Author: Christina Lauren
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5510-6
RRP: $12.99
Beautiful Beginning is the last of the Beautiful series which began with Beautiful Bastard, and as I think is only right it ended with the same couple it started with. Unfortunately I came into this series at the end, reading only Beautiful Player and Beautiful Beginning.
Beautiful Bastard introduced the world to Bennett Ryan, THE Beautiful Bastard, and his new employee Chloe Mills. The two began a volatile relationship with quite a major focus on their physical interactions from what I can understand. By the time Beautiful Player rolled around their relationship had been cemented and they were planning their wedding. Beautiful Beginning sees the culmination of all their planning and takes place the week of their wedding. They head to San Diego to get married in a place that holds lots of sentimental significance for them, in a week of celebrations surrounded by 350 people – many of them slightly out there relatives.
This book is a little under 200 pages so quite a quick and easy read. On first picking it up I was expecting 200 scorching pages of steam but early on we discover that Bennett would really like to pause physical relations for the week before the wedding and concentrate on being in every moment with his fiance rather than spending every moment contemplating getting her naked. On second thoughts perhaps this will be a largely steamless read that makes up for it at the very end.
As it turned out there was still plenty of steam but it was more of a teasing nature, and a seductive nature as Chloe tried to convince Bennett that his plan was flawed. In the end there was quite a bit of action but not a lot of actual intercourse which at times sends the steam skyrocketing.
Beautiful Beginning wasn’t all about the steam though, I found it to be really quite amusing with some very witty dialogue and moments of hilarity. Much of what could go wrong with wedding preparations did and it looked like there could be some explosive bridezilla moments but they were all kept relatively well controlled until Chloe exploded and it was demonstrated just how much of the chemistry between Bennett and Chloe heated up in times of anger and frustration.
We see a little of Will and Hanna from Beautiful Player and also Max and Sara who featured in Beautiful Stranger which I haven’t read. Their stories progress alongside wedding preparations for Chloe and Bennett.
The bulk of this volume is dedicated to the wedding lead up – rehearsals, family drama, preparation hitches and Chloe trying to seduce her fiance Bennett while he makes a valiant effort to resist her. I think the characterisation would be quite good if you have read the entire series and were more familiar with the characters; as it was I think I knew them well enough that they didn’t seem too one dimensional and some of their background was included so that if this was your first meeting with them it wouldn’t be a complete loss.
Beautiful Beginning was an entertaining steamy afternoon read that showcases the intelligent and witty mindset of the author. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!