Review: Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren #Amreading @BeautifulBastrd

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.

  (Amazon product description)

Lots of women have fantasies of taming the asshole.  Chloe Mills doesn’t necessarily want to tame Bennett Ryan--she just wants to survive the remaining months of her internship working under the brilliant and mercurial man.  What I liked best about this story is that the author told it from alternating viewpoints.  If the whole thing had only from been told first-person from Chloe’s POV, Bennett would have come across as nothing but a jackass.  But the chapters from his POV added depth to his character, redeeming his nasty comments and short temper.  The love/hate relationship developed beautifully.

Another thing that I liked about this book is how it highlighted the still-precarious position women in the business world.  Even in 2013, women are held to different professional standards than men.  If the truth of their affair were to come out, people would automatically assume any success she experienced in her career was earned on her back.  It’s just not the same for men.  If Bennett had been the intern and Chloe the boss, that element of the story would’ve been lost. 

Before purchasing this book, I did what I always do and checked out the Amazon reviews.  I try to take them all with a grain of salt and not put too much stock into what any one review thinks.  There was one review that said this book finishes with a non-ending, that it simply cuts off.  Let me assure you, this was not that case at all.  It definitely felt like a complete book.  There were also some reviewers who criticized the profanity and abundance of sex.  This is an erotic romance.  It is meant for adults who speak and act like adults.  If you don’t like that sort of thing, then this book is not for you.  Personally, I love steamy stories and have a tendency to pepper my own speech with f-bombs, so Beautiful Bastard was right up my alley. 

Lastly, I actually listened to this book in audio book format.  The narrator, Grace Grant, was fabulous!  I have already been on Audible to see what other books she has narrated, so I can hear her work again.

Overall, I give Beautiful Bastard...

Plot - 4 bookmarks

Character Development - 4 1/2 bookmarks

Love Story - 4 bookmarks

Sex Scenes - 12 bookmarks (It’s my blog, and if I don’t want to stop at 5 bookmarks, I can.)

Cover Art - 5 bookmarks

Editing Quality - 5 bookmarks

Dream Cast (Otherwise known as who I pictured while reading) - Robert Pattinson (Bennett Ryan), Tatiana Maslany (Chloe Mills)