Title: Beautifully Damaged
Series: Beautifully Damaged #1
Author: L.A. Fiore
Re-Release Date: March 25, 2014
This edition of Beautifully Damaged has been extensively revised and includes new scenes.
Ember Walsh is a trusting soul with the quiet beauty of her late mother, who perished in a mysterious car crash when Ember was three. A little tomboyish from being raised by her father, Ember packs a punch when a stranger gets pushy with her in a bar, catching the steely blue eyes of a tall, gorgeous tattooed man—Trace Montgomery. Still damaged from her last disastrous relationship and warned off the bad boy by friends, Ember fights the smoldering heat that Trace sparks in her when he begins shadowing her like a dark angel.
Burdened by a lifetime of horror and heartbreak, amateur fighter Trace doesn’t want to want Ember. His deep self-loathing keeps him from having any meaningful relationships, but Ember is an itch he can’t scratch. The two push and pull, slowly crumbling their walls, seemingly brought together by fate, because the turmoil that haunts their pasts is interlinked in undeniable ways. But can these two fighters finally lay down their arms?
In Beautifully Damaged, L.A. Fiore delves into deep scars and lets love and forgiveness uncover redemption.
Teasers
Reviewed by Carmie
Even the title is intriguing!
Ember Walsh doesn’t know that her life is going to change when she agrees to go with her roommate, Lena to meet her crush Todd. Ember is sitting at the bar while Lena and Todd have disappeared and is accosted by a slightly intoxicated Don Juan. Ember doesn’t feel like playing nice and coldcocks him when he refuses to leave her alone. Drunken Don Juan isn’t too happy about being coldcocked and is a heartbeat away from reciprocating when the hottie Ember noticed earlier intervenes. And by intervene I mean he lays him out on the floor.
Ember’s hottie, Trace is out of her league and gives her something to dream about at night. Oh boy, does she dream about him. Soon after their first meeting she sees him again at a jazz festival in the park. She runs into him again at a 5k race in the park and actually talks to him this time. Ember invited Trace to go running with her and have coffee afterwards; days go by before she sees him again – and he’s with someone new. It seems like there is a steady stream of women gracing his arm and bed.
Ember decides to go out with her best friend, Kyle who also enjoys jazz. They play and sing together at open mic nights sometimes in bars after Ember loosens up with a drink or two. Strangely enough, the next morning feeling like death warmed over Ember runs into Trace again. She finds out that he saw her and Kyle perform the night before and suggests another bar for their open mic night adventures.
Ember leads a very full life. She’s an aspiring author, sings, plays music, works as a waitress at a fancy restaurant and finds herself thinking of Trace when her brain is not otherwise occupied. It’s been a few days since she’s seen Trace and literally runs into him and a friend of his – well technically, she ran into his friend’s dog. Trace can’t resist asking Ember out – she’s cute and funny; Ember is cautiously optimistic that this is her chance with Trace.
Ember and Trace start going out more. They are both tired of denying the chemistry between them. Their relationship is very much like a rubber band – Trace tries to push Ember away because he’s afraid of getting hurt and Ember comes back to him and they get closer and closer each time. Ember sees the damaged but beautiful soul within Trace; Trace doesn’t feel like he deserves anything good in his life much less the kind-hearted Ember. Trace is so full of pent up rage that he can’t even get it all out when he is in the ring fighting.
Things become even more interesting between Ember and Trace when Ember and Lena having a falling out and Ember is forced to move out. She moves in with Trace and hopes to keep getting to know more than the façade he shows the world. In all the time together, he doesn’t talk about his family – he shuts down that line of conversation pretty quickly.
As long as Ember stays within the boundaries, her relationship keeps progressing. You’ll have to read the book if you want to hear all the steamy romance and bedroom scenes – which are totally worth it. Ember and Trace fall in love but Trace is haunted by his past and Ember won’t let him just drop the subject anymore. Trace really doesn’t want to talk about his past so he does the one thing guaranteed to remove Ember from his life – he arranges for Ember to see him with another woman in a very compromising situation. Ember knows Trace did it just to hurt her and she moves out.
Weeks have went by Ember’s heart isn’t healing – she’s sure Trace was the one for her. She’s willing to consider the fact that Trace may be suffering as much as she is and willing to play with the idea of getting back together with him. If Ember gets back together with Trace they will be talking about his past and there will be no more push and pull – there will only be Ember and Trace. Are Ember and Trace strong enough to overcome their breakup and Trace’s past?
I really enjoyed this book. Trace and Ember are very lovable characters and you feel for them as they are struggling – you end up hoping they will make it work in the end. Ember’s ex-roommate Lena and her crush Todd are the two people I think most readers will love to hate. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a book about Ember’s best friend, Kyle; characters like Kyle speak to the readers and make us wish we had a friend just like him. The author’s sense of humor made itself known at certain moments in the book – it blended very well. Beautifully Damaged is an all-around good read.
4.5 Stars
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About The Author
L.A. Fiore lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with her husband, two children, their dog, two kittens and Willow: their three-legged hamster. Her twin sister lives right down the street and being a seasoned zombie hunter, there is comfort knowing when the zombie apocalypse comes they'll be ready. L.A. loves hearing from readers and can be reached through Facebook at the link below.
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