I really hate to say it but this one feels like a misstep for Christina Lauren. Ouch. Like, if this were the first book in the series, I probably wouldn't have read the rest of the series. And trust me that it really hurts to say this but... the smut was kind of mediocre. ::GASP!:: 
 I think the main reason Beautiful Secret lost me was that I really did 
 NOT 
 like Niall as a romantic lead. I liked him fine as a person but I really disliked him as boyfriend material. The whole time I was reading this I kept calling Niall a "right awful git" in my brain. (What can I say; I was taken over by all the Brits!) But seriously, Niall kind of sucked as a romantic lead. I couldn't fathom what Ruby could possibly see in him besides that he's hot and smart. He's so emotionally stunted and closed off that I actually just felt bad for Ruby most of the time. I just wanted to take her aside and say "Girl, he's obviously rebounding and being with him will hurt something fierce!" And yes, I get it; the point of Niall's arc was that he's learning how to be in a healthy relationship after going through a terrible lonely marriage and a divorce. However, he was just so obtuse all the time that it just bothered me. Like when he did something that hurt Ruby, I could not understand how he didn't think he would be hurtful to her because he was being honest. 
 Now for Ruby, she didn't really feel fully developed. She had some quirks and I feel like they were trying to make her a plucky likeable heroine... but it just didn't fully coalesce. They even tried to work in some laughs with her awkward moments but they just felt kind of... forced. I feel most of her personality was based solely on her crush on Niall and then her relationship with him. Also, I was kind of shocked that she never got any sort of comeuppance on Tony. He's a total dickbag! How did he get away with what he got away with!? And Niall just still works with the guy? WTF! 
 I'm still going to finish the series but this installment was a bit disappointing. I think I might have even just missed the core cast from the previous installments. We got to see the guys just briefly but I guess I wanted more. I missed all the silly misadventures they get into and all the laugh out loud moments that were so prevalent in the previous installments. Here's hoping the finale, Beautiful will be better than this one. 
 On a side note: I thought it was pretty cool that this was a cross over novel with their Wild Seasons series. I really liked all those characters too so it was nice that I got a little bit of London talking to Ruby here as well.