Wild Swan Meets Beauty and the Beast Retelling











Stolen Crowns, Book 5
Fairy Tales, Fairy Tale Fantasy
M&F Publishing
January 16, 2025
Ebook
374

Everyone sees him as a monster. Except her.
Bellamy’s brothers have been cursed for sixty years, stuck living as swans. She has only a short amount of time left to break the curse, or they’ll be trapped forever. Luckily, she’s finally discovered how.
Unluckily, it involves traveling to the deadly shadow court and harvesting the thorny nettle weed that grows in the castle gardens, which Bellamy must use to knit sweaters. One sweater for each of her seven brothers—and she cannot utter a single word until the curse is broken.
When the fearsome and mysterious shadow king catches her and offers safe haven, she doesn’t know what to think. She’s hated him her entire life for the atrocities he committed against her people. Yet there’s something alluring beneath his shadowy exterior, and she finds herself drawn to him against all better judgment.
But a bigger evil looms over her, one that doesn’t want this curse broken. One that’s not just a threat to Bellamy, but to the entire world. And she may be the only one who can stop it.
Beasts of Briar is the final book in Stolen Crowns, a series of steamy standalone but interconnected fairytale retellings. This Wild Swan meets Beauty and the Beast retelling is perfect for fans of enemies-to-lovers, shadow daddies, and slow-burn fantasy romance.
“We started this journey and we’re going to see it to the end.”

Beasts of Briar by Tee Harlowe marks the end of a journey for me. It was a wonderful journey not only through the world of Arathia but through my past. In Tee Harlowe’s Stolen Crowns series, I relived my love for Disney and endings that are happily ever after. From the Snow White and Robin Hood remix in Mirror of Malice to the Alice in Wonderland retelling in Wilds of Wonder, I thoroughly enjoyed all the books in this steamy fantasy romance series.
Beasts of Briar is the final book in the Stolen Crown series and reads like Beauty and the Beast meets the Wild Swan. I think this was one of Tee’s most creative reimaginings yet. The author does a fantastic job weaving characters, scenes, and feelings that are familiar from these tales with the unique mythology of Arathia. The result is a story that is unexpected, truly magical, and lots of fun.
The FMC, Bellamy, searches for a way to break the curse over her seven brothers. They were turned into swans over sixty years ago and she, who cannot speak until the curse is broken, must knit seven sweaters out of poisonous briars to free them. The briars grow in abundance at the castle of the dark and dangerous Spirit Shadow. Our MMC, Kairoth, catches Bellamy steaking what is his and makes her his “guest” in the castle. Bellamy and Kairoth’s romance is perfect for fans of a good forced proximity with a shadow daddy trope. Some of Kairoth’s lines definitely are swoon-worthy:
She could ruin everything. A part of me also thought she might be the answer to everything. Everything I needed. Everything this world needed.
Because if a woman like her could be this brave, this fearless, this selfless, if she could survive this, then she could do anything.
In addition to the romance, I loved spending some time with characters in past Stolen Crown books again. Of course, we have our dynamic duo of Driscoll and Leoni, who are heroes throughout the series. We also see the princesses and queens of the realm reuniting in the final chapters of Beast of Briar. Harlowe pulled the magical threads of each realm together one last time in the final battle to save Arathia.
If you haven’t picked up the Stolen Crown series — and you love a good fairytale retelling — do yourself a favor and indulge in one of these standalone yet interconnected stories. I promise that once you start, you will want to read them all!
Congratulations to Tee Harlowe on the conclusion of a fantastic series!
Celeste is a woman who is unwavering about certain things in life; three of those being books, cats, and cold brew coffee. If she can enjoy all three at the same time, it’s going to be a good day. Her favorite genres are fantasy or sci-fi romance, historical romance, and historical fiction but every few books she likes to mix it up with contemporary fiction, a good psychological thriller, or an inspiring memoir. She has a busy schedule working full-time for an online university but she makes sure to unwind each day with stories, either by reading to her elementary school-aged daughter or tucking herself in bed with her Kindle or the latest book she picked up at a local book store.