Beautiful by Christina Lauren (Beautiful Bastard #5)
Released: October 4, 2016
Contemporary Romance
Gallery Books

Reviewed by Mandi

I haven’t read all of the books in this series but I still feel like I know all the players. The last book in this series, Beautiful is so much fun and so sexy – I think I smiled the entire time I read it. Jensen and Pippa are so darn cute together that I didn’t want their story to end.

Pippa lives in England and hates her job. When she comes home on her lunch break to find her boyfriend banging another woman, Pippa has had enough. She decides a holiday is desperately needed and decides to fly to Boston to meet up with a good friend of hers (Ruby from Beautiful Secret) who is planning a winery tour up the east coast. Ruby is good friends with the entire gang – but since Chloe and Sara are pregnant, just Will and Hanna, Ruby and Niall and Pippa are going. When Pippa gets on the plane, she has champagne and is just ready to leave her messy life behind her. Then a very sexy business man sits down next to her. Pippa, who has no problem talking to anyone and anything, unloads her entire life story on this man – who eventually pretends to sleep just to keep her quiet. Pippa gets off the plane and assumes she will never see him again.

This man is our hero, Jensen. He lives in Boston and works and works and works some more. Briefly married to his long-time girlfriend, he is now divorced and has forgotten how to have fun. His best friend is Will and his sister is Hanna – and they are concerned he no social life. They encourage him to take a two-week vacation and go on their winery tour. He reluctantly says yes, and then soon after realizes Pippa, the crazy girl from the airplane is going as well.

Since they are the only unattached people on the trip, they get stuck together a lot. Pippa is all about having a fun holiday fling, and Jensen starts to realize this extroverted woman is actually a lot of fun.

Pippa is very comfortable in her body – she wears really brightly colored clothes and even though she has messy things happening back home, she is a good-natured, happy, bubbly person. Jensen is so bogged down by work that he has forgotten other things exist.

I looked him over again: neat crease down the center of each leg, those shiny brown shoes, and hair combed without a single strand out of place. His skin looked well cared for, nails groomed. Yes…I could see he was a man of particulars.

I glanced down at my own outfit: a black shift dress, striped purple-and-black tights,  scuffed-up knee-high black boots, and a forearm full of bracelets. My hair was shoved in a messy bun and I hadn’t bothered to put on any make-up before sprinting to the Tube.

We were quite a pair.

But Jensen has that quiet sexy thing going on. He might not talk a lot , but what he says, or his gestures might make you swoon. And when they do hook up on vacation, it’s sexxxxxxy:

“I fucking love sex,” he said in a quiet growl. “Of course I want it. But tonight it was complicated, and I don’t just have sex with someone on impulse.”

“God.” I let my head fall back against the headboard. “That’s incredibly hot, and I don’t even know why.”

“Pippa.”

I grinned up at him. “Jensen.”

My heart beat a savage rhythm in my chest as he reached forward, lifting a hand and touching my bottom lip with the tip of his index finger. “Do you like sex?” he whispered.

Oh, fuck me.

“Yes.”

Their HEA made me smile really hard.

Just a really fun book. If you have never read any books in this series, you will still enjoy this! This series is also great on audible.

Also if you have not read the Wild Season series, do it!!! These authors (writing team) have such a fun and sexy voice. I’ve featured them a lot on Smex Scene Sunday.

Grade: B+

Goodreads l  Kindle

Giveaway: The publisher is offering one print copy of Beautiful to giveaway! Open to US only. Leave a comment to enter – I’ll pick a winner tomorrow at noon.