Beauty and the Billionaire

I'm tackling my large TBR pile again and found this dark and sexy beauty-and-the-beast-themed romance by Lauren Landish. It's a steamy romantic suspense filled with passion, angst, and sabotage.

Thomas Goldstone, aka The Ruthless Bastard, The Golden Boy, and Tom Nicholson to name a few, is a fucked up mess. He's rough and confident on the outside, but mushy and insecure on the inside. Not to mention he hears his father's nasty voice in his head telling him how inadequate and lacking he is. His inner beast is ready to let loose at any time until he meets a beautiful, quirky, and brilliant data analyst in his company. She sets his beast free and makes him feel happy. But this is not a fairy tale.

Mia Karakova loves her job at Goldstone, show more Inc. She's left alone in the basement to turn up her music at will and concentrate on her careful and scrupulous data analysis work. In fact, she does her work so well, the big boss, Thomas Goldstone, has asked her to be on a team to evaluate a hospital he wishes to purchase. Seeing him rage at a colleague for a mistake first puts her on edge, but as she spends more time around him she sees something vulnerable behind the angry beast. He's a good man and she is willing to take him as he is. But fairy tales don't always come true.

It's good to see an alpha male with vulnerability for a change. Thomas was dealt a tragic blow when he was small, and he had to grow up with a heartless and shitty father who always degraded him. So Thomas' drive and ambition prove his father wrong and he is now the head of a billion-dollar company. However, the voice in his head rages at his insecurities and though he has fallen for Mia, he feels he doesn't deserve her. Thomas does seem a bit of a raging lunatic at first, but watching him start to relax and become happier in Mia's presence is a pleasure to see. Mia is a brilliant, strong, and vibrant personality who dresses in anime t-shirts and has a way with beasts. I love how she bravely demands Thomas to stop and listen to her as he starts to tear into her. She earned so much respect from Thomas at that moment. He's able to make the nerdy girl with colorful hair feel beautiful and sexy. The sex is off the charts with these two and they do have some personal and professional obstacles to overcome including a sabotage plot with a surprising reveal, but all is well in the end.

Mia's friends Izzy and Charlotte are an important part of Mia's sanity as they give her advice and support when needed. Mia's Russian papa is also a nice addition considering he's the total opposite of Thomas' nasty father, Dennis. I was a little confused about why the puppet master villain of the story gave up on his mission to get Thomas though it looks like he's turning his villiainary on someone else close to Mia. Can't wait to read that one.

I am delighted to recommend this dark romance filled with drama, intrigue, and hot, passionate, erotic sex. show less

This was just okay for me. I usually get right into the story when I read this author, but I had to push myself to read this one. I just couldn't get into it. Now, the scenes between Thomas and Mia are good, they have great chemistry when they're together. It's the rest of the story that brought it down for me. They both have a lot of baggage, but Thomas's constant belittling himself in his thoughts was too much. There was some suspense to this story as well. These characters eventually get their HEA, and the ending was good.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.