You Beautiful Thing, You

Bad Boys of Bardstown, Book 1

De: Saffron A. Kent

Narrado por: Amelie Griffin, Alex Kydd

Nineteen-year-old Tempest Jackson wants a baby.

No, her biological clock isn't ticking, but she's desperate for unconditional love. Rejected by all except her brother and soon to be married off by her father for financial gain, she aches for someone to hold close and call hers.

Enter Ledger Thorne. Soccer god, devastatingly handsome, and her brother's rival. Once upon a time they had a thing. A beautiful thing. But while Tempest thought she was madly in love, Ledger was only using her for petty revenge.

So Tempest has a plan: seduce the sexy jerk who broke her heart, use him to get pregnant, and then leave him in the dust like he left her, to marry a stranger.

Only the problem with making babies is that it doesn't feel like revenge. It feels a lot like that thing they used to have: Hot and stormy, and intense and intimate.

But Tempest isn't a fool. She'll stick to the plan. Because wasn't it Ledger who turned their beautiful thing into something ugly? Now, it's her turn....

Contains mature themes.

©2023 Saffron A. Kent (P)2024 Tantor

Loved Ledger & Tempest

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶

Oh, how I love Ledger and was so excited to get this grumpy/angry man's book. I was ready to understand the drama, angst, and banter that was going on between Ledger and Tempest. Boy, did this book deliver all the goods I wanted to know, plus plenty more that I wasn't expecting. Get ready for this roller coaster of a ride that will leave you loving the falling for the bad boy with wild/hidden intentions.

Tropes
- Sports/Soccer Romance
- Forbidden Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Secret Relationship
- Brother's Biggest Rival
- Surprise Pregnancy
- Marriage of Convenience (w/o knowledge)
- Obsessed/Possessive
- Pierced 🍆
- Hurt/Comfort
- Virgin FMC
- One Bed

🎧🎧🎧🎧
I listened to on Audible, and the narration was good. I really enjoyed both their voices. Some of the time, I felt the voice of Ledger was lacking. He didn't sound how I thought he would. Almost detached from the character, like he hasn't used his voice often. I've listened to other books by this narrator and really enjoyed his voice. I didn't in this book, though.

The sinan who narrated Tempest was on point. She did excellent and sounded just how I pictured Tempest would. She read with passion and depth and seemed invested in her character.

A spicy roller coaster

Oh my gosh, I don’t think I could have been more caught up in You Beautiful Thing You, than I was. The whole book was an absolute roller coaster of emotions, from hate to lust to love. I wondered if this was gonna be spicy, and oh man was it ever. In high school, Tempest had a crush on her brother soccer enemy, Ledger . She never expected for him to return her feelings. And years later when she was put in to a desperate situation by her father she knew that she wanted a piece of Ledger to take with her. There was so much emotion in this book and it truly pulled me in and I had no choice but devour this book in one sitting. There’s a lot of twist, turns and back and forth, I was on the edge the entire book. I’m just glad I got my HEA.
Amelie Griffin was the perfect Tempest, she really stepped in to Tempest’s character perfectly. And Alex Kydd was an excellent Ledger, she was broody and moody.

Possibly one of the most unhinged MMC’s I’ve read

Love/Obsession/Lust at first sight with trauma, tons of miscommunication due to trust issues, and definitely for those with a high breeding kink.

Tempest is a romantic in a world where romance doesn’t exist. With the rich and powerful, marriage is for business alliances, children are props to be ignored or used for gain.

Ledger is intense, definitely OTT, and has extreme anger issues on and off the soccer field and also happens to be Tempest’s older brother’s arch nemesis. He obviously doesn’t handle emotion well, especially that of the softer variety, and when he and Tempest finally meet, it starts years of fireworks, revenge, lust, and heartbreak.

The premise sounds a bit cringy (getting purposefully pregnant for revenge), but Ledger is aware and all in, though not knowing the full extent of details. Spice scenes are spicy but with a TON of breeding talk. I’m talking BIG breeding talk. Didn’t have a problem with it other than the repetitive use of “juicy” (one of the grossest words ever), which had me inwardly cringing every time.

They were perfect for each other, her softness matching his hardness, and was happy that they got their HEA at the end.

Great Narration!

You Beautiful Thing, You was perhaps not entirely in my wheelhouse, but Ledger's possessive, growly, and over the top nature was definitely the highlight of this book for me. I'll take a crazy, possessive man any time. This book had a lot of spice with Tempest and Ledger as well, but a lot of plot and miscommunication that wasn't for me to get through in between. But if you're good with a miscommunication trope, this book is definitely for you!

What a surprisingly emotional 4.5 star read.

Saffron A. Kent, Saffron A. Kent…all of a sudden, this name is everywhere on my feed and I’m so happy the algorithm made it to me. I’ve been hearing about this author here and there and even had a few TBRs. I read so many reviews of people loving her stories and finally decided to find out for myself. I’m so happy I did.
I loved this authors writing style and she hits almost all of my happy hot buttons! I needed a bit more possessive dominance but that did not detract from the story at all!
These 2 have history our main characters. They have a connection that stand from high school and I loved watching them grow. We had heat my oh MY the heat! 🥵💦😮‍💨🤣🤭 I mean DAY-UM! This is chemistry on cr@ck. The way they effortlessly came together rocked my world and there was copious amounts of “play” time to boot.
However, there was also some serious trauma being dealt with, on both sides. Real life situations and emotions to go along with them. I found myself tearing up at times, just brutal. Of course while listening with Alex Kydd and Amelie Griffin (she’s new to me but I loved her!) narrating, those parts become that much more potent. I had to stop a few times to get it together.
All in all, a fantastic introduction to this new to me author. Tons of books so will be hitting up her back catalogue stat!