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.

Great start to the series!

“Bend Her” is a spicy, dark and tantalizing Beauty and the Beast retell that pulled me in from the start and is a delicious dark retelling treat.

Lisane, a princess, is now the captive of the Rhaim, a mage who has been around for a long time. Determined to stand on her own and break free, Lisane tries to appeal to any part of his humanity. The two form a mentor/mentee relationship that is filled with lots of sexual tension.

This is the first book in the series and it starts off so intriguing. I was pulled in immediately and could not stop listening. I love darker retellings and this one is great. The tension between Lisane and Rhaim was delightful and I was waiting for the big moment. They bring out the best in each other regardless of how their situation is. The story does end on a cliffhanger but it’s a 3 book series so I was expecting it. I’m looking forward to the next part of their story.

The narration of this book brings it to life in a magnificent way. Victoria Mei and Matthew Holland were the perfect choices. Victoria brought all of Lisane’s fiery spirit to life and Matthew, new to me narrator, was growly perfection.

🥰🥰🥰

I cannot wait to read the rest of this series!! The slow burn and build up was amazing and frustrating all at the same time. Only frustrating because I'm an impatient reader lol. I absolutely loved the creativity in being able to take the idea of beauty and the beast and make it it's own new unique story entirely.  Love, love, loved it. Now impatiently waiting for book 2 . . .

This was AMAZING!

I received this audio book 🔈📕as an ALC to listen to.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️out of 5️⃣ for Story
🌶️🌶️out of 5️⃣ for spice
🔈🔈🔈🔈🔈 out of 5️⃣ for narration

Tropes:
🥀 Magic
🥀 Beasts
🥀 “Kidnapped” Princess
🥀 Slow Burn
🥀 Dark Beauty and the Beast retelling

Wow! Just wow!! This was my first book by Cassie Alexander and let me tel you… it will most definitely not be my last.

The world building in this book is incredible. Cassie does a great job of setting us up with everything we need right off the bat and never strays into area that leave the reading wondering what happened.

The story of Rhaim and Lisane is a mind blowing experience.

The story of Rhaim, the beast falling for the princess who is destined to be his downfall, and Lisane who was traded off by her father without her knowledge. There is so much push and pull with these two but it’s soooo worth it. The angst, the sexual tension, the trust!! I absolutely enjoyed the heck out of this book. The

The audiobook was fire 🔥🔥🔥!! Both narrators did such an amazing job portraying the Emi this of these characters. Rhaim was narrated by Matthew Holland and Lisane was narrated by Victoria Mei. And let me tell you that they fit their roles perfectly! Each time there was that push and pull, they did a great job using their voice to push all those feeling to their audience. Absolutely killed it! I am definitely looking forward to the second book, Break Her 🖤