Beautiful Stranger (Beautiful Bastard, #2) in Freaks Between the Book Sheets Romance Recs

Sep 30, 2019 Christine (Queen of Books) rated it did not like it

Wouldn't recommend. Wow that ending made me so freaking uncomfortable. That behavior just... isn't okay, and I don't appreciate this book romanticizing it.

Would love for CL to expand upon some of the topics presented here in their women's fiction - especially learning how to be in a better relationship after a tough breakup, and privacy concerns regarding nude or semi-nude photos. They're given short shrift here and ultimately didn't think they were handled well.

I'm all for 🔥 and think it's grea ...more

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May 17, 2019 Chanon rated it liked it

My only goal this year is to make it through all the Beautiful Bastard installments. Pretty solid goal, I know. The first book of this series, Beautiful Bastard, was amazing and I immediately fell in love with Christina Lauren. *sorry to @brown_girl_reads and @romance.in.the.wild for agreeing to buddy read and then finishing the book in five hours. whoops*

ANYWHO. On to Beautiful Stranger, the second in the series….

description

….yep. I’m not sure guys.

This book focuses on Sara Dillon — who just ended a 6 y ...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Melissa rated it it was amazing

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Setting: 9/10
Pacing: 8/10
Style: 8/10
Cover: I love that blue font on the black and white. It goes perfect with the first books cover while still looking completely different.
Total 41+50=91 (5 Stars)

Companion novels sometimes are hard to get into because while the characters are familiar, they are not the ones you originally fell in love with. This story was not that way at all. Chloe and Bennett (from Beautiful Bastard) are in it a lot, especially in the beginning. We g Plot: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Setting: 9/10
Pacing: 8/10
Style: 8/10
Cover: I love that blue font on the black and white. It goes perfect with the first books cover while still looking completely different.
Total 41+50=91 (5 Stars)

Companion novels sometimes are hard to get into because while the characters are familiar, they are not the ones you originally fell in love with. This story was not that way at all. Chloe and Bennett (from Beautiful Bastard) are in it a lot, especially in the beginning. We get to see how they're doing since the last book. If it's even possible I loved Max and Sara more than Chloe and Bennett though. Max is British, established, funny, and charming. And Sara is emotionally guarded, feisty, and adventurous yet still very cautious. The two were the perfect pair. On paper they don't make sense together, but their chemistry was palpable. I loved that for once the woman had complete control over the arrangement. Too often in books it's the man making all the rules and being distant.

I love how the characters are also very different than the first book. They don't hate each other like Chloe and Bennett did. In fact they're infatuated with each other the more they get together. The plot was formatted the same as the first book where the characters hook up for most of the book, then something blows up at the end, and then they finally admit their feelings. This always lends for an exciting and captivating story.

Listening to this made me want to listen to audiobooks all the time now. I love the guy that read for Max. His accent sounded like a British Gerard Butler to me. I'm a huge fan of Gerard so that was a major plus for me. It definitely added to the experience to be able to hear the POVs read by the different people. The only thing I didn't like was when Sara was narrating and the woman read Max's dialouge. Her voice got really low and weird and kind of ruined the intimate moment. Originally I was a little worried it would be awkward to listen to a book of this genre, but it actually was not awkward at all. There were no weird sound effects or anything. It was narrated well.

Fans of Sophie Kinsella's books should definitely try this one. It's got the same humor and romance, with a pinch of those intimate scenes these two authors write so well. This is definitely a great beach read.

Also, there's another book and some novellas coming out in this series!!!! Who else is excited!?