Book Review: Beautiful by Christina Lauren

---

Beautiful
Beautiful Bastard #5
Author: Christina Lauren
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Romance
Released: October 4th 2016
Review Source: Gallery Books

The tenth work in the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling series that started with Beautiful Bastard.

A new couple finds love, and the casts of the previous books join in to celebrate this series finale in the most Beautiful way possible.

** This is an Adult romance novel recommended for ages 18+ due to sexual content and mature subject matter.**

Ugh you guyssss. Does it have to be the end of this series? Does it really? I would totally dig a novella from each couple every year, just a check in, see how they’re doing, see if panties are still getting ripped, secret pictures being taken, players playing. You know...the usual stuff you get curious about. So when this book arrived I was nearly in tears, and I thought if I don't read it, doesn't really end? I can hold this off, right? But then I remembered Will was in this book so holding off on reading this lasted all of 20 minutes and that 20 minutes were spent taking pictures of it and smelling it and thanking the book gods for this epic arc.

So I don’t know if I’ve made it clear or not, so if I haven’t I seem to have a bit of an attachment to this series. Beautiful Bastard was one of the first books that consumed me so quickly that I didn’t get up until it was over and nothing has changed since. Beautiful follows Jensen (Hanna’s older brother/Will’s BFF) and Pippa who we first met in Beautiful Secret as Ruby’s best friend and coworker. Pippa is definitely that eccentric, blunt, and says anything that comes to mind. She just comes off the page and makes you want to be best friends with her. So when she finds her boyfriend shagging another lady she just needs to get out of her headspace and have a holiday. And where would should Pippa go? America of course! Next step is getting drunk on a plane next to very delicious, meticulously polished man, and telling while explaining her whole life story. Well you would never guess who Mr. Pressed Pants turned out to be (well you’ve probably guessed) Jensen! You’d think their paths would end there, they wouldn’t cross again, not in Boston, it’s huge there! HA! Well Pippa walks in on Jensen telling his sister all about the mess of a woman he had to sit next to on his flight. And well that hot mess was Pippa. Things happen, stuff falls into place, and Pippa and Jensen find themselves the lone wolves on a two week long winetrip, I mean roadtrip, to drink a lot of wine and have an amazing time with Will, Hanna, Niall, and Ruby.

While Pippa is having a holiday away from her issues, Hanna keeps slapping Jensen in the face with his. Like, how he is single, works way too much, and doesn’t have much of a life outside his work and family. Jensen had been married before and then shortly after the wedding his wife up and left with no explanation and while he believes he’s over it, he still carries some of the baggage and hurt from the past. So we mix two very established couples (hey Will) with two very single strangers, add a lot of wine, and no cell service, and we get, well you’ll have to read it to see what we get, because it’s amamamazing.

Whether you’re mourning the end of this series or just beginning to fall in love, The Beautiful Series is just that, beautiful. The characters are vibrant and strong, their stories invite you and make you feel like you’re part of the family. I hate to say goodbye but I am so glad I was along for the ride.