Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
It can’t really be the end… can it?
Pippa Cox (best friend to Ruby) has found herself in a rut after walking in on her (now) ex-boyfriend in bed with another women. On a whim, Pippa drops everything and flies from London to Boston to road-trip across New England with our favorite couples from Beautiful Secret (Naill + Ruby) and Beautiful Player (Will + Hanna).
Jensen Bergstrom (older brother to Hanna) is in a similar crisis, realizing he’s destined for a life of loneliness due to the workaholic ways he developed after his (now) ex-wife left him. Enticed by two weeks of winery and brewery tours with his closest friends, he cashes in two weeks of vacation to join in the road-trip… only to find out that the unknown girl joining them (Pippa!) was the trainwreck of a girl seated next to him on his latest flight from London. Without giving too much away, Jensen and Pippa decide to have a holiday fling and the rest of the book is spent trying to figure out will-they or won’t-they get together.
POTENTIAL SPOILER + HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT PIPPA AND JENSEN
Finally, let me admit that I didn’t realize how much I’d miss this series until it was over. I remember opening Beautiful Bastard and binge reading it until 2am. This wasn’t a series I rushed through, but one I savored over the years when I needed a fulfilling romance with smart, bold women and the strong, confident men who loved them. Closing the last chapter on this book was bittersweet, partially because it's the last time we’ll hear from these friends, but mostly because I can’t wait to see what else Christina Lauren has in store.
Pippa Cox (best friend to Ruby) has found herself in a rut after walking in on her (now) ex-boyfriend in bed with another women. On a whim, Pippa drops everything and flies from London to Boston to road-trip across New England with our favorite couples from Beautiful Secret (Naill + Ruby) and Beautiful Player (Will + Hanna).
Jensen Bergstrom (older brother to Hanna) is in a similar crisis, realizing he’s destined for a life of loneliness due to the workaholic ways he developed after his (now) ex-wife left him. Enticed by two weeks of winery and brewery tours with his closest friends, he cashes in two weeks of vacation to join in the road-trip… only to find out that the unknown girl joining them (Pippa!) was the trainwreck of a girl seated next to him on his latest flight from London. Without giving too much away, Jensen and Pippa decide to have a holiday fling and the rest of the book is spent trying to figure out will-they or won’t-they get together.
POTENTIAL SPOILER + HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT PIPPA AND JENSEN
Spoiler
For the first time ever, I was CONVINCED that Christina Lauren had written a book where the two main characters wouldn’t end-up together. Not because I thought they were trying to devastate readers by denying them a HEA in the final hour, but because I couldn’t figure out how Pippa and Jensen could make their relationship work. I want both of them to be happy…. I’m just not convinced that it’s going to be with each other in the long-run. First, I loved Pippa’s colorful quirkiness combined with her book smarts, but she struck me as flighty and unready to settle down. Second, Jensen was the sweet/smart/good-in-bed lawyer that we all dream of finding on Match.com, but I’m not convinced that he’ll compromise enough on his workaholic ways to keep Pippa happy. Can we get an epilogue on these two?Finally, let me admit that I didn’t realize how much I’d miss this series until it was over. I remember opening Beautiful Bastard and binge reading it until 2am. This wasn’t a series I rushed through, but one I savored over the years when I needed a fulfilling romance with smart, bold women and the strong, confident men who loved them. Closing the last chapter on this book was bittersweet, partially because it's the last time we’ll hear from these friends, but mostly because I can’t wait to see what else Christina Lauren has in store.
I LOVED Pippa! She was a great character. And most of this book was really good. It was the lack of any real closure with Jensen & Pippa’s story that made me give it 3⭐️’s. I didn’t feel the love from Jensen in the last third of the book. And, while it was nice to see all the friends again, if this book were just 30 pages longer, you could have wrapped up the friends’ stories & given P & J a much better ending.
You know, I was teetering between 2 and 3 stars on this, after having awarded Christina Lauren 4 and 5 stars on other titles. If I could have given 2 and a half, I would have; as it stands, I am giving 3 simply because I like the authors and I hope they figure their shit out for the next books.
Frankly, this story seemed perfunctory. Neither Jensen nor Pippa seemed like fully realized characters, and their story in Beautiful didn't really jive with how they were depicted in [b:Beautiful Player|17831614|Beautiful Player (Beautiful Bastard, #3)|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375285002s/17831614.jpg|24948167] and [b:Beautiful Secret|22431039|Beautiful Secret (Beautiful Bastard, #4)|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1416624825s/22431039.jpg|41852426] respectively. There was little real conflict in the narrative and so they payoff of them getting together felt similarly low-stakes. And the sex... well, the sex scenes are few and far between here.
As I noted in my review for the marvelous [b:Dirty Rowdy Thing|21411902|Dirty Rowdy Thing (Wild Seasons, #2)|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397738746s/21411902.jpg|40277014] this is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when the pages between romps are used to wind up the anticipation-- the problem here is that when they do happen, they're cursory or downright forgettable. Jensen is described as a phenomenally attentive lover, but we don't get a single action or scene to prove that in some toe curling manner that will stick with us as we read. He's supposed to be best friends with Will, but none of the magnetism or charm of a Will-type is here. In fact, I questioned why he and Will were friends at all. It's stated as a given, but while Will is set-up as a grown-up version of his teenage self in [b:Beautiful Player|17831614|Beautiful Player (Beautiful Bastard, #3)|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375285002s/17831614.jpg|24948167]--where you can still see the rebel under the venture capitalist, the tattoos under the buttondown-- Jensen isn't described or explained at all in terms of who he is. More than twice, I felt like I was reading a plot outline where the scenes that should have been fleshed out (sexy or otherwise) were listed rather than written. It was, in a word, disappointing. And annoying, given how great several other titles in this series and in the Christina Lauren oeuvre are. Clearly, they're capable of better. It just didn't happen here.
The series of epilogues at the end, which tie up all the main characters from the beautiful books and send them on their happily ever afters, is a cute idea with lackluster execution, leaving me liking all of them less. They all get married and have kids and isn't it adorable? Well, no, actually, because that progression in these stories manages to neuter and or de-fang every single one of these characters who were so engaging, vivid, and motivated before. A more representative title for the entire series would have been "Beautiful to Boring"-- that's exactly what happened over the course of it, culminating with this title, which was most boring of all.
Frankly, this story seemed perfunctory. Neither Jensen nor Pippa seemed like fully realized characters, and their story in Beautiful didn't really jive with how they were depicted in [b:Beautiful Player|17831614|Beautiful Player (Beautiful Bastard, #3)|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375285002s/17831614.jpg|24948167] and [b:Beautiful Secret|22431039|Beautiful Secret (Beautiful Bastard, #4)|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1416624825s/22431039.jpg|41852426] respectively. There was little real conflict in the narrative and so they payoff of them getting together felt similarly low-stakes. And the sex... well, the sex scenes are few and far between here.
As I noted in my review for the marvelous [b:Dirty Rowdy Thing|21411902|Dirty Rowdy Thing (Wild Seasons, #2)|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397738746s/21411902.jpg|40277014] this is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when the pages between romps are used to wind up the anticipation-- the problem here is that when they do happen, they're cursory or downright forgettable. Jensen is described as a phenomenally attentive lover, but we don't get a single action or scene to prove that in some toe curling manner that will stick with us as we read. He's supposed to be best friends with Will, but none of the magnetism or charm of a Will-type is here. In fact, I questioned why he and Will were friends at all. It's stated as a given, but while Will is set-up as a grown-up version of his teenage self in [b:Beautiful Player|17831614|Beautiful Player (Beautiful Bastard, #3)|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375285002s/17831614.jpg|24948167]--where you can still see the rebel under the venture capitalist, the tattoos under the buttondown-- Jensen isn't described or explained at all in terms of who he is. More than twice, I felt like I was reading a plot outline where the scenes that should have been fleshed out (sexy or otherwise) were listed rather than written. It was, in a word, disappointing. And annoying, given how great several other titles in this series and in the Christina Lauren oeuvre are. Clearly, they're capable of better. It just didn't happen here.
The series of epilogues at the end, which tie up all the main characters from the beautiful books and send them on their happily ever afters, is a cute idea with lackluster execution, leaving me liking all of them less. They all get married and have kids and isn't it adorable? Well, no, actually, because that progression in these stories manages to neuter and or de-fang every single one of these characters who were so engaging, vivid, and motivated before. A more representative title for the entire series would have been "Beautiful to Boring"-- that's exactly what happened over the course of it, culminating with this title, which was most boring of all.
Sad to see the end of this group of very different people/couples.
This whole series has been great. This book was no exception.
Pippa and Jensen - a perfectly unmatched pair.
All the epilogues...loved it ...
This whole series has been great. This book was no exception.
Pippa and Jensen - a perfectly unmatched pair.
All the epilogues...loved it ...
funny
lighthearted
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
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The best ending of an amazing series! Why did it have to end?
Beautiful was okay. I didn’t really like it. I LOVED Bastard, Stranger & Player, but I was disappointed reading this book.
I found Jensen to be really frustrating and irritating and Pippa was just okay. It was a little boring and I was disappointed it wasn’t smutty like the others. My favorite part were the epilogues. I loved that the series started with the Bastard and ended with the Bastard. A true full circle moment.
I think I fell so in love & I got so attached to Chloe, Bennett, Sara, Max, Hanna, & Will that it was hard to let them go as the series progressed. I also did not plan to read the entire series back to back, but it was just so damn addicting I couldn’t stop! I’m so grateful that we got so many stories of them & new characters, but I would have been happy if it ended as a trilogy and ending with Beautiful Beginning or just more short stories of the six of them.
I love Christina Lauren. I think they are amazing rom com, romance writers. I love their stories, the characters, their writing. Their books are so funny & heartfelt & sexy. This one just didn’t do it for me. However, the Beautiful series was my first adult contemporary romance series and still absolutely loved & enjoyed the crap out of it!
I found Jensen to be really frustrating and irritating and Pippa was just okay. It was a little boring and I was disappointed it wasn’t smutty like the others. My favorite part were the epilogues. I loved that the series started with the Bastard and ended with the Bastard. A true full circle moment.
I think I fell so in love & I got so attached to Chloe, Bennett, Sara, Max, Hanna, & Will that it was hard to let them go as the series progressed. I also did not plan to read the entire series back to back, but it was just so damn addicting I couldn’t stop! I’m so grateful that we got so many stories of them & new characters, but I would have been happy if it ended as a trilogy and ending with Beautiful Beginning or just more short stories of the six of them.
I love Christina Lauren. I think they are amazing rom com, romance writers. I love their stories, the characters, their writing. Their books are so funny & heartfelt & sexy. This one just didn’t do it for me. However, the Beautiful series was my first adult contemporary romance series and still absolutely loved & enjoyed the crap out of it!
Method: audiobook
Rating: 4/5 stars
H rating: 4/5 - Jensen. Liked you, yes, but man you held onto feelings for 6+ years..that was tough to see.
h rating: 5/5 - Pippa. Loved your just be you nature.
Drama: /5 - Mainly due to Jensen.
Thoughts: Loved the hilarity of the h. I enjoyed their trip, and really loved the extended epilogues at the end!
OK. More like 2.5 stars. I don't want to read the others in the series. Audiobook narrators: guy was great (Seb York) but girl just meh.