BOOK REVIEW | Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

Title: Beautiful Bastard
Author: Christina Lauren
Series? Yes, the first in a series of 5 books that follow different main characters for each novel.
Pages: 320
Publication Date: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: I read Beautiful Bastard during my first free month of Scribd, an online book service.

An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling.

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.

Originally only available online as The Office by tby789 — and garnering over 2 million reads on fanfiction sites — Beautiful Bastard has been extensively updated for re-release.

Goodreads 

If you've been following me for a bit, you might have noticed that I have been reading more romance novels. Specifically, I've been reading a lot of Christina Lauren's novels. This summer I've read: Dating You/Hating You, Autoboyography, Roomies, and Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating. I've enjoyed all of them, and was eager to pick up another book by the author duo. After hearing about Scribd (not sponsored!!!), I signed up for my first free month of the service. There are so many ebooks, audiobooks, even magazines, and sheet music available on the site. Right now I'm enjoying my 1 month free trial, but I won't be surprised if I continue after the month ends. The first book I read from Scribd was Beautiful Bastard. I've heard such wonderful things about the Beautiful series by Christina Lauren, and though I didn't love Beautiful Bastard, I am glad I started the series and read the book! 

My main issue with Beautiful Bastard was all the sex. I know, I know...it's a romance book, Genni, what did you expect? Well let me tell you, I was expecting the same amount I've read in Roomies, Josh and Hazel's Guide, etc. To my shock, Beautiful Bastard had twice as many sex scenes. Chloe and Bennett are rabid animals the whole time, and it started to take me out of the book. I started to think, "Aren't they tired?" or "Can we have more of a plot?" Unfortunately, the sex scenes basically overtook the book. While there was an ongoing plot regarding Chloe's internship, it was very much tangled with the relationship situation, as Bennett is her boss. Personally, I would have liked to have another plot point that wasn't solely focused on the relationship or was integral to the romance. Seeing Chloe and Bennett outside of a work environment would have added depth to their characters and their romance. Since we only saw them at work or at a hotel for work, I couldn't picture their relationship working outside of the workplace.

It's safe to say that Beautiful Bastard is definitely not my favorite of Christina Lauren's. Though the story was interesting, there were times when the relationship didn't seem well rounded, and because of that, I couldn't get behind the story as much. Even though I thought the romance was lackluster, the passion was there. Essentially, Beautiful Bastard read just like every other run of the mill romance novel. Since Christina Lauren is one of my favorite romance authors, I was disappointed. I think I will be continuing with the series just to see if it improves with time. 

With that, I give Beautiful Bastard
 3 out of 5 Flowers!