Review: Beautifully Damaged – L.A. Fiore

Ember Walsh was always the quiet one, enjoying a book and a glass of wine over the noise and crowds of a club, but when her best friend asks her to come out and meet the boy she likes Ember’s world is turned upside down. He appears like a mythical avenging angel, inked, gorgeous and completely out of her league but one look and Ember no longer wants the quiet, she wants him.

Trace Montgomery has buried his damaged past with women and fighting until one day he meets an angel and suddenly he wants more, he wants her. For her, he’s determined to overcome his demons but will the dark secret that links their pasts bring them closer or will it tear them apart.

Series:
Release Date:  April 28, 2012
Publisher:  L.A. Fiore
Source:  Amazon, via my own wallet
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Reviewer’s Thoughts:

I downloaded a sample of this book a few weeks ago because the blurb intrigued me. A bookish girl meets her avenging angel…what’s not to like?

I will admit, what kept me in this story was Trace. He was, as the title of the book suggests, beautifully damaged. After abuse and neglect, he doesn’t think he’s worthy of love. He uses sex and fighting as a way to mask the pain of not only being rejected by those that were supposed to love him, but also being left to clean up their messes. But beneath that tough exterior, covered in tattoos he used as a reminder of the hell he’s endured, is a soft hearted man who wants someone to love him. Trace will make you made, but he’ll also melt your heart.

I wasn’t quite sure about Ember. I could see the appeal someone like Trace would have for her, but I wasn’t sure if she had it in her to be in a relationship with a man like him. At times she had him placed so highly on a pedestal I was positive she couldn’t. But I will say she did see past Trace’s exterior to his squishy inside. She may have bitten off more than she could chew at first, but she stuck with him despite what Trace did.

The story wasn’t perfect and it went down a road I wasn’t expecting, but for me this story was all about a man finding the person who sees him for who he is and loves him anyway. Sure, I could have done without the mystery behind his parents and how that connected with her parents, but I let all that go to get the opportunity to see Trace happy.