Hello lovelies,

I found a new book to love. First, I must say that I bought this book when it came out and then read reviews and refused to read it before the sequel came out due to all the shocking cliffhanger talk. This is all crazy talk! There is a cliffhanger (a mild one) because this is a series. It ends exactly where you would think it would end based on the blurb. It was not shocking to me and I feel no anger or irrational feelings about this ending. The author does add a sneak peek of the sequel at the end and it did get my blood pumping but it was a sneak peek (that’s the point of them) 😉 I digress, I was putting off reading another book and this has been calling my name every time I open my kindle or Goodreads, it has amazing ratings! I finally caved and read it… Guess what? I don’t regret it!

Beauty From Pain by Georgia Cates

Blurb: They agreed on three months…but their love knew no boundaries.

Jack McLachlan is a winemaking magnate and easily one of Australia’s most eligible bachelors. His success and wealth make him no stranger to the complications of romantic relationships and that’s why he goes to extreme measures to avoid the hassle. He prefers simplicity in the form of a beautiful female companion with no strings attached. He arranges relationships like business deals and they’re always the same. No long term relationships. No real names.

It’s his game and his rules. He’s content to play as usual, but when Laurelyn Prescott enters his life, his strategy must change because this player is like none he’s ever encountered. His world is turned on its head after he begins a three month affair with the beautiful American musician. Nothing goes according to plan and as he breaks more and more of his own rules for her, she’s exceptionally close to becoming something he never thought possible. His ultimate game changer.

Rating: 5 stars (Misty rated it 4 stars)
Price: $3.99

Amanda: Jeez this book was so good I don’t know what to say about it. I loved the main characters and I loved Laurelyn’s best friend, Addison. My favorite line from the BFF is when they are finding her a dress to wear on her date and Addison describes it as “so low, you can almost see your ass crack” and Laurelyn asks if  it is too short. Addison’s remark is “What do you mean too short? Have we met?”. I realize that here, written in my review, it is not that funny but I was laughing enough that I stopped reading to post the quote on Goodreads. I mean she said you can see your crack, let’s be more worried about the dress in general rather than length! Now let’s have a girly chat about Jack Henry, BTW I love that his mother calls him that, he is a very easy-going guy for the most part. You do see his obsessive side while he is trying to find out who the American guitar player is in the bar. It was cute! The chemistry between him and Laurelyn flowed off the page and that translated to some great scenes. I also have to share a tiny snippet from the brain of Jack Henry, this is from a particularly interesting 😉 scene and I died while reading it. “…I wonder if Americans don’t know about the universally known signal to stop…”

I may be completely wrong but this story felt very unique to me, while the contract dating felt pulled from another big time series, the rest just felt interesting. (And while writing that sentence another part of the book reminds me of the aforementioned series) Anyway, I get sidetracked easily, the male lead was not overbearing or crazy and I liked that about him. He proposes this arrangement to Laurelyn because he is wealthy and would like to not have messy break ups tainting his professional life.  Since she is visiting Australia for the summer (christmas to us in the northern hemisphere) she decides to take him up on his offer. He is a rich attractive male after all! They have a great summer and there is some ex drama mixed in to make this fun. And of course they fall in love!  The ending I felt was a natural breaking point given the plot line. Nothing shocking happens! Overall this is a great read that I wholeheartedly recommend and I am anxiously awaiting the sequel.

Misty: So I love how Lachlan (He will always be Lachlan to me 🙂 ) is a stubborn ass who gets in his own way most of the time but he is absolutely freakin phenomenal at being there for Laurelyn. They needed each other and he didn’t want to need anything. I think the ending was perfect and just how it needed to be. I am very anxiously awaiting then next book.

The sequel Beauty From Surrender will be released May 30, 2013!

❤ Amanda