Review: Unbeautifully Loved – Emma Grayson

In three words I can sum up everything I learned about life. Regardless of the shit going on in your life, this fact still remains.

It. Goes. On

Lexie Todd knew these 3 simple words. They were her mantra. So, after dealing with years of abuse at the hands of her boyfriend and the father of her son, she knows what needs to be done. With help from her best friend Mollie, they go on the run.

After months of being on the run they finally find the perfect town to settle in. Unable to trust and always having her guard up, the last thing Lexie wants is to get involved with Lukas Gunn.

Persistent, annoying, bossy, over protective and extremely hot, Detective Lukas Gunn.

After an incident leaves her vulnerable, Lukas knows there’s something haunting her. He’s determined to find out, wanting to protect her and make her his. But Lexie is determined also. Not wanting to give up her past, she pushes him away. Repeatedly.

But when history repeats itself, will Lexie finally be able to trust those around her to keep her safe? Will Lukas be able to save her? Or will Lexie succumb to only knowing what it’s like to be Unbeautifully Loved?

Series:  Breathe Again #1
Release Date:  April 23, 2013
Publisher:  Emma Grayson
Source:  Author’s Angels
Buy the book at:

Reviewer’s Thoughts

This was one of the books where you say to yourself “Holy shit, there’s a lot of bad stuff that happens to this girl”.  Of course, that was a slight understatement when it came to Lexie, between the abusive ex-boyfriend, the attempted rape and then subsequent stalker.

Lexie was a broken woman.  Beaten down by her abusive ex-boyfriend, Lexie fled his house with her young son and best friend in tow.  She’d been on the run for eight months before settling into the little house Mollie had found for them.  She didn’t know any other way to live or how she could protect herself or her son.  But hot, sexy, super alpha male detective Lukas Gunn sets out to prove to Lexie that she is a beautiful woman that any man would be lucky to have.  Both she and Lukas fight hard against her demons and sometimes I wondered if they were ever going to be able to beat them.

Lukas is a super hot, uber alpha male who isn’t willing to give up on Lexie.  Even when Lexie doesn’t want to fight, you know that he is going to fight for not only himself and Lexie, but also for her son.  He needs to give them a happy home, he just sometimes goes about it in a high handed manner than grates not only on Lexie’s nerves but mine too.  But I was willing to forgive Lukas because you knew why he was doing it.

This wasn’t a feel good read that left you overly happy at the end.  It takes a look at the gritty and ugly side of relationships and life, but also what it takes to breakaway from that kind of life.  In the end, we get as happily ever after as we can expect, but one that is well deserved.