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Beautiful #2

Beautiful Dream

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Luci Cunningham had a heart-wrenching affair with her high school chemistry teacher. Beautiful Torment (Beautiful Series #1) told the story, ending with Luci, now a college senior home on winter break, bringing her sister a paper she forgot at home. Walking through the doors of her old high school is jarring, especially as she's still trying to overcome her broken heart. The last thing she told Josh Harrington was to never speak to her again, so when she runs into him all these years later she's caught off guard. Sparks fly, but it's probably just old feelings resurfacing. She's still furious with his lies and deceit, but more so she's totally surprised when he asks her out on a date - the one thing she wanted during their time together.

Beautiful Dream (Beautiful Series #2) picks up right where Beautiful Torment (Beautiful Series #1) leaves off.

For Luci Cunningham the pain Mr. Harrington inflicted remains in the forefront of her mind, but Josh Harrington is dead set on winning her back, no matter the cost. Just try not to fall in love with him as he works on getting Luci to forgive and forget.

Also out now is Beautiful Obsession (Beautiful Series #3), which is Beautiful Torment (Beautiful Series #1) told from Mr. Harrington's perspective.

Warning: This book contains explicit language, sex scenes, and is intended for ages 18 and up.

516 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 27, 2015

106 people are currently reading
471 people want to read

About the author

Paige Laurens

8 books143 followers
I write books. Sometimes other people read them.

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5 stars
256 (30%)
4 stars
265 (31%)
3 stars
212 (24%)
2 stars
91 (10%)
1 star
29 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
Profile Image for Jennifer Kyle.
2,613 reviews5,402 followers
August 7, 2022
”You broke my heart,” she repeats.

“Let me fix it,” I whisper.”


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Where to begin? This story is told in alternating POVS of both the hero and the heroine. It does start the next day after the last line of book one. To be honest, some of the writing is wonderful and then the story would flip flop to the awkward and uncomfortable. The couple is working their way back to a new together after Luci is set to graduate college and Josh is hell bent on asking for another chance with his former student.

”The thrill of me being your student is no longer there,” I pointed out, not believing I’m actually entertaining the idea of us being friends.

“The fact that you were my student was the hurdle,” he swallows. “The thrill was you.”


Their new found friendship seems to be making strides forward but when Luci takes a student teacher job a fellow teacher, Brittney threatens to expose them.

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So you see, Luci is still hesitant to start things back up with Josh while he tries hard battling Brittney’s threats, and upon her insistence hiding the relationship from her parents.

”It’s like we’re hiding all over again.”

Sexy times hit a nosedive occasionally, with use of terms like 'pole' and then the breast milk scene...seriously, what was up with that?!?!

”I’m about to milk the shit out of her.”

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“licking my pole.”


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This book does indeed wrap their story up (no cliffhanger) with an upcoming novella based on their marriage coming in the near future.

Fans of student/teacher reads, this isn’t a full blown smut read. There is depth and the writing is good just wished at times toned down or edited out parts that go a bit too far. I think the author is talented and this appears to be her first books so hopefully in the future her hero isn’t so full of cum, and getting himself off amount of times can be curbed to the acceptable than the creepy amount because I would definitely read other book her.
Profile Image for Elle ✟ Søren's ♡ (i'm too old for this shite).
690 reviews481 followers
March 24, 2016
★★★ 4 ~ 3 STARS!

After their heart-breaking event at the end of Beautiful Torment, I couldn't stop thinking about what'll happened between them. They met again after two and half years later. In the school. It was all coincidence. Part of me still angry with Josh Harrington. He thinks he's doing the best for both of them. Uh huh... I don't think so. Never keep sh!t from someone you love.
“What can I do to make you not hate me?” My voice is low and pleading. “Tell me and I’ll do it.”
“I… I don’t know,” she sighs. “You broke my heart.”

Josh or Mr. Harrington asked her to have dinner with him. Can you believe it? That was their first meet again after the pregnant's wife drama. Personally, I wanna shove it in his a$$ but our sweet Luci accept it with heavy burden. The dinner didn't really smooth but finally Josh could explain everything. Still, Luci couldn't forgive him easily. Josh would do everything to make it better for them to be together again. His feeling towards her hasn't changed.
“I was wrong. Love is not setting them free, because I've tried that. Love is never letting go. Love is not being able to live without. Love is a fight, because I can't live without her, and I'm willing to try anything in order to get her back!”

For a final book, I'm quite disappointing with the plot. It didn't held my interest as the previous book. It's about second chance love, forgiveness and redemption. Apparently, Josh true with his words. He still doing everything he can to protect her. To earn her forgiveness. I liked the dual POV. I'm so happy that I could know Josh' inner mind and relentless. I know it's hard for them. Their love road isn't smooth as I expected. They're some jealous bitch, demanding parents and uncertainty.
“I guess how you were scared before is how I am now. No one has ever broken me like you have, and it’s easy for me to let that happen with you again.”
“Sometimes, it takes for us to be completely broken to realize what it means to be whole.”

My rating has fallen dramatically. Why? I have some issues that really bothered me. Of course it wasn't easy relationship between ex-teacher and student. There was rumor and blackmail happened but not last long. The drama... Ugh, I couldn't handle it well. The sexy times is my biggest concern. It felt corny and not passionate as before. It was just plain sex and sometimes bored me. They couldn't keep their hands off each other. I just didn't like their romantic because somehow it was too cheesy and awkward? Hmph...

Overall, Beautiful Dream has a beautiful ending. A bit too rushed and mediocre for my taste. FYI, I really avoid pregnancy and children. So, the ending didn't give me OHHH effect. I liked the writing but still need some improvement (You'll know what I mean when you read it).

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Profile Image for G. K. Malathi.
62 reviews14 followers
March 13, 2018
SPINELESS HEROINE + EMOTIONALLY AMATEUR HERO= BEAUTIFUL DREAM (:
The way the book was written was the ONLY thing that kept me going. Being a sucker for Happy Endings. I still did not want Luci to get back with Josh. Cause, honestly the girl is just too spineless, too easy when it comes to this guy. LYING BY OMISSION, is still LYING. The Second books usually consist of alot begging and pleading done by the hero because of the grave mistake commited by them and this book though had a few scenes in the beginning, the emotions that resonated to a reader was too minimal. I could almost forgive Josh but however after Luci reveals about her pregnancy, he has no audacity to call her out as a cheater, or question about the paternity of the child growing in her.
Profile Image for Jenna.
321 reviews35 followers
December 14, 2015
Let me start by saying as soon as I finished book one of this series I was opening up book two. I really loved it! I once again lost sleep because of Paige’s books! I’m not complaining about it! It was such an enjoyable read.
Luci and her past teach Josh had an affair that ended badly in book one. After a few years apart, Luci runs into Josh after having to drop something off at school for her younger sister. The spark is still there and you are really rooting for them. Will they get their happily ever after? READ IT so you can find out! You will be happy with this hot love story. When there is a warning like this: This book contains explicit language, sex scenes, and is intended for ages 18 and up. You know it’s going to be a good one after reading that.
This is book two in the Beautiful series and cannot be read as a standalone. It has duel POVs and you hear a lot from Josh, which you didn’t hear his POV in the first book. I believe there is another book coming out but I do not know when and I think it is a novella. I am super exciting about it because I am going to miss Josh and Emily. 5 stars!

My advice:
new covers...these are just bad.
Profile Image for Tink Magoo is bad at reviews.
1,291 reviews251 followers
January 9, 2024
Reread 2024

Down from 4 to 2

------------------

Original review-

I actually think this second book was slightly better than the first. It was more mature and the writing was less awkward. Yes there was less sex but we actually got more of a story line. And it was great to see that Josh wanted more than just sex.

I enjoyed it, though that scene at the end with the breast milk. Yeah, that's gonna be hit or miss with people I think.
Profile Image for Alison.
1,507 reviews107 followers
May 6, 2023
Stars: 5
Length: Full Length
POV: Dual
Series: Beautiful Series #2
Ending: HEA
Re-read? Yes!!!

"Love is not setting them free, because I’ve tried that. Love is never letting go. Love is not being able to live without. Love is a fight, because I can’t live without her and I’m willing to try anything in order to get her back!”

Read #2: Still love this book and series. But since I just finished reading beautiful mess and he was scheduling more “dates” to try to get over her in the beginning of this book I had the very real fear he was going to sleep with other woman on stands. My suggestion would be to read book 1, 3, then 2. Pretend 4 doesn’t exist.

Again, one of the best student/teacher series ever. This book takes up about a year and a half after the end of book one and three. Luci and Josh have stayed apart all that time. Normally I absolutely hate that in a romance but I could forgive it for this story.

Josh has finally gotten his life straightened out and he wants Luci back in his life. Unfortunately, she's still completely heartbroken by him. It's going to take a lot of work to convince Luci to give him another chance after what happened. Fortunately, Josh is an intelligent man and helps to get Luci a student teaching position at the school so not only does she move home but they are also working together. What will happen? Who knows! Ok, well we really know...
Profile Image for Kristy.
334 reviews36 followers
July 11, 2025
Ahh the reunion of our MCs…this book picks up after the couple have been apart for about 1.5 years (book 4 is how Josh’s time was). While Josh has straight lines his life out & wants Luci back, Luci is still so hurt by Josh that he’s got a lot of groveling to do for her to forgive him.
Profile Image for Shannon.
457 reviews34 followers
November 28, 2015
Sadly this is a DNF for me- I LOVED the first book….and I'm obviously the odd man out in this one. The "dirty talk" is so awkward and immature that I skim over it in hopes that it will quickly end. Student/Teacher are my favorites but this one left me …….feeling awkward and "unfulfilled".
Profile Image for Mallory DeClue.
10 reviews
September 6, 2023
I can not finish this book. It’s so inappropriate, the way they do things in the same room as teenagers. It’s sexual assault and I can not finish this. It’s gross and disturbing. Also, can they just pick if they want to be together or not? This is 500 pages of the same battle back and forth. So many obstacles, so much drama. I can’t do it.
Also, it is DRAWER. not draw. I couldn’t stand it when he said he was looking for something in the bathroom “draw” or bedroom “draws” 😭😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
890 reviews
August 24, 2017
Luci acted and was treated like a teenager still (lives at home and still heavily relies on parents)

Josh still never lets Luci make decisions, and Luci for all her complaining seems fine with that
Profile Image for Wendy Robinson.
78 reviews1 follower
August 26, 2025
I have decided to DNF at 72%

I did become invested in the characters, and (mostly) enjoyed the story in the first book, but I’m bowing out now, rather than finish the six book series. I find the writing really immature (please stop with the overused italics and exclamation points), and I’m over the ridiculous reasons that keep being used to push the love interests apart. So I’m going to stop now, when they’re in a happy place, and call it quits
Profile Image for Jessica's Book Review.
892 reviews366 followers
June 21, 2025
“From the moment I saw you I fell in love with you, and it scared me shitless,” I catch her eye, making sure she understands what I’m saying, just so there’s no confusion. “Everything from those last two sentences is still, to this day, true,” I take in her stunned expression. “Date me or don’t, Luci, but I refuse to be with anyone who isn’t you.” - Josh

Beautiful Dream (Beautiful #1) by Paige Laurens takes place 2.5 years where the first book left off. Josh was a major douche and broke Luci’s heart. She graduated college and ran off to Europe and is now in her senior year of college in Boston. She has never gotten over Josh and is heartbroken. She runs into Josh and the confusion of her feelings hit Luci hard. She loved him but doesn’t want to see him. He wears her down and they meet for dinner. After this 70% of the book is Luci refusing to kiss him but then fooling around. Luci was driving me crazy!!!!! I could not handle all the “I want him, but don’t kiss me”… she was totally leading him on.

Josh. He was a douche canoe. He made awful choices and he continues to make awful choices. I still do not understand any real connection between these two aside from sex.

Just like book one, the forbidden romance is still in play. Luci has returned to her old high school as a student teacher and Josh is still teaching. They hide their affair again. Totally not fair for Luci. The “drama” with the other teacher was just dumb… and frankly all these “girls” wanting Josh throughout the book was dumb. My eyes were rolling the entire time.

I did enjoy this was in dual POV between Luci and Josh this time. I would have liked Josh POV in the first book.

I didn’t care for the characters or their relationship. This was just okay..

I give Beautiful Dream (Beautiful #1) by Paige Laurens 3 stars.

Profile Image for KatForsyth.
262 reviews19 followers
April 8, 2018
THE GOOD:

I honestly thought this story would be dull and I'd DNF it, because what could possibly be interesting now that Luci is no longer Josh's student? But the force of the story kept me going, and I read the whole thing in one sitting to see what happened.

THE BAD:
It gets really repetitive with the sex scenes. There are just too many of them, compared to actual plot.

I'm really disappointed that the author didn't bother to get a proofreader for this book, either. There are SO MANY mistakes, and that always jolts me out of the story. There were some especially terrible ones in this book, where Paige Laurens makes it clear that she doesn't even know what certain words mean. Like "ensconced", and "eludes". That shit really irritates me.
Profile Image for Stacey.
229 reviews23 followers
May 29, 2018
Ahhh sweet ending to this student-teacher romance. This started off a bit frustrating with the never-ending apologies from Josh. Clearly, he messed up in book one. However I felt like Luci was being a bit hard on him too. She couldn't really expect there to be a good ending to their illicit romance. She was too young and I can understand that is what Josh saw.

This book however she was older and presumably wiser so there was no resson they couldn't be together. When she finally gets over her insecurities and they came together...oh were they hotttt together. This was an extremely steamy read. They had a lot of passion for each other.

Overall, great ending with a cute hea.

****4.5 stars
Profile Image for σψεδζααδι Μαριάμ.
310 reviews20 followers
September 18, 2020
DNF @ 5%
HE HAD AN AFFAIR WITH HIS STUDENT, DIDN; T TELL HER HE WAS MARRIED THE WHOLE TIME, HIS WIFE IS PREGGY, HE GOES BACK TO WIFE - PREVIOUS BOOKS' STORY.

NOW:
“What about your boyfriend?” He takes his last forkful of salad.
“What about him?” I ask, before repeating his question. “Jealous?”
“Definitely,” he easily admits, and I clear my throat.
“It’s still new,” I shrug.
“Good.” I shake my head, annoyed.
“What?” He smiles. “I’m just seeing how easy it will be to get him
out of the picture.”
“Josh!” I groan angrily.
“I always loved it when you said my name.”
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NEED I SAY MORE ABOUT THE EMOTIONAL IMMATURITY OF THE "TEACHER" HERE?
15 reviews
June 21, 2025
The story has good bones

But ...it wasn't very fluid and the situations they were in were very repetitive. Josh was too immature. Like I said good bones but the narrative could have been way better, so many other things they could have explored. More emotion!

Not terrible but I ended up scanning the pages all the way to the end.

Profile Image for Jade.
365 reviews
January 29, 2024
the exclamation marks my god and don’t forget abt the UHHH’s LMAOO

but you both need to be fired lol

wow how surprising she got prego- it wasn’t like they were raw dogging it 24/8 (hint the sarcasm)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
107 reviews
May 26, 2025
Beautiful Dream

I read this series years ago, then read again, sorta.... This is a rabbit hole that anyone with self respect would walk away from. YES, true love is powerful, but this is to much for any HEA
Profile Image for Bella'.
1,074 reviews22 followers
August 8, 2018
Wow, vaya manera de echar a perder algo.
¡Increíble! Esperaba algo diferente. Fue un TORMENTO leerlo pero quería terminarlo, lo sé, una tontería de la que ahora me arrepiento.
2 reviews
April 3, 2019
Brilliant

I couldn't stop reading it. Stayed up late in to the night as I couldn't put it down. Loved them both.
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