Give Me Books: Review - Beautiful Player by Christina Lauren

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Review - Beautiful Player by Christina Lauren

Title: Beautiful Player

Author: Christina Lauren

Release Date: October 29, 2013

When Hanna Bergstrom receives a lecture from her overprotective brother about neglecting her social life and burying herself in grad school, she’s determined to tackle his implied assignment: get out, make friends, start dating. And who better to turn her into the sultry siren every man wants than her brother’s gorgeous best friend, Will, venture capitalist and unapologetic playboy?

Will takes risks for a living, but he’s skeptical about this challenge of Hanna’s…until the wild night his innocently seductive pupil tempts him into bed – and teaches him a thing or two about being with a woman he can’t forget. Now that Hanna’s discovered the power of her own sex appeal, it’s up to Will to prove he’s the only man she’ll ever need.

ADD TO GOODREADS

My 5+++ Star Review

Christina Lauren!! These ladies have upped the ante for how books in a series should be written. I have loved their books so far but this one sucked me in from the first paragraph. I will be singing praises for Beautiful Player (and the rest of the series) for a VERY LONG time!!

Brief Synopsis:

Hanna is a brilliant overachiever who lives a pretty regimented life in order to achieve her next career goal; no matter the cost of her social life. When her brother challenges her to quit being so self-isolating, he puts her in touch with his best friend, Will, in hopes that he can bring her out of her shell and perhaps show her the ropes on some sort of social balance. What nobody expected was the immediate chemistry between the two.

Will is a bit of a player. But he's also stuck in a routine that clearly defines his daily life. And he has no plans to change that; until a whirlwind of bottled up surprises comes storming into his life. He agrees to helping bring his best friends little sister out of her draining rut and show her around, as friends. But Hanna is not at all the young girl he barely remembers. He may have just met his unexpected match.

My Review:

Where to begin?! I have been waiting what feels like months for a story to consume me from start to finish. I do have to say that this is a bit of an understatement. This book swallowed me whole and I am still enjoying the after effects several days later. Reading from a dual POV, I fell in love with the backstory of these characters, the undeniable attraction and the downright naughty banter. And of course, their intense sexual chemistry is so incredibly steamy.

"I'm thinking about how naive and sweet you are. I'm wondering what I've agreed to do here, when I said I would help you figure out the whole dating world. I'm worried I'm going to make you into the most vulnerable bombshell in the history of the planet."

Hanna is so full of surprises, I found myself with tears streaming down my face several times from laughing so hard.

Will: "Do you even know what a triathlon is?" Hanna: "Of course I do. It's the swim, run, shoot a bear thing."

Hanna is so incredibly down to earth, just stuck in a rut created by her ingrained drive to stay focused and achieve her next goal. She's had a thing for Will since her childhood, but knowing about his lifestyle of dating beautiful women...often, she enlists his help in figuring out the opposite sex. Her plan is to get in, learn from the master and then escape unharmed. Her plan goes to shit the moment she sees him for the first time in years.

"Did I want him to just be my brother's friend, helping me find more balance? Or did I want to get a grown-up look at the object of my filthiest fantasies?"

Will is so sweet, so incredibly loveable and above all, naughty as sin.

"Hanna was this uninhibited, self-possessed woman in front of me who I was pretty sure was going to effectively wreck my world."

Hanna and Will are going down as two of my favorite characters I've ever read about. They are both absently searching for something more in their lives, not knowing that what either of them really need is each other. I loved absolutely everything about this book. I'm a sucker for adorable nicknames and I think this one takes the cake for me: Plum. (Petal from Beautiful Stranger - also in this series - is a very super close second place). These authors nailed this book. I didn't feel like I was reading a book thrown together for the sake of extending a series that should have been done several books ago. I truly felt the depth of these characters and their blind need for each other.

High-fives to these two authors who have created an amazingly captivating series with characters that are so relatable and funny. I truly loved every second and couldn't put it down!

~ Review by Molly

Christina and Lauren, a writing duo who have been swooning over romance novels for as long as they can remember, are the authors of Beautiful Bastard, Beautiful Stranger, Beautiful Bitch, Beautiful Bombshell, Beautiful Player, and Beautiful Beginning from Gallery Books. Separated by the pesky state of Nevada, these co-author besties speak several times a day, agree that Ruby Pumps is the best nail polish color ever, and would, if given the choice, spend all day staring at the ocean from the San Clemente pier. You can find them online at ChristinaLaurenBooks.com or at @seeCwrite and @lolashoes on Twitter.