Beautiful Bastard

By: Christina Lauren

Narrated by: Grace Grant

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling. Discover the story that garnered more than two million reads online.

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 two million reads on fan-fiction sites - Beautiful Bastard has been extensively updated for rerelease.

©2013 Christina Lauren (P)2013 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The perfect blend of sex, sass and heart, Beautiful Bastard is a steamy battle of wills that will get your blood pumping!" (S.C. Stephens, best-selling author of Thoughtless)

Couldn't stop listening!

wow. such a great listen. the detailed sensory had my heart skipping a beat at times! listened at home, on walks & while at work.

loved reading the book but thats it

liked the book when i first read it but the audio book was disappointing. I realize now I just dont care for books with only one voice filling in for both characters

Great beginning

Good mix of actual developed story and lemon. Love that this world is built upon for 10 books giving time to get invested and follow characters.

Amazing

Just finished this book. I read it last year and needed a refresher. I had it marked as one of my not favorites but gave it a 4 star rating. I do tend to venture more to the fantasy side of books like Sherrilyn Kenyon, Ruby Dixon and Laurann Dohner just to name a few of my favorites. But I will say that Christiana Lauren is definitely a favorite after reading this book again I changed my 4 stars to 5 stars. I love how you feel connected to the characters. You feel their confusion as well as other emotions not to be named. 😉
I won’t say anything about the book except that if you are looking for a great sexual charged ride with emotions that has you turning pages fast to see what they will say or do next then get this book!!!! If you’re uptight of think sex is only for the bedroom and only polite then pass it’s not for you.

I wasn't ready for it to end!

If you could sum up Beautiful Bastard in three words, what would they be?

Hot, Steamy and Intense!!

What did you like best about this story?

I loved that the story was told from both perspectives! Really added depth to the relationship. I did, however find some of the scenarios a little unlikely but boy was it HOT HOT HOT!!

What aspect of Grace Grant’s performance would you have changed?

Once I realized that the story was being told from both perspectives I'd wished it had both a female and a male narrator. I was difficult for me to get comfortable with her voice at first and I found it frustrating when trying to tell the difference in the characters voices. Overall once I sunk into the story it didnt matter!!

Any additional comments?

The end of this book seemed rushed and I just wanted the story to keep going!! Couldn't wait to start Beautiful Bitch!

Good read

This was a first Lauren novel and I wasn't expecting all the sex mainly because the dichotomy between Chloe and Bennet was hot/cold throughout the novel. Still a good plot line.

WOW

Would you consider the audio edition of Beautiful Bastard to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print. This was my first Audio book. I did a long drive and loved the time flew. In the same space as 50 Shades very entertaining.

What other book might you compare Beautiful Bastard to and why?

50 Shades of grey

Which character – as performed by Grace Grant – was your favorite?

All

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

HOT

Kinda hot.

The story was well written but predictable. Boss is a jerk and a good lay. I can't stand him but I melt every time I see him. The author managed to make the relationship seem real so I enjoyed it. The narrator did a really good job with this story.

I fell in love...

I've listened to this countless times, but never left a review. It had been a long time since last time...and I had forgotten how great it is. This is my favorite series of all time. Great writing...great story...great narration.

Spunky & HOT!

I can't remember how I found this book, but I'm sure glad I did. I've read the FSoG series, and while I found myself unable to put the books down, I continuously found myself thinking how simple the writing was. With this series, I was thinking the polar opposite. I loved how there was more to the story than just sex. Don't get me wrong, there are still PLENTY of hot moments to get your fix. Even though this is also a Twilight-Fan-Fiction-Turned-Novel, this is far from a Fifty Shades wannabe.

I love the dynamic between Bennett and Chloe. Especially since she's a no non-sense kind of girl who isn't afraid to tell him off if her reputation and/or career is at stake. Bennett knows he can be an asshole, but doesn't seem to care. The sexual tension was intense, but it became addictive. Just when I thought they wouldn't do anything, they did. Although, I did have to stop sometimes and wonder how they never got caught.

There were some parts where I literally laughed out loud at both characters' inner dialogues because it felt so relatable. Sidenote: Can I just say, THANK GOD there was no "inner diva" in this book? One of my only complaints is that the ending is a tad lack luster, but the wit in the writing helped me move past that.

As for Grace Grant, I actually really liked her performance. I loved the voices she did for all the characters and thought she came up with quite a variety of them. I've already downloaded Beautiful Bitch, but I've put off listening to it because they have Kirby Heybourne doing the voice for Ben and it's also really short (I'm waiting until my next credits come in so I can download the next book in the series).

Overall though, I'm in love with this series so far and can't wait to move on to the others! I've already started recommending it to my friends. Hats off to Christina & Lauren (they are two authors, hence the name)!