm battled behind Belle’s midnight blue eyes. He didn’t seem to be able to catch his breath. He just gasped and clutched his chest. Magnus stood. “Are you okay? Can I get you water?”
Suddenly Belle took off like a gazelle that had spotted a lion—except he ran to the lion. In three bounding steps, he crossed the office and hurled himself at Magnus. Before Magnus could prepare, a tall, slim body hit him full force, arms wrapping around his neck. “Thank you. Thank you. Oh my God, how can I ever thank you?”
Magnus lost his balance and staggered, arms coming around Belle, falling until his butt hit the office chair, which rolled back. They smacked the wall with Belle sprawled on his lap. He gasped for breath, and the exhale came out as a laugh. It was like having the world’s cutest dalmatian on his lap—a dalmatian he’d like to kiss and embrace and otherwise manhandle. Dream on.
Belle kept hugging and muttering, “Thank you. Thank you.”
Magnus adjusted Belle a little so he was actually sitting on Magnus’s lap but didn’t make a big enough thing out of it to scare him off. Hell, this was a moment to savor and prolong.
Finally Belle stopped wiggling, which was good, since the vibration was getting to Magnus’s cock. Belle stilled and seemed to hesitate. Reluctance or embarrassment? He sat back and looked into Magnus’s face. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Magnus couldn’t help smiling, even though the effect wasn’t really friendly. “I’m very glad you’re happy.”
“No one’s ever done such a wonderful thing for me before.”
Magnus tried to be corporate and fatherly—very challenging in his current position. “It’s the mission of this company to help women.”
“Yes, but this was very personal. I’ll be grateful all my life.”
“I’m glad.” His heart beat so hard they both should have been able to hear it.
Belle looked down at where he was firmly planted on Magnus’s lap. “I guess I was a bit more enthusiastic than I planned.”
“You don’t hear me complaining.”
Belle slowly looked up at Magnus’s face, which made Magnus want to cringe or hide. Too close. Belle cocked his head and inspected every inch of Magnus’s ruined landscape of a face. Slowly, he leaned forward and kissed the scar across the bridge of Magnus’s nose. He whispered, “In for a penny—” and his mouth moved south until he kissed the distorted corner of Magnus’s mouth.
The Pennymaker Tales Series
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 23. Her bestselling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soulmate husband and her soulmate dog in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
You can find Tara at
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About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
You sold me at Beauty and the Beast retelling. And yes, I do love Tara Lain’s romantic writing style. I tend to smile and get swoony all the time with her books. This is definitely going on the wish list. Nice review, Lexxie!
I love Beauty and the Beast, Sophia Rose! And Tara Lain is awesome. You need to get your hands on Beauty Inc. asap!!
Thank you, Sophia Rose. I hope you enjoy my Beauty! : )
Twitter: kbaby81
I haven’t tried this author yet, but I hope to soon. I have a few M/M books on my Kindle, but none by her. Thanks for sharing!
I really love Lain’s stories, Lekeisha. There is always some kind of moral – and there is almost always at least one person in the LGBTQ character’s close relations / family who loves them.
Thank you so much for checking out Lexxie’s great review, Lekeisha! She’s the best. : )
Lexxie, you’re amazing. I always learn new things about my books when i read your wonderful reviews. Thank you so much for sharing Beauty, Inc. on your blog. *hugs* !
Oh, thank you, Tara 🙂 I always enjoy the way you make your characters grow – sometimes in unexpected ways. *hugs*
Beauty and the Beast?!? I am very curious about this one now. I just love Beauty in the Beast and this sounds like such an interesting take on the idea. Great review! Thanks for the giveaway!
Thank you, Carole! Love the curiosity and agree about the great review!! : )
Yup! I love Beauty and the Beast, too, Carole, and this take on that story was awesome 🙂
It’s great to see that it continues to be that good and that you had a wonderful time with the story!
Thank you Melliane. Must say i love your name. : )
I absolutely love this series, Melliane 🙂
This sounds like a delightful story, Lexxie. Beauty and the Beast of one of my favorite – probably my most favorite – fairytale. And I agree with you that we should always look deeper than skin-level or at least not judge someone based on first impressions based on looks. I’ve not had the pleasure of diving into this series from Lain yet, but you know I will. 😉 Lovely review, wife! **BIG HUGS**
Giant hugs, Ms. Brandee!!
It was delightful, Brandee, and I know you are going to love both Magnus and Belle!! *BIG HUGS*