Beauty From Pain (Beauty, #1)

by Georgia Cates

[Angie]

Based on the title and the description, I was expecting something much darker and sexier from Beauty from Pain. I still enjoyed it, but the kind of sappy romance caught me a bit off guard. Laurelyn is spending three months in Australia with her best friend when she meets Jack McLachlan. He asks her to dinner after they bump into each other for the second time, and he has a proposition for her: date for three months, no strings, no real names. Laurelyn is rightfully suspicious, but knows she'd regret saying no, so she agrees to be his until it's time to return home. Easier said than done.

I did really like Beauty from Pain, since I love unconventional relationships and the fake relationship turned real is one of my favorite romance tropes. Jack and Laurelyn spend nearly every single day together, so they get to know each other really well, even if it takes them awhile to learn each others real names. I totally believed that feelings were developed during their short time together and couldn't believe that ending! Ultimate cliffhanger!

My one complaint is that Beauty from Pain is boring in places. The romance gets quite domestic the longer they're together. A lot of time is them just sitting around and talking, or having a post coital chat, or eating breakfast and reading the newspaper. They do have a lot of sex, but it's not detailed, unfortunately. There's also the matter of Laurelyn's "daddy issues" which were brought up frequently, even though nothing came of it. I suspect that it'll be covered in the following books.

Beauty from Pain was a good romance. Although I'm having trouble seeing why it needed to be stretched over multiple books. I think it would have worked really well as a standalone if there had been a proper ending instead of a cliffhanger. I suppose there are other issues surrounding Laurelyn and Jack that can be explored outside of their relationship, but I don't know if I'm as interested in those.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.