Review: Sexy and engaging, yet flawed
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 27, 2013
Steamy, sexy and sweet - Tragically Flawed is a good story that kept me engaged. Not entirely believable, though, and the main character got on my last nerve by the end.The premise of Tragically Flawed interested me - a muralist (what a unique and fun job, BTW!) and a home builder fall in love on the job. The muralist is meek and afraid due to her tragic past. The home builder is gruff and grumpy due to his tragic past. Together they find a way to heal.I'll tell you what - Tragically Flawed started off with a bang. We meet Riviera as she is painting in a home. She witnesses something while there that shocks and amazes her. As the reader, it was a bit confusing for me, as I didn't think she knew who Shan was yet. Once I realized that we were joining their story already in progress, it made a bit more sense. Even moreso when the next chapter backs things up by six months so that we could see how Riviera came to be in Colorado in the first place.I really liked Shan. He was everything I love in a hero - strong, independent, a family man and slightly flawed. I loved his super protective instinct and how he tried to take care of Riviera (once he got over himself, that is). The protective guys suck me in every single time.Riviera - honestly I had a problem with her. The poor thing had a horrific life up to this point. And, I mean the worst of the worst. Abusive parents. Abusive boyfriend. I get that the author was trying to present us with a girl who needed to find some real love for the first time in her life. But, it was all a little bit over the top. Pretty much anything you can think of that could've happened to a tragic figure, happened to Riviera. Just one of those things would've been enough for me to believe her. But, all of it seems almost impossible.One would think with all that stuff happening in her life that she would barely be functioning, let alone strong enough to uproot, move hundreds of miles away, and within weeks start a new relationship with a strange man. I'd love to think it was her strength of character and will that propelled her to this place in her life, but I just had a hard time believing her.The pace of Tragically Flawed was a little off for me. Once the past caught up with the events in the first chapter, things stalled a bit. It seemed like Shan and Riviera were caught in a loop, doing the same thing and not really moving anywhere. The dialog was the same. I counted 35 times when the term (or a slight variation of it) "I'm scared" was used.However, the ending was pretty explosive and exciting. I enjoyed seeing the resolution of the conflicts and seeing Shan and Riviera finally get their HEA. And, on the heat scale, I give Tragically Flawed high marks. The story might be between two young twenty-somethings, but it reads like an adult novel.Over all, that were a lot of things I liked about Tragically Flawed. And some things I didn't. But, I got through this quickly, it held my interest and I was really rooting for these two to figure it all out in the end. And, that's definitely saying something.