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Beautiful Beginning  By  cover art

Beautiful Beginning

By: Christina Lauren
Narrated by: Grace Grant, Sebastian York
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Publisher's summary

One beautiful bastard of a groom. The most beautiful bitch of a bride. A panty-ripping office hook-up turned true love everlasting.

Wedding bells can't chime soon enough for Chloe Mills and Bennett Ryan. Chloe, exasperated and stressed by all the last-minute to-dos, is on the verge of saying "I do" to eloping. For his part, Bennett's so worried about being distracted by Chloe's body that he makes a no-sex-until-the-wedding-night rule that only seems to be making things worse by continually backfiring on him. As their crazy families descend for the big day - only a few of them actually trying to be helpful - the fiery lovers are about to test whether the couple that argues together can keep it together long enough to exchange rings, and not just heated words.

©2013 Christina Lauren (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

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What listeners say about Beautiful Beginning

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Filthy, dirty, hilariously sweet love story!

Beautiful Beginning starts off with a very stressed out bride and a very focused groom. Chloe and Bennett are down to the wire with wedding preparations and Chloe is about ready to head off to Las Vegas. Bennett is more focused on keeping his bride sane but also on how to make their wedding night special. So he decides that weren't going to have sex until the wedding night. Which is 5 days away and Chloe, being who she is, decides she needs to fight Bennett on that and what ensues if a test of restraint for Bennett. There are a LOT of hilarious and epic scenes in this book. It literally kept me laughing and smiling while enjoying them tormenting each other before their big day. Like every other book in this series we get a hot, fun, full of romance story! You will be laughing, you will be fanning yourself and you will be enjoying every moment of it.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Ending

*Sigh* I can’t believe this is the end of the Beautiful Series. Although this was a short story, it was a perfect and satisfying ending. It all came back full circle to Bennett and Chloe. This was a funny, HOT, and sexy way to end the series. I enjoyed revisiting favorite characters from previous books and getting the HEA wedding. I’m just sad this is the end of one of my all-time favorite series.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Back to the Best

I thought Beautiful Bastard was one of the best books I have read in a long time. Certainly one of the best romance books I have ever read. It was never sappy, the heroine was upfront and said what she meant, even to her own detriment and there was no angst and no prevarication. It didn't wallow in the characters problems,or weaknesses or tragic backgrounds. It embraced their quirks and made their inability to communicate calmly and effectively with each other actually work well for them. It was sexy, had a great hook and most importantly - it was hilarious. Whoever decided love had to be continually sad and angst filled is crazy.

The follow-ups introducing other characters were OK to good, but never lived up to the original. So I was somewhat reluctant to read the continuation of the Bastard's story. I was worried that if it was about their wedding, sap was bound to leak in somewhere.

I am happy to say it never did. It was exactly the messed up, hilarious, sexy, catastrophe that only Chloe and Ben could have. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was so glad to be reassured that these two characters I had grown so fond of would continue on in their dysfunctional but loving way.

My only tiny complaint was this - the ending didn't seem true to the story. Instead it seemed like the story ended and then the author added in one more sex scene. That bugged me just a little. I think this author does a great job of making her sex scene's "fit" the plot and the characters. This is the only time it seemed a little superfluous to me.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Kd
  • 12-03-13

3.75 - Fun & Sexy, but...

This is my first book by this author. The witty repartee of the H and h were the best. Listeners may disagree about whether their verbal sparring was always healthy or whether some of their disagreements and/or the amount of heat behind them were indicative of an unhealthy aspect in their relationship. But I didn’t read it like that. Though, it’s true that not all passion is positive, and this H and h certainly included some degree of force—mainly in words, threats—in their sex play, though not BDSM. Their sex scenes and sexual tension were a great combination of romance and eroticism. And the author did a great job of making them seem to be a perfect match for each other’s positive and negatives and each one having the ability to really know and appreciate the other. Though, by the time they got married, their barely controlled lust began to shift from cute and romantic to immature and irritating. Similarly, their after-wedding sex jitters and the H’s vulnerability was hard to buy, and, by the end, I tired of all of the clothes tearing and talk of hard sex resulting in the h’s walking difficulty, which seems too extreme to be sexy, much less desirable, especially when overused. So, overall, as the story progressed, I would’ve liked a bit more non-sexual romance as proof of their soul-mate-like connection. But I’m 43, so my wants on this point may be due to ageism.
There are two narrators, and I didn’t like that much. I didn’t like the male narrator’s storytelling. It might just be that, by the time he spoke, I had gotten accustomed to the female narrator successfully portraying both the H and h and didn’t like the change once the male narrator spoke as both. I don’t know why two narrators were necessary. I also think that I preferred the female narrator’s portrayal of the h so much more than the male narrator’s voice of Chloe, that switching between two narrators just didn’t work for me. Also, be forewarned, that there’s plenty of profanity used in this book. I don’t mind it, though it’s part of the juvenile flavor that began to appear and irritate. So steer clear if you do mind.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dry Humping a t the Alter? Hell - yes Please!!

Any additional comments?

Chloe and Bennett sure didn't disappoint in this wedding novila. I laughed and laughed. Probably laughed the most out of all the books in the series so far. As always the story was sexy hot and made me fall in love with all the characters just that we bit more. This story was such fun, fun, fun.....

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Least Favorite

For some reason this book was my least favorite of their story. I understand the idea of holding out for the wedding night but the scene at the rehearsal killed the entire book for me.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love, love, love...............

I'm so in love with this series and especially these two characters! Their interaction with each other and friends is hysterical..............!!! Always well worth the credits!!!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect ending!

This was a great ending for this series. SOOOOO Funny!!! Oh my goodness! I laughed until I cried! This is a must!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Chole and Bennett!!!!

What made the experience of listening to Beautiful Beginning the most enjoyable?

That their character continued from the 1st book, the author did not miss a beat!!! How everything connected.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Beautiful Beginning?

There were a couple of scenes where so funny.
How Bennett got even with Will - too funny!!
Car scene when losing the wedding party dresses and Sarah's dress - classic moment!!

Which scene was your favorite?

The wedding ceremony and finally the love making.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, the love they have for each other.

For being a short story book, it was so entertaining. Not just the love making but it was so funny!!

Any additional comments?

This book would not be good for the performance of Grace Grant and Sebastian York, they were perfect!! Oh boy - Sebastian voice is so so sexy, I can listen to him all day and night!!! LOL!!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love me some Chloe and Bennett

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, love the characters in this series and Christina Lauren's writing is amazing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love all the characters in this series

What about Grace Grant and Sebastian York ’s performance did you like?

Sebastian York's voice...yummmm

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

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