Author: Christina Lauren
Publication Date: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance/Erotica
Find It: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N
Source: Publisher at Comic-Con
Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.
Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office.
As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other.
I avoided this series for a long time. I saw the cover and heard the hype and thought that it was just another Fifty Shades type book about a high powered suit and his virginal assistant. But when I saw that the authors were going to be signing copies of their books at Comic-Con this year, I decided to bite the bullet and give the series a go. The worst that could happen was that I wouldn’t like it and the best could be that I’d have an awesome new series to rave about. Can you guess what happened? Well I will tell you that I read Beautiful Bastard in about a day and then proceeded to tear through Beautiful Stranger and the Beautiful Bitch novella in the days that followed. If you like good smut, then this is the series for you.
Bennett Ryan is a beautiful bastard. He’s used to getting what he wants and he doesn’t put up with people who can’t deliver. Chloe Mills is a driven and hardworking intern earning her MBA degree while working for Bennett. She puts up with a lot of crap for Bennett, she doesn’t do it meekly. Chloe is ball buster really keeps Bennett on his toes. She does her job well and is probably the only person who can handle Bennett.
I am a big fan of when love interests don’t get along. The love/hate relationship always makes things more interesting and Chloe and Bennett have a lot of both going on. They go from yelling at each other one minute to screwing in a stairwell the next. The sexual tension is really high and each encounter is more intense than the last. They also find some very creative places and ways to have sex, and they do it often. But as much as they do it, the sex never seemed gratuitous not did I get bored with it.
The book is told from dual POVs which I don’t always love but really appreciated in this book. Without it, you might really think that Bennett was an asshole. But seeing his side of things makes him a much more likable character. He has real feelings for Chloe beyond just sex and, though he is confident on the outside, we get to see some of his insecurities. I really like being able to get into both of their heads.
Beautiful Bastard is a deliciously over the top, sexy romp. If you like fun, sexy books, give this series a try. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
*A copy of this book was provided free of charge from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion or review of this book.
