Review: Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

Beautiful Bastard (Beautiful Bastard, #1)
(source)
Beautiful Bastard (Beautiful Bastard #1) by Christina Lauren
Expected Release Date: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: Gallery Books through NetGalley
Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads / IndieBoundWebsite

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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 everyday. 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 fanfiction sites - Beautiful Bastard has been extensively updated for re-release.

          I originally read this as a fanfiction but once I heard that it was being reworked and traditionally published, I was super excited. I was a big fan of The Office and after following Lauren and Christina for years and reading their previous works, I knew there there would be good, fun, smutty words coming my way.

Beautiful Bastard starts off with a bang, *ahem* literally. And while I managed to read it pretty quickly (in less than a day and while at work) I can't help but feel like something was missing from the story. I never really felt any sort of connection with Chloe or Bennett, which cause me to be sort of aloof/indifferent about them.

What I love about the story is that Chloe is a smart, strong, kick ass woman. She takes no prisoners and when Bennett was being an asshole to her, she still kept her cool and had her sass and witty retorts to hold her own. Chloe doesn't depend on anyone which is a quality I wish more female character have.

While I did enjoy the storyline and all the smexy times (I can't believer I'm saying this), I think there was too much smut and not enough character development. Chloe and Bennett start off hating each other and then to fucking each other and then to proceed to...fall in love? No. It happened a little too fast for me to consider it believable. If we were given more moments where Chloe and Bennett talked and connected (in a nonsexual way) I would have enjoyed it and loved them more.

To end, I enjoyed Beautiful Bastard and it was exactly what I needed when I was going through a Young Adult reading binge.There is very little angst and when there is, it is resolved pretty quickly. The changes Lauren and Christina did were noticeable but still reminded be of The Office. It did however, got me excited to read more of their works. I can't wait for the companion Beautiful Stranger.

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