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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I love Jensen and Pippa! I love everything about this series. Kinda sad it's over. I'll miss the whole gang <3
4.5 stars
I was provided an ARC copy from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
Holy shit, Christina Lauren has done it again. Technically, this is the first book I've read in this Beautiful series. I have read the entire Wild Seasons series, and I absolutely loved it, those are some of my favorite new adult books of all time. However, I haven't had the chance to start this Beautiful series yet, but I unexpectedly received an advanced copy of this book in the mail - so of course I wanted to pick it up and read it right away. I'm so glad I did because this book can be read as a stand alone, even though I'm sure it's an epic conclusion to the series. I read this book all in one sitting which is pretty crazy considering that this book is 400 pages long, but I couldn't get enough of these characters and the writing style is so perfect.
This book follows Pippa, a girl from London who catches her boyfriend cheating on her in her bed and leaves town for a road trip in Boston with friends. This book also follows Jensen, a lawyer in Boston who is on his way back home from a business event in London. They meet on the plane and their first interaction was fucking hysterical. Their relationship felt so real and it took a while for them to warm up to each other. I loved the fact that Jensen is 34 years old and he's afraid on never truly finding happiness in his life. He got divorced six years ago from this girl named Becky who he was with for nine years, and it was sad to see him struggle to find his identity. I loved Pippa as a main character. She's so unpredictable and funny and she literally has no filter. Both of these two characters coming together is unexpected, but they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
Like all of Christina Lauren's book the humor is on point - I was laughing out loud several times throughout the book. The sex scenes are intense and intimate and also on point. They write such sexy male characters, I love it. I love the way Pippa describes Jensen, it was very easy to fall head over heels for his character. I loved all the scenes on the road trip to the wineries. I loved the relationship Jensen has with his sister Hannah, it felt so real and natural and I loved their bickering.I actually thought it was hilarious when they ran into Jensen's ex-wife Becky, and she was there with her new husband so Jensen introduced Pippa as his wife. I usually find these set-ups ridiculous and cheesy but it was really funny in this book. I like how this forced them to share a hotel room, and forced Pippa to do yoga with Becky and karaoke. It was all very entertaining. I love that scene where they are running through the maze and it starts raining and she tells him to yell all of his fears and get it out of his system - and he starts yelling about how him and Becky should've had kids by now. It was sad and depressing, but it was also a moment of connection for him and it was beautiful to see. I also loved the way Pippa's grandfather described love and how much he loved her grandmother, it was so cute and inspiring and made me cry. I guess the only gripe I have with this book is that the ending felt a little too perfect and happily ever after like, but I get it because this is the conclusion to a series of many books, so of course everything is going to be wrapped in a neat bow. I did like the way Jensen and Pippa's story started and ended on an airplane, I thought that was cute.
Overall, I'm very impressed with this book and I'm not surprised at all that I loved it. Christina Lauren is easily one of my favorite authors and I'll literally read anything they write. They write some of the best New Adult Romance I've ever read and I love their writing style. Their characters always feel so realistic and they're always very funny and have great personalities and a great sense of humor. Their sex scenes are always written so well and realistically and it's never over the top. I just loved this book a lot and I can't wait to read the other books in this series hahaha.
I was provided an ARC copy from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
Holy shit, Christina Lauren has done it again. Technically, this is the first book I've read in this Beautiful series. I have read the entire Wild Seasons series, and I absolutely loved it, those are some of my favorite new adult books of all time. However, I haven't had the chance to start this Beautiful series yet, but I unexpectedly received an advanced copy of this book in the mail - so of course I wanted to pick it up and read it right away. I'm so glad I did because this book can be read as a stand alone, even though I'm sure it's an epic conclusion to the series. I read this book all in one sitting which is pretty crazy considering that this book is 400 pages long, but I couldn't get enough of these characters and the writing style is so perfect.
This book follows Pippa, a girl from London who catches her boyfriend cheating on her in her bed and leaves town for a road trip in Boston with friends. This book also follows Jensen, a lawyer in Boston who is on his way back home from a business event in London. They meet on the plane and their first interaction was fucking hysterical. Their relationship felt so real and it took a while for them to warm up to each other. I loved the fact that Jensen is 34 years old and he's afraid on never truly finding happiness in his life. He got divorced six years ago from this girl named Becky who he was with for nine years, and it was sad to see him struggle to find his identity. I loved Pippa as a main character. She's so unpredictable and funny and she literally has no filter. Both of these two characters coming together is unexpected, but they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
Like all of Christina Lauren's book the humor is on point - I was laughing out loud several times throughout the book. The sex scenes are intense and intimate and also on point. They write such sexy male characters, I love it. I love the way Pippa describes Jensen, it was very easy to fall head over heels for his character. I loved all the scenes on the road trip to the wineries. I loved the relationship Jensen has with his sister Hannah, it felt so real and natural and I loved their bickering.
Overall, I'm very impressed with this book and I'm not surprised at all that I loved it. Christina Lauren is easily one of my favorite authors and I'll literally read anything they write. They write some of the best New Adult Romance I've ever read and I love their writing style. Their characters always feel so realistic and they're always very funny and have great personalities and a great sense of humor. Their sex scenes are always written so well and realistically and it's never over the top. I just loved this book a lot and I can't wait to read the other books in this series hahaha.
3.5
Cutesy, fun romance made more enjoyable as an audiobook.
Cutesy, fun romance made more enjoyable as an audiobook.
That scene in the bed where she's still sleeping. Yea, that scene is problematic. Consent matters. Sexual assault is not okay and should never be written as if it is okay like it is in this book.
Listen. It's been days and I still think about this disgusting scene.
Listen. It's been days and I still think about this disgusting scene.
This was exactly the conclusion I wanted. Though to be honest, I would totally not complain if they suddenly decided to add a few more. Haha. Honestly, overall, the relationship in this one, Pippa and Jensen, were not my favorite. In fact, of the five, they were one of my least favorites. She bordered on a manic pixie dream girl type character. And I felt like Jensen was the least emotionally attractive of the men - he was just...too reserved? Even more so than Niall, I felt. Plus, there were a lot of cliche situations and too much purposeful set-up pushing by friends to make this entirely believable. And the grand gesture at the end, while great to read, was a little too movie-esque for my tastes. However, what I really loved was the revisit to all of our previous couples, both in how much they were involved in the first place (being part of the vacation group that Pippa and Jensen met as part of) as well as a little epilogue from some of their perspectives and insight into their lives post center stage. In general though, I felt like, knowing this was a finale, I could read it with rose tinted glasses and just enjoy the end of the ride, which I truly am sad is over. Really I'm turning into a major Christina Lauren groupie.
I have (finally) finished this series.
Final couple? Didn't care for them too much, frankly I was just excited for the extra Hanna and Will bits lol.
Anyways, I like CL but I prefer their stand-alone novels. These books seem quite rushed and given the publication dates, I am not surprised. It was fine, a bit anti-climactic of an ending with so many characters shoved in the last 8 percent of the book to wrap up their stories.
To be fair, it's not like I read these for the plot, right? ;)
Final couple? Didn't care for them too much, frankly I was just excited for the extra Hanna and Will bits lol.
Anyways, I like CL but I prefer their stand-alone novels. These books seem quite rushed and given the publication dates, I am not surprised. It was fine, a bit anti-climactic of an ending with so many characters shoved in the last 8 percent of the book to wrap up their stories.
To be fair, it's not like I read these for the plot, right? ;)
*1.5/5 stars.
Gosh I.... disliked this. I didn't think really that the characters had any chemistry between them whatsoever, the plot was bland and they literally were like uncomfortable awkward work mates rather than a couple. It was so boring for me but thankfully went by fast and I read this in just two sittings. The small epilogues gave nothing to me, so this entire book was unnecessary and just not that enjoyable.
Gosh I.... disliked this. I didn't think really that the characters had any chemistry between them whatsoever, the plot was bland and they literally were like uncomfortable awkward work mates rather than a couple. It was so boring for me but thankfully went by fast and I read this in just two sittings. The small epilogues gave nothing to me, so this entire book was unnecessary and just not that enjoyable.
Beautiful is a satisfying end to the series that made me consciously acknowledge that I am a Romance Reader who like Good Sex in her books and there is Nothing Wrong With That. Pippa and Jensen'a story is the same blend of sexy, sweet and emotionally robust as we've come to expect from Christina Lauren. I would have loved to see more from all of the old gang (let me give you all my money in exchange for a pregnant Chloe novella, CLo!) but what we did see of the settled marrieds' lives together gave me warm fuzzies. I have no doubt that like the rest of Christina Lauren's books, Beautiful is destined to be a favorite that I return to again and again.
Beautiful brings together two secondary characters (Jensen, Hanna’s brother, and Pippa, Ruby’s bestie) in a sweet romance of happenstance. This book is by far the most adorable and rom-com.
Plot-wise, Beautiful loses some of the realism and heads into unlikely trope-land, but they’re all done so cutely that I really didn’t mind the change. Willing to suspend disbelief for the adorbs over here. Jensen and Hanna meet on a plane, and he’s very turned off by her loudness and drunken over-sharing, only to discover that she’s going on a wine tour with him and his friends. Of course, he learns this when she shows up just in time to overhear him talking about the crazy woman he sat next to on the plane.
They’re then stuck in set-up hell as they set out on a road trip with the disgustingly in love Will/Hanna and Ruby/Niall. Everyone ships them, and they’re not really sure how to feel about it, even once they overcome the horrible first meeting and strike up a rapport. Happenstance intervenes in the form of an ex and a surprise appearance of the fake dating trope. The rom-com-ness continues to the end, complete with more happenstance and a grand gesture.
I can imagine this book being underwhelming for some readers, considering that there’s way less sex than usual and no sex until about halfway through the book. Perhaps more surprising, there are sex scenes that are referenced but which don’t happen on-page. I didn’t mind this though, because I thought Jensen and Pippa were adorable together. He’s all buttoned-up and stuffy, where she’s bright and silly. They both have such a strong impact on each other, and it’s really cute. Even the nth hour break up fits better with this book, because they were in weird circumstances, what with her living in London and him Boston.
Along with the cuteness of the main relationship, this book’s such a celebration of the full cast. All of the couples make appearances, and there are even epilogues for each couple. The running gag of the nice Chloe, altered by pregnancy is cute, and I LOVE that George finally got himself a love interest. Oh, and Pippa’s Mums are adorable too. There’s way too much pregnancy and baby-having for my taste, but they’re all so happy it’s hard to begrudge them.
I say this every time, but Beautiful was one of my favorites. I’m just so impressed with this whole series. Each romance and character is distinct from the rest, and the ships are all so good. There’s so much variety, and it’s all so high quality. Writing team Christina Lauren is officially on my obsession list (though lbr that happened at book two).
Plot-wise, Beautiful loses some of the realism and heads into unlikely trope-land, but they’re all done so cutely that I really didn’t mind the change. Willing to suspend disbelief for the adorbs over here. Jensen and Hanna meet on a plane, and he’s very turned off by her loudness and drunken over-sharing, only to discover that she’s going on a wine tour with him and his friends. Of course, he learns this when she shows up just in time to overhear him talking about the crazy woman he sat next to on the plane.
They’re then stuck in set-up hell as they set out on a road trip with the disgustingly in love Will/Hanna and Ruby/Niall. Everyone ships them, and they’re not really sure how to feel about it, even once they overcome the horrible first meeting and strike up a rapport. Happenstance intervenes in the form of an ex and a surprise appearance of the fake dating trope. The rom-com-ness continues to the end, complete with more happenstance and a grand gesture.
I can imagine this book being underwhelming for some readers, considering that there’s way less sex than usual and no sex until about halfway through the book. Perhaps more surprising, there are sex scenes that are referenced but which don’t happen on-page. I didn’t mind this though, because I thought Jensen and Pippa were adorable together. He’s all buttoned-up and stuffy, where she’s bright and silly. They both have such a strong impact on each other, and it’s really cute. Even the nth hour break up fits better with this book, because they were in weird circumstances, what with her living in London and him Boston.
Along with the cuteness of the main relationship, this book’s such a celebration of the full cast. All of the couples make appearances, and there are even epilogues for each couple. The running gag of the nice Chloe, altered by pregnancy is cute, and I LOVE that George finally got himself a love interest. Oh, and Pippa’s Mums are adorable too. There’s way too much pregnancy and baby-having for my taste, but they’re all so happy it’s hard to begrudge them.
I say this every time, but Beautiful was one of my favorites. I’m just so impressed with this whole series. Each romance and character is distinct from the rest, and the ships are all so good. There’s so much variety, and it’s all so high quality. Writing team Christina Lauren is officially on my obsession list (though lbr that happened at book two).