Review: Beauty From Pain

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.

Title: Beauty From Pain (Beauty ~ Book 1)
Author: Georgia Cates | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: January 29 2013
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 377 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Need you even ask?  This is one of the most beautiful and stunning covers.. ever.  Simply gorgeous.
Point of View: Alternating 1st person between both Laurelyn and Jack

My Rating: 5 Stars

“If I do this, something will go wrong and this man will hurt me.  I know it as sure as I’m sitting here next to him feeling how much he makes me want to say yes.”

Where do I even begin?  It is hard for me to remember the last time a book made me this giddy.  Now don't get me wrong, I read a lot of books and I love a lot of books.  But this is different.  I sat at work and couldn't stop thinking about Jack and Laurelyn.  My friend had already finished it the day before me so we eMailed, text, and chatted all day about it.  I rushed to a quiet spot on my thirty minute lunch break so that I could read as much as possible.  I rushed home immediately after work so that I could dive back into their story.  Even now that I have finished, I can not get enough of Jack and Laurelyn.  I have joined a Beauty From Pain support group on Facebook (no joke), and have found myself slightly obsessed with the teasers and fan art that the author has released.  In short... Hello, my name is Christine and I am a Beauty From Pain addict.

“I didn't love you the day I met you, or even a month later.  But somewhere between hello and the goodbye I'm unable to bear.”

So the question to be asked is, why did I fall so hard in love with this book and it's characters?  There is no one real answer to this but I will do my best to explain.  Let us start with the location, Australia.  This was a nice change of pace from having it set in America; I enjoyed reading about the new locations and places.  Also, the pace of the story was perfectly set, and it never felt rushed or hurried.  I didn't question the time frame given or the feelings that had developed in that time period.  I loved almost all of the side characters, mostly Jack's family.  They were warm, loving, and I just wanted to give his mother a big hug.

“We’ve shared countless kisses.  They were almost always heated and demanding, but this one is entirely different.  It tells me things he can’t or won’t say because it goes against everything he intends for our relationship.”

However, above all of these reasons, it is Jack and Laurelyn that make Beauty From Pain such an amazing story.  I simply fell in love with both of them.  I will be completely honest and admit that it is rare for me not to find something annoying with the main female character.  There is always some trait or action that causes me to find myself rolling my eyes.  This never happened.  There was not a single moment where I did not understand why the characters were acting, and or reacting in the way they were.  Every situation was handled in an adult manner, and honestly it was the single most refreshing thing I have read in a very long time.

“She has bewitched me.  And I want her.  She’s the one.”

It is so easy for adult contemporary romance/erotic novels to fall into the 'same ole same ole', but this story is so beautifully told that even if you look at the synopsis and think you know exactly how it will all play out, trust me... you are wrong.  This story has depth that will have you so wrapped up in it, that you will not be able to put it down.  In fact, I challenge anybody that would say they even remotely enjoy this genre, to read Beauty From Pain and not love it wholeheartedly.  I would have to think it an impossible task.  I honestly do not have even one single negative thing I can say about this book.

“..you don't always know the true worth of a women's love until it becomes a memory.”

And the ending?  Would I classify it as a cliffhanger?  Yes and no.  Yes, it ends in a location that makes you want to rip your hair out and curl up into a fetal position until the next book is out.  But no, because I went in pretty much knowing where the ending was going to have to be.  I refuse to give anything away from the story but I think that there is no way that Laurelyn and Jack would ever have been able to have a happily ever after if this book would have ended any differently.  This ending can only bring them closer together, and is exactly what they need to move forward.

It also helps that book two, Beauty From Surrender, is due to be released on May 30th 2013.  So, we do not have very long at all until we get to meet back up with Laurelyn and Jack.  I am a on major countdown to this book, and I am already wondering how I am going to concentrate at work knowing that it is sat on my Kindle all day waiting for me to start it...

I've known pain my whole life, but this is a new kind for me.  It isn't born of something wrong or ugly.  This pain is conceived out of beauty - my love for Jack Henry McLachlan.  I embrace it.  I clutch it as tightly as I can with both fists because I never want to forget the love I have for him.  Loving him will forever be my Beauty from Pain.

MORE QUOTES FROM BEAUTY FROM PAIN