What order should I read the Beautiful series?

Start with Beautiful Bastard and read in series order: 1. Beautiful Bastard, 2. Beautiful Stranger, 3. Beautiful Bitch, 4. Beautiful Bombshell, 5. Beautiful Player, 6. Beautiful Beginning, 7. Beautiful Beloved, 8. Beautiful Secret, 9. Beautiful Boss, 10. Beautiful.

How many books are in the Beautiful series?

The Beautiful series contains 10 books so far.

Who wrote the Beautiful series?

The Beautiful series was written by Christina Lauren.

What tropes are in the Beautiful series?

The Beautiful series features the Enemies to Lovers, Witty Banter & Sharp Dialogue, Slow-burn Romance, Friends to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Heat / Spice, Close-Knit Friend Group, Guarded Protagonists, Workplace Romance and Contemporary Romance tropes.

Is the Beautiful series complete?

The Beautiful series is ongoing with more books planned or in progress.

Book series · 10 books

Beautiful

by Christina Lauren

The Beautiful series by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance series set across New York, Chicago, and London, following interconnected couples within the same ambitious social circle. Enemies to lovers tension, witty banter, and heat drive each book.

Beautiful Tropes

Start the series here · book 1

Beautiful Bastard

Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance set in the Chicago corporate world. An MBA intern and her infuriating boss navigate enemies to lovers tension with serious heat.

320 pages

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Beautiful Reading Order

10 books in series order

Book 1: Beautiful Bastard

Start here 320 pages Goodreads rating3.9

Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance set in the Chicago corporate world. An MBA intern and her infuriating boss navigate enemies to lovers tension with serious heat.
Book 2: Beautiful Stranger

352 pages Goodreads rating4.1

Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance set in New York City, following a finance professional and a charming British stranger whose no-strings arrangement refuses to stay simple. Dual POV, high heat, and genuine emotional pull keep the pages turning.
Book 3: Beautiful Bitch

144 pages Goodreads rating3.8

Beautiful Bitch by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance novella following Chloe Mills and Bennett Ryan after the events of Beautiful Bastard. Sparky workplace tension meets sun-drenched French escapism in this heat-filled next chapter.
Book 4: Beautiful Bombshell

160 pages Goodreads rating3.9

Beautiful Bombshell by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance novella set across a chaotic Las Vegas bachelor weekend. Funny, sexy, and full of witty banter, it's essential reading for fans of the Beautiful series.
Book 5: Beautiful Player

432 pages Goodreads rating4.2

Beautiful Player by Christina Lauren is a contemporary romance following a PhD bookworm who enlists her brother's playboy best friend as her dating coach. Slow-burn tension, witty banter, and a friends-to-lovers dynamic with serious heat.
Book 6: Beautiful Beginning

208 pages Goodreads rating4.1
Book 7: Beautiful Beloved

128 pages Goodreads rating4.0

Beautiful Beloved by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance novella following Max and Sara as new parents. Expect heat, humour, and the beloved friend group of the Beautiful series.
Book 8: Beautiful Secret

400 pages Goodreads rating4.0

Beautiful Secret by Christina Lauren is a contemporary romance following a guarded British executive and his outgoing American colleague thrown together on a month-long work trip to New York. Slow-burn tension, forced proximity, and sharp wit make this a standout instalment in the Beautiful series.
Book 9: Beautiful Boss

144 pages Goodreads rating3.9

Beautiful Boss by Christina Lauren is a contemporary romance novella following newly-wed couple Will and Hanna as they navigate marriage, career ambitions, and the question of where to build their future. Warm, witty, and genuinely funny, it's a love story about what comes after happily ever after.
Book 10: Beautiful

416 pages Goodreads rating4.1

Beautiful by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance closing out the beloved Beautiful series with a cross-country road trip, a free-spirited Brit, and a buttoned-up workaholic finally learning to cut loose.

About the series

Enemies to lovers in the boardroom, slow-burn desire dressed up in corporate ambition, and a close-knit friend group whose romantic entanglements keep unravelling in delightful ways — that's the engine powering Christina Lauren's Beautiful series. Christina Lauren is the pen name of writing duo Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, and the series that made their name began life as fan fiction before Simon & Schuster acquired the rights and published it as the steamy contemporary romance it became. Every book in the series debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.

The premise is straightforward but expertly executed: a rotating cast of sharp, ambitious women and the men who are their equals in almost every respect except emotional self-awareness. Set primarily in New York City and Chicago, with later entries moving to London, each book follows a different couple from the same interconnected world. Supporting characters introduced in one novel step into the spotlight in the next, rewarding readers who follow along in order while still allowing each entry to function as a standalone. The tone sits firmly in heat / spice territory — explicit, unapologetic, and grounded in character chemistry rather than shock value.

What gives the series its staying power is its witty banter & sharp dialogue and the consistent sense that these are capable women with careers and ambitions of their own. The strong female protagonist in each book holds her ground. The workplace romance tension of the opener gives way to stories that explore friends to lovers, forced proximity, and the slow dismantling of the guarded protagonists who populate this world. There's a lightness to the comedy and a genuine warmth to the found family dynamics that run through the whole arc.

Books in the Beautiful Series

Beautiful Bastard (2013) introduces Chloe Mills, a whip-smart MBA candidate, and her infuriating boss Bennett Ryan — a textbook enemies to lovers pairing set against the high-pressure world of a Chicago media firm, where professional boundaries and mutual attraction keep colliding. The tension is combative, the heat immediate, and it establishes the series' signature blend of sharp conflict and genuine emotional stakes.

Beautiful Stranger (2013) shifts focus to Sara Dillon, freshly arrived in New York after a painful break-up, and the charming British financier Max Stella — a forced proximity story with a transatlantic spark that leans into the opposites attract dynamic.

Beautiful Bitch (2013) follows Bennett and Chloe as their new relationship faces the pressures of two fiercely independent personalities finally in the same corner, offering a shorter, more intimate look at what comes after the initial war of wills.

Beautiful Bombshell (2013) follows the established couples on a Las Vegas weekend that refuses to go according to plan, a lighter novella that keeps the whole ensemble together and showcases the series' considerable comedy.

Beautiful Player (2013) introduces venture capitalist and self-confessed playboy Will Sumner, who agrees to help his best friend's bookish, PhD-candidate sister Hanna Bergstrom build a social life — a friends to lovers story with a genuine slow-burn romance at its heart and one of the most warmly received pairings in the series.

Beautiful Beginning (2013) returns to Will and Hanna as they navigate a major life decision together, rounding out their arc with the same mix of humour and tenderness that defined their full novel.

Beautiful Beloved (2015) follows Max and Sara as they tackle an entirely new chapter — parenthood — testing whether the ease that characterised their early romance holds up under a very different kind of pressure.

Beautiful Secret (2015) moves to London and introduces Ruby Miller, an American engineering intern, and Niall Stella — Max's reserved, quietly compelling British cousin — in a story that plays with forbidden romance underpinned by professional boundaries and the slow unravelling of a deeply guarded protagonist.

Beautiful Boss (2016) follows Will and Hanna once more in a final novella that ties up the loose ends of their story, serving as a warm farewell to one of the series' best-loved couples.

Beautiful (2016) closes the series by bringing the entire ensemble back together, centring on Jensen and Pippa in a road-trip romance that carries the grumpy-sunshine dynamic and features the full cast for a final send-off that rewards long-time readers.

About Christina Lauren

Christina Lauren is the bestselling duo of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, renowned for contemporary romance novels. Known for The Unhoneymooners and Beautiful Bastard, they craft sexy, witty romances with chemistry, humour, and swoon-worthy moments.

Books, series and tropes by Christina Lauren

Beautiful Series FAQs

What is the Beautiful series about?: The Beautiful series by Christina Lauren is a steamy contemporary romance series set across New York, Chicago, and London, following interconnected couples within the same ambitious social circle. Enemies to lovers tension, witty banter, and heat drive each book.
What order should I read the Beautiful series?: Start with Beautiful Bastard and read in series order: 1. Beautiful Bastard, 2. Beautiful Stranger, 3. Beautiful Bitch, 4. Beautiful Bombshell, 5. Beautiful Player, 6. Beautiful Beginning, 7. Beautiful Beloved, 8. Beautiful Secret, 9. Beautiful Boss, 10. Beautiful.
How many books are in the Beautiful series?: The Beautiful series contains 10 books so far.
Who wrote the Beautiful series?: The Beautiful series was written by Christina Lauren.
What tropes are in the Beautiful series?: The Beautiful series features the Enemies to Lovers, Witty Banter & Sharp Dialogue, Slow-burn Romance, Friends to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Heat / Spice, Close-Knit Friend Group, Guarded Protagonists, Workplace Romance and Contemporary Romance tropes.
Is the Beautiful series complete?: The Beautiful series is ongoing with more books planned or in progress.