Review ~ Beauty, Inc. (The Pennymaker Tales #3) by Tara Lain
Beauty, Inc.
(The Pennymaker Tales #3)
by Tara Lain
Blurb:
Is beauty only skin deep?
Chemist Dr. Robert “Belle” Belleterre loves flowers, green trees, his best friend Judy, and “his baby”: the new face cream he developed to help put his father’s small cosmetics company on the map. Sadly he gets no help from his alcoholic, gambling-addicted father who loses Belle in a poker game to Magnus Strong, the CEO of Beauty, Inc. the largest American cosmetics company—a man infamous for his scarred ugliness.
Belle finds himself uprooted from his home, living in a wildly crazy apartment in New York owned by Mr. Pennymaker, and completely unprepared for his mad attraction to the charismatic Strong. Feeling like a traitor, Belle fights his passion only to see more and more of the goodness and humility hidden by Strong’s ugly face. But when Belle’s family starts manipulating his life again, the odds turn against happiness for beautiful Belle and his beloved beast.
Available for purchase at
Excerpt
“Yes. Judy. My friend. I thought she was coming here.”
“Oh yes. She has her apartment on the ground floor. Mr. Strong thought it would be best if she didn’t have to climb too many stairs while she’s being treated.”
Belle just stared. He felt the tears welling in his eyes but couldn’t stop them. Limb by limb, he collapsed to the floor like an old plastic bag. His own father hadn’t even paid attention, and Magnus Strong put Judy on the ground floor to keep her from having to climb stairs.
Mr. P closed the door and flopped down beside him. “So, my dear, what seems to be the trouble?”
Belle shook his head and snuffled.
“Try again.”
“I did a really bad thing.”
“What might that have been, my dear?”
He sniffed. “I humped my boss.”
“Hmm. Humped. I’m failing to get a mental image.”
Belle sighed. “It’s probably just as well. I got overzealous and threw myself on Magnus Strong. That might have been okay, but then I—” He dropped his face in his hand. “Oh God.”
“I’m starting to get an image. Continue.”
He popped his head up. “I kissed him, okay? And then, as if that wasn’t the stupidest thing ever done since W said “mission accomplished,” I managed to get my penis in contact with his and—humped. Now do you get the picture?”
Mr. P clapped his hands. “Perfect.”
“Oh, so far from perfect.” He fell back against the large Asian throw rug. “Why did I do it? Why?”
“Excellent question. Why did you do it?”
“He turns me on.”
“What?”
Belle sat up, in his best Frankenstein’s monster imitation. “He turns me on like a large neon light.”
“Because he helped your friend?”
“Way before he helped Judy. Before he helped me, in fact.”
Mr. P smiled. “So you acknowledge that he’s helped you?”
“Oh hell, Mr. P, I’m so confused. I mean, getting won in a poker game doesn’t exactly kick a relationship off on a sterling foot. Plus, that was after he seemed to be stalking me. I assumed he was trying to get me here to—you know—screw me instead of my father.”
“Ah, I see. And now you’ve thrown at him the very thing you assumed he wanted—and he refused it.”
“In a word—yes. I don’t know what to think.”
“There’s only one answer, my dear. Outside the box.”
Is beauty only skin deep?
All Dr. Robert “Belle” Belleterre wants to do is launch the new face cream he's developed for his father’s small cosmetics company. Ordered to travel to Las Vegas to attend a convention he starts to realize that his family may not have had the best intentions. This is confirmed when his alcoholic, gambling-addicted father loses Belle in a poker game to the infamous Magnus Strong, the CEO of Beauty, Inc. the largest American cosmetics company and their competitor.
Belle moves from his home in Oregon to New York but is surprised to find himself given a beautifully unique apartment straight out of his dreams owned by Mr. Pennymaker. A great opportunity to work on the type of projects he loves and wonderful new friends make him feel as if he actually belongs here. However, he is completely unprepared for the intense attraction he feels to the charismatic Strong.
Magnus Strong may be ugly with his scarred faced, but his beauty shines from his large heart. The more Belle learns about Magnus, the more he realizes it's easy to see past the scars on Strong's face. But Belle feels torn between his loyalty to his family and his growing loyalty to Beauty Inc.
Just when Belle thinks he's finally happy, Belle’s family starts manipulating his life again. Will they destroy the life Belle is starting to love? What does this mean for the beautiful Belle and his beloved beast?
I've enjoyed every one of the Pennymaker Tales and Beauty Inc. is no exception. I adore reading fairy tales reworked and retold with a contemporary spin. So it was fun to see Beauty and the Beast come to life in a whole new way.
I liked Belle and I loved Magnus, they have great Chemistry and made a cute couple. I, of course, loved Mr. Pennymaker as I have in all the books. He adds a great bit of fun and magic to the story.
I recommend Beauty Inc. for anyone looking for a quick, easy and sweet story. If you haven't read the others in this series you should definitely take a look.
4 Stars!
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for an honest and fair review***
All Dr. Robert “Belle” Belleterre wants to do is launch the new face cream he's developed for his father’s small cosmetics company. Ordered to travel to Las Vegas to attend a convention he starts to realize that his family may not have had the best intentions. This is confirmed when his alcoholic, gambling-addicted father loses Belle in a poker game to the infamous Magnus Strong, the CEO of Beauty, Inc. the largest American cosmetics company and their competitor.
Belle moves from his home in Oregon to New York but is surprised to find himself given a beautifully unique apartment straight out of his dreams owned by Mr. Pennymaker. A great opportunity to work on the type of projects he loves and wonderful new friends make him feel as if he actually belongs here. However, he is completely unprepared for the intense attraction he feels to the charismatic Strong.
Magnus Strong may be ugly with his scarred faced, but his beauty shines from his large heart. The more Belle learns about Magnus, the more he realizes it's easy to see past the scars on Strong's face. But Belle feels torn between his loyalty to his family and his growing loyalty to Beauty Inc.
Just when Belle thinks he's finally happy, Belle’s family starts manipulating his life again. Will they destroy the life Belle is starting to love? What does this mean for the beautiful Belle and his beloved beast?
I've enjoyed every one of the Pennymaker Tales and Beauty Inc. is no exception. I adore reading fairy tales reworked and retold with a contemporary spin. So it was fun to see Beauty and the Beast come to life in a whole new way.
I liked Belle and I loved Magnus, they have great Chemistry and made a cute couple. I, of course, loved Mr. Pennymaker as I have in all the books. He adds a great bit of fun and magic to the story.
I recommend Beauty Inc. for anyone looking for a quick, easy and sweet story. If you haven't read the others in this series you should definitely take a look.
4 Stars!
***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for an honest and fair review***
About the Author
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 23. Her bestselling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soulmate husband and her soulmate dog in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!You can find Tara at
No comments:
Post a Comment