Beautiful Player

Written by Christina Lauren

Narrated by Grace Grant and Sebastian York

In the third book in the Beautiful Bastard series, an agreement between a venture capitalist and a bookish woman quickly becomes a very NSFW version of My Fair Lady.

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 Sumner, 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781442367456

Christina Lauren

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA TODAY, and #1 internationally bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series, Autoboyography, Love and Other Words, Roomies, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, The Unhoneymooners, The Soulmate Equation, Something Wilder, and The True Love Experiment. You can find them online at ChristinaLaurenBooks.com or @ChristinaLauren on Instagram.

Reviews for Beautiful Player

[suzywells · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Great story! I enjoy reading books by CL however I don’t understand why there is a need to drop the f bomb so much & there is so much c*** sucking.

[Stephanie Letourneau · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love Hannahs character. She is so open and free spirited. She is never scared to speak her mind. Will needed Hannah every bit that Hannah needed Will. I’d recommend this book; beautifully written!

[Dora Ayala Castro · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Couldn't stop listening to the very end. I'm ready to hear it again.

[Michelle Reb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this book. It’s the first time I’ve listened to this author. Great hot scenes & who can pass up Sebastian yorks voice. The girl narrator was good too

[Amber Jo McCutchen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love the story and the honesty between the two characters!! The spice was perfect

[Lisa van Dongen · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This was just a porno in book format xD Nothing more, nothing less. I am sorry, but there just was not enough story or character depth for me to enjoy.

The whole story was essentially the two main characters either talking about sex or having it. Luckily, the sex scenes were not awkward, but I had hoped for more. After a few of such sex chapters, I found myself growing impatient, just scanning and fast-forwarding until the sex was over. Also, I do not really understand where their love came from; the characters remained pretty underdeveloped and all they seem to have in common was that they wanted to bang each other, even though Hanna is supposedly this super insecure inexperienced girl. Also, there was the not-like-other-girls trope, of which I am not a fan. I do like the idea of a person taking a hard look at their own life because of another person, the idea of their eyes being opened to another way of life or things that might be missing etc., but that is not what we were offered here. He fell in love with her because - as he kept repeating throughout the book - she is so beautiful and talks so freely (which is actually just about sex) and is miraculously good in bed. I am super sad that I cannot say I enjoyed the book. This was my first book by this author duo, so I am pretty scared of picking up another one of theirs. Might take me a while.

I was torn between one star or two, but since it took so much of me to finish it (which I did manage, but only because I put it on as an audiobook while I was cleaning my apartment), I think the one star is a fair rating for my personal experience. I really hope everyone else who picks up this book has a much better time than me :)

[TM Burkett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The narration was great. Sebastian York is one of my favorites.

[Emily Sue · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it. A little graphic but such a cute story.

[Diane Lopez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jesus so good. Instant re read. Loving this series and love that we still bits of the other characters lives too

[lindsey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The chemistry between the two was enjoyable, however the entire plot hangs on a simple misunderstanding that would’ve been solved with one adult conversation. Wish there was a better ending that wrapped things up better including telling Hannah’s family.

[Franka · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nice story! I found it to be a bit too long, but enjoyable!

[yanileth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't get the hyped for this book tbh
Hanna was the most annoying character I've read about while reading these series!
She is 24yo woman very intelligent and act like she's 16 idk maybe I was expecting more because people say it is the best one in the series but I put this book down too many times and with beautiful stranger that didn't happen I couldn't stop reading...

[Wendy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this story and the narration was excellent too.

[Lynne Costin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sweet story, way too much graphic sex. WAY too much.

[judy griffin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Each book in the series flow/ beautifully into the next book...
Enjoyed it as audiobook because the narrators voices matched the characters which is very rarely the case in books by other authors...

On to the next book in beautiful series.

[Charlotte · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Favourite one in the series so far!

I loved Will and Hanna together. They both have to navigate uncharted terrortiy in this friends to lovers, age gap, sibling best friend rom com and I absolutely adored it.

Will really has no idea what to do with these new feelings he has for Hanna, the girl he never had any attraction to and didn't think it was possible from just helping out his friend's sister. Hanna has limited experience with the other sex and her brother is concerned about her social life. Which is non-existent. In comes Will. Except Will doesn't know he's actually going to help Hanna with her dating expertise and neither does her brother.

These two are so cute together trying to ignore the attraction between them and the miscommunication trope involved wasn't overly pushed. I hate when the whole book is miscommunication but it wasn't overly done at all.

I don;t know if any other couples will top Will and Hanna but I' happy to try and find out.

[Nicola · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sebastian the narrator should read all sex scenes...the husky deep voice makes the sex scene incredibly hotter. The book wasn't bad at all...kinna wish it broaden it's area instead of being centred on mostly sex ...overall, not a bad listen. As I said.... Sebastian nailed it!

[magdalena · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book, she is so clueless and so smart, he is such an idiot! Loved the funny couple they make

[Jennifer Marthaller · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved it! Hannah had me mad a few times but over all really enjoyed this

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful Player
4 Stars

After her older brother accuses her of having no social life, Hanna Bergstrom reluctantly agrees to contact his oldest friend, Will Sumner, for help shedding her "all work and no play" persona. Soon Hanna and Will are best buds - training, gossiping and hanging out. All's good until a wild party changes everything, and Hanna must decide if loving an unrepentant playboy. is worth the heartache.

This third installment in Christina Lauren's hit series is a delightful friends to lovers romance. Will and Hanna are really sweet together and their sexual exploits are damn hot!

The main conflict revolves around Hanna's difficulty accepting that Will has put his playboy past behind him and fallen in love with her. While Hanna's angst in this area is well-reasoned, it does go on for a tad too long. Thankfully, all is resolved without too much drama and all's well that ends well.

The audiobook narration by Grace Grant and Sebastian York is fantastic. York could read the phonebook in that sexy voice and I would drool all over it.

[ash600-888477 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

5 BEAUTIFUL STARS

I don't even know why I read the third book in a series I haven't even started but I don't regret it.

Not. One. Bit.

There was no problem for me to keep up with the story or the characters from the previous books, and now that I made their acquaintance I can't wait to know more about them!

The chemistry between Hanna and Will is wonderfully written, blazing hot and funny and totally explosive. I loved it sooooo much and my heart is completely taken with Will Summer now *swoon*

[whiskeyinthejar-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Well first off I had extremely low expectations for this book. I'm glad to say it was better than I thought it was going to be. However, it was still blahy meh.

Hanna is a 24yr old workahlolic whose brother thinks needs to get a life. The brother suggests a friend, Will, that lives in the same city as Hanna and who so happens to be her childhood crush for someone to hang out with.

They meet up, there is endless jogging scenes, mutual lust, and punishing for past manwhore behavior.

Hanna seemed to young for her age and bordered on annoying. Her memories of Will as a 19yr superseded the reality of what he was and showed her as a man of 31yr. Get over it, he wasn't a virgin when you meet him. Just enjoy his knowledge.

Will was extremely vanilla and boring. He mooned over the fact that Hanna could only see him as a player but did nothing about it.

Just not a lot happening in this book. Felt like a shortbread cookie, that was stale.

[tonifgmamtc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is not a life changing read, but it was pure enjoyment for me. I love how the chick has no filter and how the sex is learned as it goes along. Will is hot. Both characters were a treat for me. I think this series has gotten better as it goes along.

[bethanymoore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

FUN! I think this is my favorite of the series (sorry, Max... you're still a god!). Will stole my heart and I think that Hanna was way more 'real' than the previous leading ladies. Don't get me wrong, I loved Sara and adored Chloe, but Hanna came across as someone I might actually know. My only complaint was (yes, I know, here I go...) SO much angst! Miscommunication and assumptions will get you every time. I actually yelled at fictional characters. Out loud. Meaning it.

So yeah, angsty last back of the book, but at least it was well done and affected me. Hooray. Bring on the wedding book!

[leila.khouane · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

5 STARS

This is by far my favorite book of the serie, it's the WHOLE package Hilarious,Hot,exciting,many moore.... and lets not forget that the lead charachters are actually VERY Smart!
My favorite couple.

I love how strong Hanna was, not just throwing her self at will at first sight, and how independant she is.

but Will... *girly squeels* I think I'm in love , when you

highly recommended, even as a standalone it's 100% readable, JUST GO BUY THE BOOK ALREADY

Note: it's the only book that i'll recommend in the serie

[msralways · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4.5 amazingly hot stars! I loved this book so much that I can't figure out what to write here. Will and Hanna had this incredibly fun and sexy relationship way before they ever slept together, and I think that is what made this book so freaking good. Once the sex starts, things just go from good to awesome. There is just he right amount of sexy and fun scenes to be read between the more emotionally heavy ones. My favorite in the series. Loved it.

[josp-7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First of all let me say that I loved their story because this was a cute little nerdy love story. Hanna is different from both Chloe and Sara. Hanna has no filter which leaves her saying anything on her mind. Whether it's a brainy remark, or a crazy, unexpected sexual thought. And Will is good enough to just go with it. They have a lot of miscommunication throughout the story which leads to lots of doubts and unsaid things. Also to some quite interesting things...but you'll have to read the book to find those things out. I loved the ending, not only for Will and Hanna, but also for what's happening in Max and Bennett's lives. The next few books should definitely be interesting with all of these developments.