Sweet Filthy Boy

Going in to this one, I was wholeheartedly expecting a perfect, four to five star offering. I mean, these girls can write a sexy as all get out boy like nobodies business... I absolutely love their Beautiful Bastard series...so I knew we were in for a real treat... But man. Sweet. Filthy. Sexy. Endearing. Did I mention sexy? Oh, lord. Guys like Ansel should be real. It's so not fair (sorry, husband).Mia used to a be a Ballet dancer, until one day her dreams were shattered, when she was hit by a truck that didn't stop at a red light, shattering her pelvis and breaking her leg. She was forced to fall into the route her father would have chosen for her, graduating with honors, and applying for to the most prestigious business school in the country.Mia, and her two besties, Harlow and Lola, leave after college graduation for a weekend in Vegas, one last rush before grown-up life and responsibility catches up with them, to cut loose and have a live fun. The girls were just getting started when Mia caught Ansels stare from across the room. Mia is taken away by her friends, and they all end up drunk, and in their room by midnight. With them both asleep, Mia is kept awake by the loud music next door, and when she goes to confront them, a half naked Ansel answers the door. The chemistry between them could charge large appliances with the energy moving between them."I didn't go into his room. I didn't take the gorgeous stranger's candy even though I really wanted to because hello, look at him," I add, just daring her to freak out even more. "You should see him wit his shirt off."Ansel, sexy as hell, french man. Hes in Vegas with his buddies, Finn (a Canadian) and Oliver (an Aussie) for a reunion ride (they all meet while volunteering building homes for low income families), He LITERALLY asks Mia to go to Paris with him, where she'll have to live with him for a bit before they can buy a house.Mia is pulled toward Ansel. She wants to live a different life, and she can't tip toe towards the edge of the cliff, she has to jump. She has to figure out what kind of girl would do what she wants to do with him, and pretend shes her. She's onstage, and Mia watches from the audience. One steamy kiss, two wandering hands, and a bunch of alcohol, Mia wakes up the next morning, naked. With flashes of naked skin, movement, and the loose-limbed aftereffects of a night of orgasms, one after another. After taking a look around the room, a broken lamp, mirror smudged with hundreds of hand prints, floor littered with clothing, pillows, and condom wrappers, soda stained rugs, delicate bruises on her body and persistent ache between her legs...none of this mattered in comparison to the next surprise that awaited her. Unfortunately for Mia and Ansel, the night they spent together led to unforeseen circumstances and unexpected choices. After a ton of begging, Mia rashly, but smartly, decides to follow her handsome fling all the way to Paris.Following Ansel was probably the greatest decision Mia could have ever made for herself, but it isn’t full of sunshine and red roses every day. There are tense moments, frequent withheld conversations and nights where they rarely see each other. But there are also tender moments where they do communicate, where they learn something new about each other and themselves.“I just want to make love to you all day,” he says against my mouth and rolls on top of me. “I don’t want to think about work or friends or even eating. I want to exist on you alone.”And as the two of them spend their summer in France together, these two awkwardly trying to cope with the impulsive decisions they have made, they slowly… fall for each other. It’s slow and sweet and heartwarming and inevitable. They never really thought that they’d fall for each other, but they do, and this creates complications, because what happens after the summer is over? When its time for Mia to go back to America, and Ansel has to stay in France, more choices have to be made.It has humor, (I literally fell laughed out loud to the point my husband was questioning my sanity) and heart and enough drama to keep you interested but not over the top where you find yourself rolling you eyes and yelling “Really?!”.“I'm sorry to bother you, but my (fkdjfkjewljrwe)" he says, and then pauses. With the last word he says, my heart begins to hammer. "The one who got sick? She started her...cycle And I'm wondering if you keep any, or rather if you have...something? You see all this happened a bit fast and she packed in a hurry, and before that we were in Vegas. I have no idea why she came with me but I really, really don't want to screw this up. And now she needs something. Can she, uh," he stutters, finally saying simply, "borrow quelque chose?" I cover my mouth as he continue to ramble, and I would give anything to see the expression of the flight attendant on the other side of this door. "I meant use," he continues. "Not to borrow because I don't think they work that way."I hear a woman's voice ask, "Do you know if she uses tampons or pads?"Oh God. Oh God. This can't be happening."Um..."I hear him sign and then say, "I have no idea but I'll give you a hundred dollars to end this conversation and give me both." My heart was aching for the two of them, because I wanted them to work so bad. Mia and Ansel are perfect together, and have become one of my all-time favorite couples.As always, the girls end their story realistically, there is no over the top Happily Ever After (even though I love them) but it ends in such a way that is perfect for the characters and it is believable too. Mia and Ansel will appear throughout the series so I look forward to seeing their relationship progress in the other books.

Shel: People.Shel: Seriously.Shel: SERIOUSLY.Shel: When you find a book like Sweet Filthy Boy you absolutely have to do me a solid and tell me to read it. If I'm skeptical, shush me. Put the book in my face and do not shut about it until I capitulate.Court: Dude. NO kidding. This book was absolute DEVOURED, and had me staying up late, and loving it in the best way. I was laughing hysterically out loud because these are girls and guys that I would love to know in real life. They hold their friendships dear, and that was evident from the very beginning. Just so much love!"No! God. Put ten dollars in the Whore Jar," I tell her. "You're such a troll."Shel: This book. Gahhhhh. This book was just so much of everything I needed in a book this weekend; I want to live in this book. It was fun and funny and hot as hell and the undercurrent of serious 'stuff' made it a perfect read for me. It's interesting, as I'm thinking about this book, how much I'm loving this book, because prior to reading it, I didn't think I'd enjoy this whole Vegas one night stand thing as much as I did--it seemed way too out of my reality for me to relate to <insert maniacal I told you so laughter here>. This book was so much better than I expected. Mia had this really great mix of dubiousness about what the heck she was doing + reminding herself to live in the moment and enjoy it and it totally worked. I loved how true her character felt to me--that desire to ignore the looming life events and to deny some hard truths for just a few more days or weeks because it was just too real, too much. And, I adored Ansel and his boyish sweetness, his tentativeness with her (when it was needed), and his gentle questions about her future. I loved how they 'played' and how many people probably could relate to their method of allowing themselves to be vulnerable without feeling overexposed. And I loved how they adored each other, cared for each other, and reading about how they learned about each other was just so fresh and sweet and tender and sexy.Court: I loved each character from the get go. There is definitely nothing wrong with being "sweet" and giving in to something you want in the sake of having fun, and these new college grads definitely lived it up in Vegas. I was somewhat surprised by the Vegas line, simply because I didn't read the blurb. Hah, right. Shel said read this effing book, so I effing did. And I loved it so much. I feel so rejuvenated by being able to find a book and read the heck out of it, and not want to stop. And...I liked as we got deeper into the story that they "played" and had to really, really, really work to get to know each other as it sunk in that they were STRANGERS! It was not easy, and as Mia felt loneliness so did we, and as she felt confusion and heartache so did we, and as she felt hot and wanton...so did freaking we! I liked that they had to also "work" at the whole sex thing, because guess what...life is not a romance novel all of the time, and it is refreshing for a romance novel to remind me that it can be awkward, and the awkwardness is to be embraced and much as the epic!Shel: Also? They were totally hot. Court: God, so hot.Shel: I now want to go to Paris and listen to a hot Parisian just talk and flirt (don't tell my husband). Court: Girl, only if I can go.Shel: Lastly, I really enjoyed how it ended which might be strange because as much as I liked the ending, I want more of their story. I guess that I should clarify--I liked how it ended in that it seemed the most realistic ending for this fictional dilemma and it was completely satisfying. However, I'd love to know how Mia and Ansel are doing. Court: I am definitely looking forward to continuing the story to find out. I was not surprised by the train wreck that was coming, but I loved each page and how each detail was written with seemingly so much care. I loved the references to Paris, and even La Jolla (I love that place...take me back!) and how I felt each detail was playing on video in my head when she traveled around, and I smile because of that even still. This book was special, and I can't wait to see what is in store for Lola and Harlow.Shel: If you're like me and you weren't sure if this would be a good book for you, learn from me. It's a freaking fantastic book. It's so easy to read and the characters are ones you quickly become invested in. I am so mad at myself for not reading this series sooner and I'm excited to dive into the next one. Court: Especially since I own ALL of the Beautiful Series books, and yeah...got lots of reading to do! Thanks for recommending this one to me Shel!

This is the first book in Christina Lauren’s Wild Seasons series. Last Summer I read my first Christina Lauren novel – Beautiful Bastard. I absolutely loved the writing and was a bit taken aback when I found out that Christina Lauren was actually Christina AND Lauren. Their writing is seamless and it completely hooked me. I read an extract of Sweet Filthy Boy not long after Beautiful Bastard but for some reason never got round to buying it – could have something to do with reading Beautiful Player (Beautiful series book 3) over and over. So far I’ve found all of the novels to be worth their pricey ebook price including this one too.The story is all about Mia and Ansel. The pair meet on a Vegas weekender with their friends and instead of what happened in Vegas staying in Vegas Mia decides to follow Ansel back to France.Mia has graduated college and is ready to get on with the rest of her life, as her father expects her to, after one last weekend of freedom. Tension rolls off the pages every time Mia thinks about her future all mapped out for her and her sudden decision to follow Ansel to Paris seems like a bit of a last ditch attempt to rebel. Once you get to know more about Mia it’s a little easier to understand her impulsive decision to leave and also her apprehension to move on with her life. The narrative is solely from Mia’s POV but I felt like I could have looked back through the story and knew how Ansel was feeling throughout due to the usual high standard of writing I’ve come to expect.Ansel is, well, Ansel is great. He is not without his faults and he is treading the same new relationship lines that Mia does throughout. He’s very passionate (come on, he’s French – stereotypes and all that) about Mia and making a go of their relationship. At every stage throughout you get the feeling that he only wants the best for Mia and that he has fallen well and truly in love with her.Although the idea of running off to another country together is romantic and you can easily get swept up in it, the author keeps it realistic. Mia and Ansel shake off the easy-going Vegas comfort blanket as they start to face reality of being together when they know so little about each other. The awkwardness between them was palpable in parts but I liked how this showed that their relationship is not all hearts, flowers and nights of passion (there is plenty of passion, don’t get me wrong) but you go on the whole journey with this couple, through getting to know one another to real life catching up with them again.I couldn’t put this book down once I had started it and felt invested in every moment of the story. I started Dirty Rowdy Thing straight away.

Thinking all day and night about what I could write on this review to do this book justice. Clearly it has lots of similarities in plot with Frenched by Melanie Harlow. Heroines have the same name, the go to Paris they have great sex etc etc. Similarities end really there.I have a bit of a rule about how much I will spend on an ebook because they just don't seem tangible enough for me. SFB was a little over the price I would normally pay but it did not put me off, I just got the paperback instead so I properly own it!What is not to like about Ansel - il est tres mignon (cute), tres beau (handsome) et je l'aime (I love him)?My confession is that this is only the second Christina Lauren book that I have read although I have loved both of them - see above rule re ebook price. How do they do it? I just can't imagine how they work in tangent to write such a well put together book. It doesn't feel like Christina writes one bit and Lauren writes the next, the writing is cohesive and seamless.My favourite quotes:"But when you choose the adventure, it become real life.""You've found your adventure, and you've got to chase it.""Mia, you're going to need to up your game in order to bring sexy back.""It always felt as though we were picking up where our souls left off a thread much further up the line.""This isn't never. It's just now now.""His blush, his dimple, a quiet laugh and the teeth pressing into his lip again and I'm done for."and finally, this really made me fall in love with Ansel."I hate killing spiders because I think they're amazing but I'll do it for you if you're afraid of them."Weak spider fearing girl here - come rescue me pretty boy.I totally adore Maroon 5. I can't get the song I Won't Go Home Without You out of my head it screams Ansel and Mia at meI asked her to stay but she wouldn't listenAnd she left before I had the chance to sayThe words that would mend the things that were brokenBut now it's far too late she's gone awayEvery night you cry yourself to sleepThinking why does this happen to me?Why does every moment have to be so hard?Hard to believe thatIt's not over tonightJust give me one more chance to make it rightI may not make it through the nightI won't go home without youThe taste of her breath, I'll never get overAnd the noises that she made kept me awakeThe weight of the things that remain unspokenBuilt up so much, it crushed us every dayEvery night you cry yourself to sleepThinking, why does this happen to me?Why does every moment have to be so hard?Hard to believe thatIt's not over tonightJust give me one more chance to make it rightI may not make it through the nightI won't go home without youooohh....It's not over tonightJust give me one more chance to make it rightI may not make it through the nightI won't go home without youooohh....Of all the things I've felt I've never really showedPerhaps the worst is that I never let you goI should not ever let you goIt's not over tonightJust give me one more chance to make it rightI may not make it through the nightI won't go home without youooohh....It's not over tonightJust give me one more chance to make it rightI may not make it through the nightI won't go home without you

This book was good but not so good that I would want to read the other 3 books in the series at £5.99 each. I find this quite a steep price for an e-book and the whole series would have cost £23.96 if I hadn't got this book on offer at 99p. I have read the Beautiful series by this author a few years back and totally loved those so assumed I would also love this new series. Sadly, this wasn't the case. If the other 3 books are ever on offer at 99p, I would purchase them but if the price remains at £5.99, I wouldn't.

This was even better than I'd hoped for - sweet, sexy but balanced with some real emotion, I devoured this in one sitting yet didn't want it to end.Mia meets Ansel in Vegas where she's enjoying a wild weekend with her friends before starting business school. Fast forward a few hours later and things have moved REALLY fast...It's not the first time I've read this particular plot twist, but that didn't matter to me, the execution was totally new and I loved it.The Beautiful Bastard series is one of my fave series for the stories that give me happy tingles, the gorgeous - dirty mouthed - males, the hot sex scenes and the witty banter and this story had all of that yet it was better written I think. It wasn't just a long sequence of sex scenes. My belly was tingling so many times reading this, I loved Mia and Ansel together, the chemistry was amazing and I'm happy to say the sex was *really* hawt.I also loved the Paris setting, I feel like I've spent some time there.There is just the right amount of drama there too, it's not all fluff. I wish I enjoyed everything I read was as good as this. Very highly recommended.

I love, love, loved this book. Finished in two sittings, I struggled to put it down. The characters were a great mix and very likeable. Who wouldn't fall in love with Ansel?...swoon. Well written and easy to follow with an unexpected 'hell no' moment and several 'melt' moments. This author duo can only be described as brilliant and they're definitely amongst my favourites! I highly recommend this and I'm about to re-read their 'beautiful' series because those were awesome too.