Thank you to NetGally for letting me read this book. This is a super cute Christmas take on an inspired beauty and the best retelling. There is no spice which I think is totally appropriate and allows for a really good retelling of the story. I think it would have been better as a dual point of view but that is just a personal opinion. Overall a cute and easy Christmas read.

This was such a good storyline with thought out characters and great pacing.
We meet Audrey and Ramen. One is a rare book seller and one is an ex-TV presenter. They meet each other as Audrey is on the hunt for one particular book that is not for selling on. She hears Ramen may have some information about it and we go from there.

I enjoyed the backstories for the main characters and thought they were introduced well. Overall, this is a great read which, while set around Christmas time, is never really about Christmas. This was something I personally wanted as I chose it to read in December but it also means it's a book that, if you read seasonally, has a bigger window of time to be read! 😊

Searching for a mysterious book in hopes that it might bring her life stability. Ramen is looking to be left alone.
I enjoyed the interactions between these two and the way the book was written.. The only thing I was disappointed in was the way it ended. The book just stopped. No explanation no expounding . NOTHING. Maybe this is the way she writes. I don't know. But it kinda left me hanging there all alone. No one around.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with guidelines.

I really enjoyed this Beauty & The Beast book! It was very fast paced and every time I had to put it down I couldn't wait to pick it back up. I do wish the author included an Epilogue though. I would have loved to read about how they were doing a year or so later.

This book is about Audrey (Beauty) who is searching for a book that she hopes will lead her to her happy ever after. Ramen (The Beast) joins her in her search despite trying desperately not to have anything to do with her or the book. They both have some physical and emotional baggage they need to work through and perhaps working through them together will lead them to their happily ever after.

I loved this book! I devoured it in only a few sittings and wish there was more to read. The story line was paced very well and the characters were easy to love!

While this story moves quickly, it is adorable and an enjoyable read. You get all the Christmas vibes with a grumpyXoptimistic coupling. I will be recommending this to my friends for a book that gets you in the holiday mood.

Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Once Upon a Christmas Legend is a Beauty and the Beast retelling but with a Christmas theme.
Audrey finds and sells rare books. After her ex and her ex friend get together and invite her to their wedding, she is desperate to find a rare book for herself. There is a legend about a book called Once Upon a Christmas. If you are holding this book around Christmas you will find the person you are destined to be with. She is setting all her hopes on this legend being true and finding this very rare book.
She is told to talk to Ramen Johnson, though to be warned that he doesn't like people and will not be very friendly. He made a career of finding legends and proving or disproving them and was severely injured. He now hides himself away from the public who ridicule him.
Audrey and Ramen work together to find this book and are snowed in for a couple of days. They have some cute adventures that threaten to push them apart but the more they resist the more they are drawn to one another.

This is a very short read but also very sweet. If you like retellings this is a good one.

For my 100th book in 2023, I got the chance to read Once Upon A Christmas Legend by Ciara Knight. I want to say a massive thank you to NetGalley and Author Collective 20 for letting me read this book for free, in exchange for an honest review!

This novella is a Beauty and the Beast retelling set in a small mountain town at Christmas. Audrey has been searching for the book with almost the same title as this novella, whose legend says it brings you true love by Christmas. She's tracked it to the small town of Cherry Creek, where she's pointed in the direction of Ramen Johnson, a former TV star who's retreated into a solitary life after an accident left him badly scarred, and he agrees to help her look for the book, if for no other reason than to get her off his farm.

I loved both Audrey and Ramen as characters, and the narration, although in 3rd person, alternates between following each of them. Ramen sees himself as a beast, and believes the world is better off with him hiding away up the mountain. Audrey wants to heal her broken, and wants to use the book to find her true love before Christmas day. They're both really stubborn characters, and I loved reading about how they're both so determined. I won't spoil the major plot points of the story but I loved reading about their adventured and seeing their relationship unfold!

This is a super cute novella that won't take you long to read, and it's a love story set at Christmas - what could be better than adding this to your end-of-year list of books to read? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

DNF as it was just sensually descriptive enough I had no interest in reading further (unless there was a promise of finding out how a character got named after a noodle dish).

Alas, it wasn’t the book for me, which is a bummer! I love Christmas stories and Beauty and the Beast retellings.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a cute winter novella inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Perfect way to start the holiday season.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Thank you so very much to Defy the Dark Publishing, Ciara Knight, and Netgalley for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, this book was not it for me. At a mere 179 pages, it felt too long and too repetitive for what it was. I can appreciate a good fairy tale retelling - they are some of my favorites, but "Once Upon a Christmas Legend" left a lot to be desired. It carried the task of constantly reminding you that it was, in fact, based on Beauty and the Beast. The 'beast' in this story was silly, and the reactions people had to his singular scar seemed quite over the top. No one would isolate over something like that in the real world. No one would care as much as the press and the townspeople do in the real world. And falling in love in a day? Even for a fairy tale it was extreme.

Ultimately, too shallow and too redundant for me to consider this a book I would re-read or recommend to others.

⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review an early copy of this new Christmas story.

Thank god this book is only 179 pages. I don’t think I could have handled any more of this with its poor and repetitive writing. It read to me like a middle schooler wrote the story.

Not to mention, this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, which is quite clear from the start. But don’t worry, the author will repeat the words beauty, beast, and Beauty and the Beast at least 15 times just in case you didn’t pick up on the obvious hints.

I lost count of how many times Ramen would tell Audrey that he isn’t worthy enough for her, he’s a beast, and she is worth more than what he can give her. I get it. You’re the beast up in the cabin who has low self esteem and has to make it very clear, to the point of redundancy, that you’re not worthy. *Insert eye roll here*

And the reality of townspeople following you everywhere to gawk at the celebrity with the scar on his face? Unlikely.

The best part of this? A small town vibe. I love the small town romances.

To be honest I only made myself finish this because my Netgalley is out of control and because I was craving a sweet Christmas romance.

3.5⭐Small town Sweet Romance, Christmas Novella

Audrey searches the globe for rare books but longs for "Once Upon a Christmas Kiss," Ramen, scarred and isolated, is drawn into Audrey's quest. Together, they hunt for the elusive book, facing Christmas chaos and their own pasts.

Overall this is a decent, cute Christmas story, about facing your fears with a modern twist Beauty and the Beast Fairytale... it is a charming love story, with forced proximity, lots of humor, and off-the-chart chemestry.

Review posted on Amazon and GoodReads.

Thank you, NetGalley and Publishers for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a sweet retelling of the classic beauty and the beast tale. The details were different enough to keep you interested in reading even though you knew how it was going to end. Reading this book was a wonderful way to spend a cold afternoon!

This is such a cute, sweet book. I loved reading Audrey and Ramen's. It's has just the right amount of emotions to keep you turning the pages. This book is a delightful read that you don't want to miss.
I received a complimentary copy from Author Collective 20 via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

It was a nice short novella that can be read without having read any of the other novellas of the series. It was cute and warm, and I really liked Ramen (even tho.. honestly.. that name... please, no...) and his issues about his scars and his accident, the way he tried to accept it thanks to Audrey.

However it was a bit of cliché over cliché, it was predictable and turned around the Beauty and the Beast retelling a bit too much, it was even mentioned multiple times. I like when it's subtle, but it was far from it here.

So it's a nice and cute little Christmas / winter romance, no spice at all - it feels good to read, but it's definitely not a story that will stay for long in my head.

I wasn’t absolutely obsessed with this book. I think it was rushed and I was having a really hard time following it as it was in 3rd person.
It didn’t grab my attention until about the last 50 pages

First off-this was listed as a Christian book and it most certainly is not!! While it was closed door romance, and therefore technically a 'clean book,' there was nothing in the main character’s past relationship, nor the one she started in this book, that was faith-based in any way. For that reason I would never have picked up this book, but since I committed to reading and reviewing it, I finished it. If you like romance this was a neat take on Beauty and the Beast, but if you’re looking for a Christian book (as it was advertised as) then you will be disappointed. The story was led and based around physical attraction and while the main characters seemed to bring out the best in one another, it only lasted a week and for me lacked much depth and seemed surface level.

I got this book thanks to Netgalley, and this is my honest opinion.

🌹 Beauty and the beast retelling
❄️ Forced proximity
🎄 Christmas

I didn’t enjoy this book. I don’t like to leave negative reviews but in this case I really wanted to DNF it multiple times (I did finish it though). I’m not a huge fan of Beauty and the Beast so maybe that’s why, but overall, read this with a grain of salt please.

There’s too much writing hints about Beauty and the Beast. It was subtle at the beginning, with the recluse and his scared face, also with the snow storm and both of them being stuck in his house. That was a great start ! But as soon as the ‘mystery’ comments, and their sudden and totally unrealistic quest ? Well that was just too much. Also how Audrey basically fall for Ramen after 1 day, when they don’t know anything about each other. There wasn’t any deep conversation because they both didn’t want to talk about their life.

I think Audrey says the word ‘ex-fiancé’ more than ‘Ramen’. She’s obviously still hung up on her ex, everyone can see it because she literally talks (and thinks) about him all the time. And yes, that’s a traumatic event, I get that, but sometimes you have to forget stuff to move on. Audrey isn’t moving on from her experience, she just chooses to forget the world. Also, I don’t really think there’s any connection between Ramen and Audrey, romantic or friendly. It’s only filled with cliché dialog (like, ‘you’re safe with me’, ‘you’re not like other girls’, ‘you are scarred but you’re still the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen’) That was too much for me (and I love when things are cringe)

I did not really enjoy this book. It had cute moments, but it also had some very confusing ones.

I found it to be a little bit too drawn out at times, and then it ended abruptly.

I dislike when main characters are given names that are hard to pronounce, and while Ramen is not difficult, is it Rah-men or Ray-men? I just didn't like it.

Spoiler alerts:
Audrey is looking for a book. She purchases a bunch of wrapped books. But doesn't unwrap them until then end. And there's the book. Who would not unwrap books when you are looking for a book? And at one point, she leaves her car, and stuffs all of these books into her tote to carry around. Why?