GRR Reviews Beauty and the Space Beast: A Space Age by J. M. Page

Beauty and the Space Beast is basically the old Beauty and the Beast tale retold as a scifi tale between a recluse's daughter and a gruff alien "pirate" captain. While trope-ish at times, there are some genuine inventiveness at some of the plot elements. Though I find the ending somewhat improbable.

Mara lived on an asteroid with her father, who kept her origins hidden. But when he fell into a huge debt, Mara offered herself to work off the debt. (It didn't hurt when Torak is scrumptious) Torak the pirate captain had no use for a weak human female, but when one was offered, he couldn't refuse, and got more than he bargained for, as Mara was smart, and saw past his gruff exterior. When Torak's enemies came calling, and Mara's origin was revealed, will they still be able to live with each other? What will each give up to spend time with each other?

Without spoiling the ending, I find the ending highly improbable as the sacrifice would be too much and there should be a lot of people objecting to the choices made. Still, I think this book is a bit above average. Consider this really a 3.5/5 though, instead of 4/5 as shown.

Category: Science Fiction

Primary Plot: Young woman gave up herself to work off the debt her father incurred to alien pirate captain, who fell for her after she saved the ship more than a few times, but she has other secrets...

Tropes: disguise, family secrets, alpha guy, forced proximity, enemies to lovers

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up)