(Spoiler Alert – Extras are presumed to be read by fans who have already completed the book. They reference details from all sections of the book, and will include spoilers if you have not completed the book.)

Beauty and Her Beastly Love was a really fun tale to write. The Beauty and the Beast (BB) story is a long-time favorite French fairy tale from the 1700s. Like many of our favorite Fairy Tales, BB eventually made it into the fairy tale collection of the brothers Grimm.

The idea to recreate this tale, with more mature components came after reading a friend’s retelling of the story that didn’t address this obvious component of the living situation of two adults bound to an enchanted house.

There’s generally been good feedback from readers of the tale, but people have been curious about the magic of the enchanted manor that the Beauty and Beast in the passion-filled fairy tale live.  While it’s clear that the house is enchanted, I just offered a cursory explanation of the magic: the house provides the occupant what it wants.

While this cursory explanation is all I provided, it actually sums up the magic of the house, and supports all the magical things that happened within the house. Additionally, I’d go so far as to say the house also provides what it’s occupants need. So, let’s look at the instances of magic within the book.

1. Pierre’s arrival. When Pierre arrives at the house after being stuck in the storm. Pierre, as a man in need, wants the things that he wants and the house provides them. He wants shelter and food and a warm fire when he walks in, and that is what’s there. Just as he speculates, when he wants something for Beauty, the book appears. Now, the house could have provided anything for Pierre, but the house is also about need, too, and that book is really what Pierre is going to need, because it’s going to help Beast make that split-second decision to demand Beauty. We don’t learn until near the end of the book that Beast is also Ferrus Lucunditas, but him seeing Pierre taking the book for his daughter makes him think the girl could be the one for him. That maybe she could understand him and love him, because she’s already read so much about his soul. Going back to the need/want thing again, when Pierre wants a solution to his problem with Dumas, he presumes the house is showing him the golden roses. While it is, it’s also sending him into Beast’s path where Beast sees that Pierre is “stealing,”  it leads to the confrontation that will eventually bring Beauty and Beast together.
2. The shared dreams.  A couple people asked about this, because it’s not really fleshed out in the book. Beauty and Beast have the same dream about their sexual encounter. Again, this is the house giving each of them what they want. While the house can offer up inanimate objects and even some plant life, it can’t force people to do something physically against their will. So, this is the closest the house can come to providing them each what they desire. Beauty is interested in exploring her sexuality and Beast wants to help her with that. The joint dream is simply the house allowing them to have what they want without actually moving them physically, which it can’t do, because they haven’t — at least Beauty hasn’t–in their conscious minds decided to do this.
3. The mirror. Again, this is the house offering what the occupants need. It’s a window to the outside world. Beast needs to be able to Project because he’s bound to the house. It’s why Beauty can’t project when she tries to talk to her father. What she needs, at that moment, is to leave, not to project, so she’s not able to. If you notice, at the end of the book, she is able to use the mirror to project to her father.

The house’s magic was brought by the sorceress. While it’s not addressed in the book Giselle, the sorcerer’s sister, also has magic. It’s not relevant to the story, so it’s not mentioned.  Giselle’s powers revolve around seeing the future. You could say, she’s a bit of an oracle. So, her giving the Ferus Lucunditas books to Beauty was completely intentional.

That’s about all I’ve got extra for you. Thanks for stopping by.