Beautiful Bastard

Christina Lauren

Feb 2013 · The Beautiful Series Book 1 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this eBook

An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling. Discover the story that garnered more than two million reads online.

Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.

Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office.

As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other.

Originally only available online as The Office by tby789—and garnering over 2 million reads on fanfiction sites—Beautiful Bastard has been extensively updated for re-release.

Ratings and reviews

This novel exploits the concept of workplace sexual harassment to a disgusting and offensive degree. I could not even finish the first chapter. That a woman would immediately melt for a condescending professional superior when he illicitly touches her is insulting. I have never lost respect for a female character so quickly. This is not provocative erotica, it's the mysoginistic fantasies of a writer that stereotypes working women.

the plot is good. it's definitely real spicy. but I felt like literally every page was just some other version of sex that had just happened. I didn't feel like there was too much development into the first interaction either. if you enjoy a slow burn, this isn't for you. if you enjoy lots of spice with not much else, this is gold.

I was hesitant about reading this series at first. I tend to shy away from books that have really high ratings. I mean it's hard to believe that everyone liked it. But boy was I wrong about this one. BB is great. If you like your romance with a strong heroine that can give an alpha male a run for his money, then read this book.

About the author

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA TODAY, and #1 internationally bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series, Autoboyography, Love and Other Words, Roomies, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, The Unhoneymooners, The Soulmate Equation, Something Wilder, The True Love Experiment, and The Paradise Problem. You can find them online at ChristinaLaurenBooks.com or @ChristinaLauren on Instagram.