Title: Scarred Beautiful
Author: Beth Michele
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Hosted by: Love Between the Sheets Promotions
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.**
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Review
***Arc was provided by author in exchange for an honest review***
Scarred Beautiful is a sweet story about how physical and mental scars define a person’s life until s/he meets someone who is willing to look beyond the scars – beyond the surface and see what is truly inside – the beauty of it all – the sunshine – the little spark.
Fran’s mental and physical scars are due to her father’s abuse when she was a child, and while her father is no longer a factor in her life, the trauma of those experiences still hold Fran a prisoner in her own skin. But Fran’s wounds run deeper than just her father – she has also lost someone who saw past those scars and made sure she understood that there was nothing wrong with her. The memories of those events as well as her insecurities has forced her to “play it safe” for far too long. One week in Los Angeles helps her to break free from her old self and form a connection with a man who sees all of her beauty like no one ever has before.
Matt’s scars, while not apparent on his body, are just as significant as Fran’s. Matt has suffered tremendous loss, and it has turned him into a man whose need for control and order defines every part of his life. Fran forces him to “live” for the first time and now that he knows what it’s like to feel again, he refuses to let that feeling go, which means he has to do whatever he can to prove to Fran that all he sees his beauty when he looks at her.
“’Your dad may have marked your body in horrible, unthinkable ways, but your soul, Fran, your soul is intact, and it’s beautiful.’”
“’I don’t see your scars when I look at you. I only see your heart.’”
Scarred Beautiful is such a heartwarming story. Fran and Matt heal each other’s scars and teach one another that defining moments can be filled with love and passion, not just ugliness and loss. Fran deserves a happily ever after, and thanks to Matt’s relentless pursuit and drive to get Fran to open up and show him her true self, her tragic life becomes so much more than beautiful. I really enjoyed Fran and Matt’s story; their witty banter and off the charts chemistry make it an entertaining story, and the duel POVs allow readers to understand the depth of the pain as well as the love they both feel. Peyton and Caleb are also great additions to the story…perhaps, they’ll get their own story???
Thank you, Beth Michele, for showing what the true essence of beauty is.
4 poison apples
Excerpt
Fuck she’s hot. I can feel her uneven breaths against my lips as her chest rises and falls after hearing my words. Those eyes, like green panes of stained glass. That plump bottom lip, I’d love to take between my teeth. And she smells good, like jasmine and lavender.
I’m not sure what possessed me to say that to her. I know nothing about her. She’s like a little spark though. She lit me up tonight with her smart, sexy mouth, and now she’s got me thinking thoughts I haven’t in a long time, stirring something deep inside of me that’s been asleep. Like how I want to take her right here, make her scream my name while she comes apart beneath me.
The elevator doors open and she ducks down and sneaks underneath my arm to make her way out.
“Goodnight, Matt.”
I hold the doors open and watch her walk down the hall, taking one last look over her shoulder before she turns the corner to her room, leaving me with only one thought.
When do I get to see her again?
Shit. I’m fucked.
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About The Author
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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