Beautiful Stranger (The Beautiful Series Book 2)

Originally Posted on GoodreadsI feel a bit like a fledgling lately, having spread my wings, tested the air a bit and lept from the Y/A & N/A nest I've been swaddled in for many moons. I guess it's because summer's (almost) here and most of the kids in my reading group are doing their own thing (without me *sniffle*). For the most part, I find Adult Contemps a bit formulaic for my taste, most of what's out there seems very A LA Nicholas Sparks to me. So I've been testing the waters with the edgier stuff as well as a bunch of Indie books and have had some success.I was more than a bit surprised by this series. I've read more than a few bad reviews, most pertaining to the notion that FanFic is somehow abhorrent, though I'm not certain I particularly understand judgement of a book based solely on its genesis. Nonetheless, I was reluctant to read any of it. Bad me. I've actually found some of it really entertaining. Is it great literature? No, not really. But it is fun. So, on the fun scale this definitely gets a four out of five WoHoo's from me. And, if we're being real here, I found this particular book even better than the first.Here's why it got a better rating than its predecessor. Character development. No, it's not a homerun but it was way, way better in that arena than Beautiful Bastard. Still, I did enjoy the first book, but found it lacked a bit in the development department as a whole. Thankfully, not so much with this novel. Sara and Max are much more fleshed out and their relationship, though initially founded on sex, was explored more deeply and allowed to flourish more organically.Sara (Chloe's friend and co-worker from book one), has left Chicago to join Bennett and Chloe in New York where they're opening a new office as the business expands. If memory serves, this is about a year about book one leaves off. The reason for Sara's departure from Chicago is twofold. One, she's just left her cheating boyfriend; and, two, she's looking for a way to explore her new self. Almost immediately upon her arrival she goes for a girls night out with Chloe and Julia (who's in town for a few days) and meets a charming Brit (Max) who's not only easy on the eyes, but makes Sara feel very sexy after being in a loveless relationship for six years with an absolute A-Hole.During her encounters with Max, Sara slowly begins to unveil herself to him. And, yes, while he is somewhat the alpha male, Max shows a great deal of restraint and tenderness as he begins to share pieces of himself with her. Their true intimacy is a slow growing thing, and it takes most of the novel to fill in all the pieces of the puzzle, which is exactly how I like these types of reveals to go. Max is a fairly typical wealthy bachelor, though not in a sleazy way. The way he's portrayed never made me skittish of him as a true love interest for Sara given her recent heartbreak. It was clear he's sort of just plodding along in this life that he'd built without really knowing that it was unsatisying. I appreciated that he was willing to commit to a monogamous relationship, even if it was simply a sexual one, and that he never batted an eye at Sara's strange rules. He was open and candid and honest, never brooding or unkind, and always seemed to be looking for more from her. I loved that Max was given an opportunity to show his softer side, while Bennett's was somewhat limited. Max's mum works in his office; he speaks affectionately about his family and obviously holds them in high regards; he adores his mates. There's a great scene toward the middle in which Max asks Sara to meet him at a bar after a rugby match with his mates, and we're able to see him amongst his friends. It was a nice touch and showed that Max was truly a decent human being. I would have liked to have seen more of that given to Bennett in the first book.Sara, too, was well written. Oftentimes the heroine in these setups is a brooding, angsty bitch but I never thought that of Sara. She gave as good as she got where the banter was concerned and though she was secretive about her history, she had her reasons and I couldn't fault her trepidation. I also never felt as though she was intentionally jerking Max around, their relationship evolved naturally without either truly taking control or needing the author's to implement some crazy plot device. Given that there are relatively little dramaticals until the end of the novel, this story progressed really nicely and I found myself following along and not even worried that there hadn't been any real craziness happening. Don't worry, though, if you need the craziness, trust me it's there, it just takes a while to happen.It was also really nice to see Bennett and Chloe again and they each had some pretty funny scenes in the book, especially Bennett who, true to form, always has a way of putting things when he needs to be heard. George, Sara's assistant, is a new character in the book and was a fave of mine. I am totally hoping to see him again in the next book because he rocked my socks off and he brought a lot a humor into this at some much needed times.So, yeah, if you liked the first book, then I think you'll love this one. And if you didn't, maybe give this one a chance. The story has a much different feel to it.

4.5 Sexy Stars, but bumping it up to five stars because I got to embrace complex characters, embrace Bennett again and devoured the book.Consumed this book in just under four hours. This book gives new meaning to "public displays of affection.""Notorious player"..."Jaded and jilted woman"..."self-contained"..."Casual"..."curious"..."eager for change"..."willing to try something new"..."living in denial"..."attempting to change one's true self"..."pushing the envelope."These are all things that can be used to describe Sara and Max. When things surface and a new reality is brought to the surface, Sara must face a decision to either remain in the life that has not only been stagnant, but started to drown her, or she can escape it and attempt to reinvent herself and embrace a new life in a new city.While she tries to remain private, secretive and aloof, Sara decides it's time to live a life that is not only out of her element and completely foreign, but one she thinks will allow her to wake up and submerge her into a life that she never got to be a part of, since she spent the last six years in a relationship of blindness, convenience, lies, deceit, disloyalty and flat out blatant disrespect. Moving beyond that seems like it will be a tall order to fill for Sara, so once she gets to the new city and settled in, her good friend Chloe (yes, that Chloe), starts her off on embracing her new life by taking her out for a celebratory night out. It is this night that starts the break out ball rolling.Max has a reputation; one most women who are looking for something of substance would not wish to be a part of, but Sara's been there and done that. But Max seems more like a misunderstood man who just makes conscious choices to live a life of no drama for a reason. While his first meeting with Sara is more than she bargained for, and more than he expected, what can you do when something just captivates your mind, ensnares your soul and leaves you eager to know more? well, you try and find out more, and he does.A deal is struck, rules are set and the New Life of Sara begins...a life that is really not all that foreign for the "playboy" Max, per se, except for the added brazenness of the relationship, which is much more out of his element, but surely is something that seems to not only spark an interest, but stoke his fires.Can Sara completely detach from the girl with a heart who deep down has a flair for the romantic, and can Max truly open himself up to see that even though he has lived a casual life for sometime, letting his guard down and opening up possibilities just might show him a girl who he may wish to take a chance on?This book was a true testament to what happens to those who end up with a broken heart. The bad decisions that we often make. The horrible feelings we harbor within ourselves that leave us unsure, questioning and often feel how we are is not good enough and we need to embrace something new in order to heal. But when you start to lose yourself in something new and exciting, you begin pushing away your true self and feelings and try to talk yourself into something other than what is real and what your life now is.But when scars do not heal and you both decide to redefine the relationship, there is no where to go but the sea of doubt, which soon consumes Sara and she begins to drown; unable to tread water to stay above. Can love truly conquer all, can lies of omissions be forgiven, can scars be looked over in order to take a chance, and can two people, one who swore off relationships and another who isn't opposed to one but needs the right one, truly find their real self while embracing new and exciting things with each other and share a life of making new memories that are not stale but full of making each other happy?This was a complete winner for me. I love how the authors give us characters that suffer such complex issues that need to be worked out or cause them to start a path of certain behavior. This led to them becoming lost in their own maze of feelings and actions because they were not sure how to proceed, process or navigate the unknown, especially because they were so set in their mind to embark on their life and relationship one way, only to sink to the bottom of the emotional ocean and learn to redirect what and who matters in order to find common ground, equal footing and total love and understanding.

Another good book by Christina and Lauren. I love Beautiful Stranger as much as Beautiful Player (book 3) but for different reasons. Max (the male lead) is allegedly a ladies man who is regularly seen with a different woman on his arm at social events. Sara (female lead) is a friend of Chloe's (from beautiful bastard) who has trust issues with men after recently ending a long term relationship with a high profile politician who cheated on her on numerous occasions and has decided to live life to the full and start afresh with a new job in another state. Sara goes out with Chloe and other friends to celebrate her engagement to Bennett where she meets a hot man (Max) who she flirts with without exchanging names. As the night goes on Sara starts to enjoy herself and pretends she is dancing for the hot man she met earlier (who is watching and filming her but is unaware). Eventually the hot stranger approaches her again which ends up with Max and Sara having a one night stand in the club. Sara assumes that she will never see this man again however she does not know that Max is a friend of Bennett's and ends up seeing each other at meetings and social events. They embark on a "friends with benefits" relationship which enables them to indulge their sexual fantasies but as time goes on they start to develop feelings each other. Will Sara be able to trust a man again especially someone like Max who she believes has a reputation for having only short term casual relationships with women? Has Max finally met a woman with whom he is ready to commit to? I loved the whole story. The sex scenes were hotter than those in Beautiful stranger. Overall I thought the whole story was well written and I liked there was more banter between the male characters included.

This is the second book in Christina Lauren’s Beautiful series, following on from Beautiful Bastard. You can check out my review of that here. I downloaded this straight after reading the first book in the series and found that I couldn’t put this down either.The story is all about one of the sub characters from the first book Sara Dillon. Sara stars as Chloe’s friend and fellow intern in book one and in this second instalment we see her some years later, living in New York having started to work with Bennett’s firm in a senior position. Sara meets a handsome and irresistible stranger on one of her first nights out in New York and in a rebellion against her nature she decides to hook up with him in the club marking the brand new Sara.Although we’ve met Sara before we don’t actually know that much about her. Even in her own book you are given a cheeky glimpse into her life in the prologue but a much fuller picture of her life is unraveled throughout the story. This is pretty good because you get to know the real Sara while piece by piece you get a glimpse of how her life used to be. Sara has pretty much been treated rather poorly by her ex and exploring this new uninhibited side of her character seems like it could be the making of her. I liked that Sara was so willing to abandon everything that she didn’t like about her old life and really try and embrace this relationship with Max.I loved Max’s character. He’s British which makes him a teensy bit more relatable and I loved that some of his speech was more typically English. Max is such a great character to compliment Sara’s. He’s experienced in life, he knows what he wants from it and he’s not afraid to try and do what he can to get it. I loved that he was so willing to go on Sara’s journey with her and take their relationship forward at her pace instead of his.This story is a little bit sexier and a little bit more adventurous in its eroticism than the first in the series exploring voyeurism in a sexual relationship. While this might not be to everyone’s tastes (not mine either by the way) it was no less hot and interesting to read about. The same great writing style from the first in the series is present here too and that passionate relationship between the characters is so spot on.I definitely recommend this book if you have enjoyed the first book, even if you think that some of the sexual aspects might not be for you! I am reading this as part of the #SexMeUpReadathon running from 21st – 25th of July with Gosling Girls Book Tours.

After reading Beautiful Bastard, book number 1 in this series, I had to get this one and I was really excited to read it.We are in New York now. The story follows Sara Dillon, her boss is none other than Bennett Ryan, remember him?! If not check out Beautiful Bastard. The whole company expanded and they opened up offices in New York as well now. Bennett is there and of course also his Fiancée Chloe. It was great to read about them again, I loved them as a couple and now I get glimpses of them in relation to Sara and Max – perfect.Well, let’s get back to Sara. She wants a new start, away from her ex… In a club she meets sexy, irresistible, gorgeous, British Max. She is instantly drawn to him…Max Stella loves women and he’s not afraid to show that, but then he meets Sara… Suddenly everything changes.I loved reading about the way their “relationship” developed. Not wanting more than just “sex” they met up from time to time, experiencing different things. Especially for Sara it was something totally new. She explores different sides to her usual self and she likes it…They hooked up in so many different places and each scene was so detailed, carefully described and very very sexy. I loved the mixture and the variety, always something exciting, hot and passionate.Both, Max and Sara, realised that there could be something more between them, both too afraid to say anything. And of course it wouldn’t be a real story, without some drama and misunderstandings in the end.To me, Sara and Max were perfect together. And I loved reading from both their perspectives; it gave such a clear picture to their feelings.This book is BRILLIANT!!!! I loved every steaming second of it! I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!!!

4.5 big fat shiny twinkly stars...I loved this book, even more than Beautiful Bastard. I hate to say this but I have added a new book boyfriend in the shape of Max Stella my oh my..This story focuses on a friend of Bennett's called Max Stella and Chloe's best friend Sara Dillon.Sara has just upped sticks and moved as she had been in a long term relationship with a politician whom she had just found out had been cheating on her throughout the relationship. She had to get away and find the real Sara. She gets a job as head of finance working for Bennett's company. As an introduction to the city Chloe takes Sara to the local night spots and whilst in a club at the bar Sara bumps into Max Stella, she is immediately taken aback by the Brit but brushes him off as she is not there for men. Sara makes her way back to the dance floor and back to her friends, whilst dancing she can feel a set of eyes on her and scans the room, there she sees Max completely staring at her, it seems he is just as taken as she was. She makes her way to the ladies room and when she comes out she bumps into a wall of muscle that is Max Stella, they find somewhere quiet and whilst totally out of character for Sara she ends up having sex and in true Cinderella style just leaves one thing behind..her panties and a dumbfounded Max Stella, he may have just met his match! He knows nothing about this girl not even her name only that he is totally and utterly besotted with her.A chance meeting in a restaurant gives Max an inkling into her true identity and eventually finds her, they embark on a no strings attached relationship, that always involves having sex in public places and photographing themselves whilst in the throes and buildup..Sara has found a kinky side..she is determined to keep it strictly friends with benefits, but eventually both Max and Sara realise that the feelings run a lot deeper. The months that lead up to this include some fantastic scenes that had me chuckling and swooning..they really do make a fabulous couple.As usual with all new relationships, they never run smooth, they both have insecurities, especially Sara. Max has a rep as a player and is also hunted by the paparazzi so as Sara wants anonymity and public sex they have to be adventurous and careful. They have to find a safe way of indulging whilst protecting themselves.I absolutely adored this couple, this book takes you down the road of recovery after being hurt, finding yourself, releasing your insecurities, trusting others, allowing yourself to love and most of all to be loved. It truly is a fabulous story and one that had my heart melting, I loved it. So much better than the first book in my opinion, certainly not fan fic as I have seen in other reviews of 1* just because it allegedly is..they don't know what they are missing out on.Highly recommended to all us hopeless romantics out there that believe in HEA's, love, romance and just need a big fat dollop of swoon!! Well done ladies.[...]

A disappointing follow-up to Beautiful Bastard. I didn't feel the same connection between the characters and the daft plot didn't help. BB worked for me because the characters knew one another and they had a love/hate thing going on. In this one it was hard to accept that they were off and at it in public, in a club, minutes after meeting. That for me was more 'eww' than 'ohh'.If you like to read about exhibitionist sex, then you'll probably enjoy this, but I didn't. The reason she had for not wanting them to be together was implausible and I got really bored reading about how much she didn't want to be with him when we knew exactly where the book was headed.I hope the next book shows a return to form as BB was one of my favourite reads this year.