Scarred Beautiful
Synopsis:
Love believes in second chances.
Francis Heller lives with two truths. Love hurts and beauty is only skin deep.
With midnight black hair, moss-colored eyes, and traceable curves, Fran is the picture of beauty and confidence...on the outside. But deep down she is tormented. Not just by the jagged scars that line her body, but by the horrible memories that cloud her mind and haunt her dreams. The ones that make her want to flee from herself and from the devastating pain. The ones that cause her to placate herself with sex. Anything to make her forget. But for Fran, there's nowhere to hide from the darkness that swallows her whole.
Matt Dixon is the gorgeous brother of her best friend's fiancée. He's suffered losses of his own and isn't willing to let anyone in until his unexpected encounter with Fran Heller, the girl who challenges him and causes him to take a second look, not only at her, but at his own life.
But Matt has scars of his own.
Together can they help each other discover that second chances really do exist? That love doesn't have to hurt? Or has the damage they've both suffered cut too deep to ever heal?
**NA/Contemporary Romance with language and mature sexual content.**
Review:
3.5 Stars!
~This book carries over
some characters from Love Love, but is considered a standalone book as
everything is explained in this book that would be considered pertinent to the
story.~
Scarred Beautiful was the perfect name for this emotional
tale of a girl and a guy that have their own emotional dilemmas in the game of
life.
Fran had a very horrible
childhood that has morphed into some very sensitive issues for her as she got
older. No child should ever have to endure what she did….but growing up and moving
on with her life as she did, that is strength.
She has some fears and emotional turmoil as well that hinder her
‘freedom’ in life, and this book shows her growing and overcoming those fears
and moving on.
Matt grew up in a loving
home and had a great family…..little by little his family was chipped away
until he was left with just his brother. That scars a person’s emotional self…..and
may cause some people to pick up some bad “habits”. Tight-assery being one of them. He is a tight
ass. Ha!!
This guy went from
tight-ass to hot-as-hell quicker than it take a Ferrari to pick up speed. ~Fran
When Fran has to fly to
California for a business trip, she ends up seeing Matt (her best friend Gabby
is engaged to Matt’s brother, in Love Love) and they start chatting. A week of flirting
heavily, dates, kisses and butterflies leads to a serious revelation that she
is falling in love with Matt…but she won’t allow herself to accept it, and
neither will he. They both fight it because there just hasn’t been enough “time”
to fall in love, but their chemistry is there….they really do have a pull to
each other.
She closes her eyes and
moistens her lips with her tongue, seemingly fighting for the same control that
I am, but it’s useless and so I give in. Wrapping an arm around her back, I tug
her against me, every inch of her rubbing against my eager body and I go rigid
with desire, fisting my hands in her hair and taking possession of her mouth
with my tongue. She moans and it turns me on even more, making me realize we
need to get a room before I lose myself in her on the elevator. I’ve never
craved anyone like this before. But that’s the thing, deep down I know this is
more than just a craving, and she’s the only one who can satisfy it.
When Fran meets up with her
mom, there is quite a bit of discussion between them and it was good to see
some issues being addressed. This book had some heavy undertones to it and I
think they were addressed fairly well. Fran really is a strong girl in some
areas and she definitely demonstrated that on more than one occasion. She also
was able to talk to her mom about her feelings for Matt and her hesitancy to
admit her feelings for him after such a short amount of time…a true
Mother/Daughter relationship. Her mom gave her some sound advice:
Time doesn’t dictate
feelings, Fran. Time speeds up when you feel….Everything’s magnified when you
feel. The sky suddenly shines brighter, that piece of chocolate you ate just
got a bit sweeter, that song you listened to takes on a deeper meaning.
Once Fran is ready to admit
it, something Matt sees affects him and he doesn’t know how to process his
feelings about what he just discovered….it was actually an emotional roller
coaster to read and see how this all worked itself out. True hurt and emotion is played out between
the two of them and I think it was illustrated very well at this point. The
lead up to and the acceptance of their feelings for each other was really well
written.
“Love doesn’t make sense,
Matt. It’s messy and crazy, lovely and wonderful, and sometimes, it’s
maddening.”
I enjoyed seeing the love
play out when they finally both allowed themselves to accept the fact that they
had feelings for each other and acted upon them. This was a sweet love story with a very even
storyline with not a lot of angst or drama. The ending was super sweet and
romantic and I loved how “out of his shell” Matt had become. Fran was good for
him….and he was good for her.
I felt this book was a
little slow in the beginning and some of her ‘fears/phobias’ are lightly
brushed over. I understand
that everyone has a different level of fear/phobia, but some were discussed as
rather severe (panic attacks), but they resolved a little too quickly for me to
believe they were as severe as they were portrayed. Peyton called her a drama
queen in the beginning and I felt she definitely lived up to that. That didn’t
allow me to connect fully with Fran on that level. It did finally pick up when
the heat level was turned up between the two. I really enjoyed their banter and
the wit between the two. I love how sarcastic Fran was! I had some good
laughable moments in this book with her. Matt was a super sweet and loving man
that gave more than most men would in the very beginning to a gal that breaks down
into tears quite often. He is definitely the sexy strong one in this book and I
enjoyed his caring side. He is definitely book boyfriend material! He was a
true gentleman and a “real” man that looked inside rather than dwell on surface
imperfections. I really did like him.
I rate this book 3.5 stars.
Love,
Bethany
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About The Author
Beth Michele
I am a wife, a mom, an author, and a lover of all things chocolate, well, anything sweet really. While stuffing chocolate in my face, I enjoy reading young adult and new adult novels furiously, and spending time with my husband and two adorable children who keep me on my peppermint pink painted toes. Those same children who inspire me to tell silly stories that cause hysterical giggles to tumble from their bellies. I love to laugh and love to have a good cry, especially after reading a novel that stretches my soul, one that makes me feel, and lingers in the corner of my heart. I’m a hopeless romantic and a happily ever after fanatic, and I love to write about LOVE. I began writing when I was in middle school, penning anything from short stories, to poetry, and then later moved on to write children’s books. I have now endeavored into New Adult and Contemporary Romance novels and am loving every minute of it. My first novel, Love Love, was released in May, 2013.
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