Beauty from Pain/Beauty from Surrender by Georgia Cates-a review duet

BEAUTY FROM PAIN (Beauty #1) by Georgia Cates

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 2013

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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.

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REVIEW: BEAUTY FROM PAIN is the first storyline in Georgia Cates’s New Adult Beauty Duet series that focuses on Australian billionaire winemaker Jack McLachlan and American singer Laurelyn Prescott. The Beauty series is yet another storyline following the FSOG/Crossfire phenomenon but-with a twist. Our hero does not want to reveal his true identity-his real name-and the women with whom he gets involved are limited to a three to four week affair. No entanglements, no promises and definitely no personal information. Jack is a man who believes all women are only after one thing-his money-therefore anonymity is his closest friend. What Jack does not bargain for is falling in the love with his latest anonymous partner.

Beauty from Pain is told from two distinct POVs and introduces the usual cast of characters that are similar to the other more famous series: the BFF; the scorned ex lover; a father who has not had any permanent contact with his daughter and much more; but where this particular storyline differs is that our hero comes from a happy, well adjusted family background with no abusive or dark secrets hiding in the past. But Jack’s foray into the flavor of the month club has generated some unwelcome history when one woman refuses to let go.

The relationship between Jack and Laurelyn begins as a mutual attraction that eventually leads to a three month business arrangement where no one is expected to fall in love or discover the true identity of the other person. But a family emergency will pull Laurelyn into Jack’s private life and all bets are off when Jack’s mother sees something between the couple that neither one is able to admit. When the time comes for Laurelyn to return to America, she is heartbroken when the man with whom she has fallen in love is willing to let her leave. The three months have past and it is time for Laurelyn to move on. She was never supposed to fall in love with her temporary boyfriend.

We are privy to some background information regarding Laurelyn’s history-her troubled family life and her most recent relationship with a powerful record producer who wants nothing more than to bring Laurelyn back home. There is the requisite friend who falls in love with a fellow Aussie; and of course another man who is vying for Laurelyn’s attention and love.

If you are a fan of FSOG and like the premise surrounding a contractual relationship that develops into love, than Beauty from Pain is the perfect read. There is forbidden love and the heartbreaking realization that perhaps it was never meant to be. Georgia Cates has found her niche with Beauty from Pain. Book Two-Beauty from Surrender was released May 2013.

Reviewed by Sandy

BEAUTY FROM SURRENDER (Beauty #2) by Georgia Cates

About the book: Release Date May 30, 2013

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk /Barnes and Noble /

How do you move on when he’s every song you sing?

After Laurelyn Prescott walks away from the love of her life, she returns to Nashville to pursue the only dream she has left. Determined to find a distraction from the pain of losing Jack Henry, she immerses herself in her music. But with her old life comes old acquaintances and new expectations. When Laurelyn refuses her record producer’s outrageous demands, she finds herself without a career—until an unforeseen opportunity presents itself. From there it’s a rocket ride straight to the top where Laurelyn finds the success she’s always dreamed of. Will it be enough to bring her the happiness she so deserves, or will the absence of Jack Henry leave her wanting more?

Jack Henry McLachlan never expected to fall in love with Laurelyn Prescott—but he did. After he foolishly let her slip through his fingers, he spends three months searching for her, but their reunion doesn’t come easy. The woman he finds isn’t the same one who drifted away without a goodbye. No longer an insecure girl on an Australian adventure, this Laurelyn is a successful musician with a promising career. Her dreams are becoming a reality, and Jack is terrified his American girl won’t have a place for him in her new life. With only a month to convince her otherwise, will it be enough time to make her visualize a life beyond the glitz and glamour, a life that includes him?

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REVIEW: BEAUTY FROM SURRENDER is the second storyline in Georgia Cates’s BEAUTY series focusing on Jack McLachlan and Laurelyn Prescott and continues the story where Beauty from Pain left off.

At the end of Beauty from Pain, Laurelyn’s three month ‘relationship obligation’ with Jack McLachlan had come to an end and she had fallen in love. When Jack refused to acknowledge his feelings or that Laurelyn had stirred any part of his frozen soul, Laurelyn returned to America a little wiser, a littler older and in abject misery and heartbreaking sorrow.

This particular storyline follows Jack as he endeavors to find Laurelyn but when he is unable to locate the woman with whom he had fallen in love, he recognizes the error of his relationship negotiations-without knowing Laurelyn’s true identity and whereabouts, it was going to be virtually impossible to find one woman in a country the size of the USA. Three months later he believes he has found Laurelyn.

Meanwhile, Laurelyn has committed herself to a music contract where her songs reflect the heart ache and pain of losing someone she loves. Every song, every note and every lyric remind Laurelyn of the one man who refused to return her love.

Beauty from Surrender was not as captivating or angst ridden at Beauty from Pain-in fact it felt rushed and less than satisfactory. In the first storyline we knew there was not going to be a HEA and yet we are pulled into the storyline of one man’s spiral into a world he never thought he would experience-to be loved for who you are and not what you own. This particular storyline, once the couple finally reconnected, was mostly filler of sex and romance, and about two people trying to re-establish a connection. There were a few moments where I thought I wanted to reach through the ereader and shake a few heads, but in the end, there is a HEA for two people who deserve love and a forever and ever.

But, where is it written, that only in America can a musician continue a career? Sadly, this is where the storyline fell flat for me. Laurelyn refused to move to Australia where Jack owned several vineyards and businesses saying she had to remain in the USA for her music career. He could NOT up and move the grapes and land to another country, yet it never occurred to our heroine that she could continue her music career in Australia…WTH? **shakes head and walks away**

Review by Sandy