Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I remember this book being hyped years ago and I just never cared enough to give it a chance. It’s not my usual level of romance, and honestly, Bennett always felt a bit controlling and overbearing for me to be interested in him at all.
I decided to go ahead and give it a shot since I had it on my Kindle anyway, and it isn’t terrible. It definitely was a quicker read than I expected it to be, and I did find some of it enjoyable – especially the characters Chloe and Sara. Bennett isn’t even too bad since I can see there is an attempt to make him and Chloe equal in terms of attitude and personality.
That said, there was still a lot here that made me roll my eyes. First, Chloe would have a horrendous UTI or something pretty early on in this story. Second, panties are not that easy to rip, and would most definitely not be the sexy kind of pain when they did tear across your skin. Third, only once does Chloe mention cleaning up in the restroom after one of her and Bennett’s trysts which is straight nonsense because if they’re going at it the way it’s described and she doesn’t have panties on after, girl you’ve gotta have stuff running down your legs. Nasty.
While I did find Bennett’s attitude distasteful at times, I never felt he came off as abusive or out of line – save when he was inexplicably possessive of someone he was swearing off. I think this book reads more like a typical fantasy about one’s boss, something I’m confident most of the population can relate to at some point in their lives.
Overall, Beautiful Bastard is a quick and light read that doesn’t over-promise what it is and therefore doesn’t disappoint with what it is. I’m not sure I’ll continue the series, I may since the next book focuses on Sara and she’s awesome, but I also don’t feel I’ll be missing out if I don’t continue.
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