Beauty and the Beast Take Two

"You could choose some paths and not others.
Not always, of course.
At times destiny just drove you to a destination
and dropped your ass off
and that was that"
--JR Ward, Father Mine

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Publisher: NAL, 91 pages

Publication Date: October 7th, 2008

Source: Bought
Goodreads
Previous Books in Series: Dark Lover & Lover Eternal & Lover Awakened & Lover Revealed & Lover Unbound & Lover Enshrined 

Goodreads Description

As a former blood slave, Zsadist bore the scars from a past filled with suffering and degradation until Bella came along and helped heal his emotional wounds. Now, though, with the birth of their child, the demons of his past have been resurrected, called forth by the innocent eyes of his beloved daughter, Nalla. Unless Bella and Nalla can bring him back with their love, he may be lost to them forever.

My Thoughts

Alright, so novellas are a definite hit or miss for me. Whether or not I even read it depends on whose POV I’m looking at or what it’s about. And then if I do read it, depending again on how good it is dictates if I write something about it.  Destroy Me-amazing, made me start my frickin’ blog. The Prince-meh. But Scribe Virgin help me because finding out that Zsadist and Bella had a novella made me start to hyperventilate a bit. I FRICKIN’ LOVE Z! Like LOVE LOVE LOVE to the point of it totally not even being normal. I got a lot of bookish men in my life and he surpassed almost ALL of them. Will Herondale is still holding strong but by the Angel, he’s holding on by a mere thread when compared to Z…don’t tell him I said that…

So Zsadist and Bella are having problems at the opening of this novella…uh, WHAT!?? He is still tortured by his past and having Nalla only accentuates that pain. The novella deals with him working through his past trauma and his coping with being a father.

This story is BEAUTIFUL. As if I could forget how much I love Z and Bella, but it still made me love them even more if that is possible. I can’t get enough of these two. Bella is just the best. She is so strong and such a stronghold for Z. I love how these two are together. Nothing can touch them when they stand together. Z continues to be beautifully dark. His characterization is even further explored in this short novella. I think he is one of the most amazing and complex characters I have ever read about. The journey he takes with Bella's help is heart-wrenching and heart breaking at points. I can’t get enough.

In fact, if JR Wards wants to write an entire spin-off of just Z and Bella, I’m pretty sure I’d be first in line at the bookstore. I’ll take any and all I can get. These two are absolute perfection.

Should You Read This? Ask me a serious question. 

Favorite Quotes

“Sometimes IVs and pills weren’t always the best course of treatment for the injured. Sometimes all you needed was the touch of the one you loved and the sound of their voice and the knowledge that you were home, and that was enough to drag you back from
the brink.” 

“Sorry to bother you,” Bella said over the wailing. “But she wants her daddy.” 

"Well I'm looking at the heel of my shitkicker and the front of my knee at the same time. And there's a high probability I'm going to throw up."

"You are just as beautiful as the first time I saw you in the gym all those nights and days ago. You stopped my heart then--just froze it in my chest. And you stop it now."

"Before Z went down to see Doc Jane, he spend some more time with his ladies."

“Hey, what are you doing, little one? You want more? You are just too much . . . you . . . oh, no . . . not the quivering lip . . . oh, no.” Nalla let out a giggle. 
“Outrageous! You want more, and you know you’re going to get what you want because of The Lip. Jeez, you’ve got your father wrapped around your little finger, don’t you.”