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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Book Review: Beautiful Secret, by Christina Lauren

I ran my hand through my chin-length, choppy hair. "It looks like it does every day."

 Pippa snorted. In truth, I'd spent way too long getting ready this morning, but I needed the confidence today.

 Because just like she said, today was Thursday, my favorite day of the week.

 On Thursdays I got to see him.

 It's been a while since I've done an "advance" review of a book (before it hits stores/Amazon) and that's not because I am hoarding piles because I don't have books to review, it's because I have SO many books to review that I often get behind on reviewing. When I received Beautiful Secret in the mail, though, I read it a short while later, because I know I usually devour any and all books by Christina Lauren, and usually very quickly, too.

Official synopsis:
When Ruby Miller’s boss announces he’s sending her on an extended business trip to New York City, she’s shocked. As one of the best and brightest young engineers in London, she knows she’s professionally up to the task. The part that’s throwing her is where she’ll be spending a month up close and personal working alongside—and staying in a hotel with—Niall Stella, her firm’s top urban planning executive and The Hottest Man Alive. Despite her ongoing crush, Ruby is certain Niall barely knows she’s alive…until their flirty overnight flight makes him sit up and take notice.

Not one for letting loose and breaking rules, recently divorced Niall would describe himself as hopeless when it comes to women. But even he knows outgoing California-girl Ruby is a breath of fresh air. Once she makes it her mission to help the sexy Brit loosen his tie, there’s no turning back. Thousands of miles from London, it’s easy for the lovers to play pretend. But when the trip is over, will the relationship they’ve built up fall down?

Christina Lauren (actually two authors) have outdone themselves this time around. In Beautiful Player, the girl involved is a bit of a nerd/introvert, but Niall Stella (yes, Max Stella's brother), whom we first meet in Beautiful Beloved, is both that plus an overthinker. He's also 30, and recently got divorced from a woman whom he met as a teenager and been married to for 11 years.

Ruby, on the other hand, is 23, and although she too is an overthinker, she also can be brash at times. She's had a crush on Niall Stella, one of the VPs where she has an internship, for FOREVER, and never thought he would notice her - until they are assigned to go on a month-long business trip to NYC together, and Niall eventually starts to take notice.

In the other books in this series (which I all loved), usually the R-rated parts of the novel happen quickly and easily, in the first 1/4 or 1/3 of the book. In this novel, because Niall and Ruby are both overthinkers, things do happen, and they're actually even sexier than anything you've read in the first 7 books (including the novellas). However, Niall is a bit more old-fashioned than the other male protagonists in these novels, and he puts more of a value on sex than they did; what it means to him and how long he will wait, to be sure, before embarking on a sexual relationship with someone.

I loved that both of them were overthinkers, and because each alternating chapters were written from different POVs (one Niall chapter, one Ruby chapter, etc.), we got to experience all of their emotions. This might be my favorite installment yet of the Beautiful series, and I'm hoping there will be more books in the series and that this is not the last of them.

Beautiful Secret will be in stores on April 14, 2015 {click here to preorder}. 4.5 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I received an ARC of this novel for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

All of my reviews for the Beautiful Bastard series:
at 9:05 AM

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