Review 

I’ve been waiting for Rainer’s story ever since readers met him in Pippa and Tyke’s story, and we learned about the bond he formed with Pippa in extremely hellish circumstances. He protected her; he fought for her, but since his escape, he’s been lost and wondering how to live again because his scars are not easy to heal, and when his past walks into his bar ready to reconnect, he doesn’t recognize her, almost destroying the connection that might be able to heal him and help him move on.

10 years ago, Rainer and Emalie were the most important people in each other’s lives; they started out as best friends and then fell in love only to have it destroyed and forgotten. Now that they live in the same town again, Emalie still wants the man she loves, but he can’t remember her due to his trauma and his heart belongs with Pippa now because what they went through tied them together in a way that can’t be broken.

Flawed Love is such a heartbreaking story on a number of levels. Rainer is a damaged and tortured man who doesn’t know how to reclaim his own life because it wasn’t his for quite a few years and that time broke him. Bella Jewel does a great job of illustrating how fractured Rainer is in body and mind as well as how torn in two he is over his past love and the woman, who even though she’s in love with someone else, still owns his heart.

I have to admit, I struggled with Rainer’s treatment of Emalie throughout the story. In my mind, I understand why he’s conflicted and why he just wants casual with her, but my heart ached for Emalie because she loves him with all of her heart and soul and each time he rejects their connection as being anything more than a fling or chooses to comfort Pippa over her, her pain and desperation resonate off of the pages, making me want to strangle Rainer.

I love that Bella gives readers Rainer and Emalie’s past as well as their present. It’s important to understand how much they meant to each other to comprehend the hold that Rainer has on her heart, and we get that through Emalie’s flashbacks and it ties nicely with the current situation because it offers evidence as to why Emalie can’t let go and will take anything she can get from Rainer.

The one thing I would have liked a bit more of is Rainer’s point of view. I understand he doesn’t have many memories of his past with Emalie, so it’s understandable that his perspective would be left out of that part of the story, but I really wanted to know what he was thinking and feeling as everything played out not only with Emalie but with Pippa as well. Gaining that insight perhaps might have made me less frustrated with him.

Regardless of wanting more from Rainer, I really enjoyed Flawed Love. A second chance, friends to lovers story is one of my favorite and Bella Jewel writes that genre well infusing it with passion, angst, and a happy ending.

A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

4 poison apples