Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

13 reviews

qgg's review against another edition

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0.25

I read 10% of this book and it was workplace sexual assault with power play with **very** questionable consent. She works directly under him, he is purposefully mean to her because he’s attracted to her, he makes comments about her body and whether she works out just to be a jerk, he overworks her so she can’t take a break or eat, he forces her to work overtime so she has to do a presentation when no one else is around and then he gropes her, rips clothing off of her and assaults her during said presentation. Then the next day he wonders if she’ll slap him with a lawsuit, but she probably won’t because she so close to graduating with her MBA. This is so repulsive that I can’t possibly read more. Yet I had to mark it as read to put a full review and content warnings in. 
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fairytales's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This book was an oof yikes (and I have rated another one of these authors’ books 5 stars). I skimmed and should have DNF’ed this. This dynamic is just hugely problematic and I couldn't put that aside when reading. I know they were going for an enemies to lovers work romance but a) it felt unrealistic with the way it jumps from 0 to 100 on the lust side at work and was clearly breaking a million rules and b) the beginning feels like a sexual harassment case not a romance.
He is literally her boss, it’s a huge power dynamic issue and he just touches her in a conference room without permission and no conversation from her indicating that she’s interested. Also so brazen—they seem remarkably unconcerned about being caught having sex multiple times on company property during the work day. Maybe this is fantasy fulfillment for some folks but I felt the plot didn't work. They could have considered having  them at a bar with coworkers and made him be at the company but not her direct boss and it would have at least felt less like such a blatant violation of multiple workplace rules.
I think they should have done more to transition this from a fanfic to a book. This is showing me I am much more of a slow/medium burn romance gal and this much smut without feelings first is not for me.
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elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition

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Not my cup of tea (at least as a romance book). The love interest does not seem to care about consent or really about the heroine at all.
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flyingryndeer's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Are straight people okay? 
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nineinchnails's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

WOW… was not expecting this from the same people who gave us unhoneymooners but i am pleasantly surprised for sure
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lori_j's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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litbrett's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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cmj's review against another edition

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Boring. Incredibly boring. No character development at all and very flat characters. 
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karenmsecrest's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

It’s hard to review this book without mentioning 2 things:
1) it was published in 2013 and predates the #MeToo movement, 
2) It’s an early entry in the ‘50 Shades’ genre juggernaut (and started out as Twilight FanFic). 

If you know those two things and still want to read it… go for it. The smut is HOT and there’s A LOT of it. But, in the year 2023… the boss/intern dynamic hits a little different. This is an enemies to lovers story, with emphasis on enemies. Fortunately, the heroine has plenty of agency and backbone and has no problem putting the hero in his place. They fall in love (of course) and the HEA is solid. Better banter and stronger writing than the ‘Gray’ books. A reader might enjoy this first book by Christina Lauren, whose later books include some of my favorite contemporary romances. 

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stupidcat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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