Review: 3.5 Stars
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2014
~This book carries over some characters from Love Love, but is considered a standalone book as everything is explained in this book that would be considered pertinent to the story.~Scarred Beautiful was the perfect name for this emotional tale of a girl and a guy that have their own emotional dilemmas in the game of life.Fran had a very horrible childhood that has morphed into some very sensitive issues for her as she got older. No child should ever have to endure what she did....but growing up and moving on with her life as she did, that is strength.  She has some fears and emotional turmoil as well that hinder her `freedom' in life, and this book shows her growing and overcoming those fears and moving on.Matt grew up in a loving home and had a great family.....little by little his family was chipped away until he was left with just his brother. That scars a person's emotional self.....and may cause some people to pick up some bad "habits".  Tight-a**ery being one of them. He is a tight a**. Ha!!This guy went from tight-a** to hot-as-heck quicker than it takes a Ferrari to pick up speed. ~FranWhen Fran has to fly to California for a business trip, she ends up seeing Matt (her best friend Gabby is engaged to Matt's brother, in Love Love) and they start chatting. A week of flirting heavily, dates, kisses and butterflies leads to a serious revelation that she is falling in love with Matt...but she won't allow herself to accept it, and neither will he. They both fight it because there just hasn't been enough "time" to fall in love, but their chemistry is there....they really do have a pull to each other.'She closes her eyes and moistens her lips with her tongue, seemingly fighting for the same control that I am, but it's useless and so I give in. Wrapping an arm around her back, I tug her against me, every inch of her rubbing against my eager body and I go rigid with desire, fisting my hands in her hair and taking possession of her mouth with my tongue. She moans and it turns me on even more, making me realize we need to get a room before I lose myself in her on the elevator. I've never craved anyone like this before. But that's the thing, deep down I know this is more than just a craving, and she's the only one who can satisfy it.'~MattWhen Fran meets up with her mom, there is quite a bit of discussion between them and it was good to see some issues being addressed. This book had some heavy undertones to it and I think they were addressed fairly well. Fran really is a strong girl in some areas and she definitely demonstrated that on more than one occasion. She also was able to talk to her mom about her feelings for Matt and her hesitancy to admit her feelings for him after such a short amount of time...a true Mother/Daughter relationship. Her mom gave her some sound advice:"Time doesn't dictate feelings, Fran. Time speeds up when you feel....Everything's magnified when you feel. The sky suddenly shines brighter, that piece of chocolate you ate just got a bit sweeter, that song you listened to takes on a deeper meaning."Once Fran is ready to admit it, something Matt sees affects him and he doesn't know how to process his feelings about what he just discovered....it was actually an emotional roller coaster to read and see how this all worked itself out.  True hurt and emotion is played out between the two of them and I think it was illustrated very well at this point. The lead up to and the acceptance of their feelings for each other was really well written. I enjoyed seeing the love play out when they finally both allowed themselves to accept the fact that they had feelings for each other and acted upon them.  This was a sweet love story with a very even storyline with not a lot of angst or drama."Love doesn't make sense, Matt. It's messy and crazy, lovely and wonderful, and sometimes, it's maddening." ~FranI enjoyed seeing the love play out when they finally both allowed themselves to accept the fact that they had feelings for each other and acted upon them.  This was a sweet love story with a very even storyline with not a lot of angst or drama. The ending was super sweet and romantic and I loved how "out of his shell" Matt had become. Fran was good for him....and he was good for her.I felt this book was a little slow in the beginning and some of her `fears/phobias' are lightly brushed over. I understand that everyone has a different level of fear/phobia, but some were discussed as rather severe (panic attacks), but they resolved a little too quickly for me to believe they were as severe as they were portrayed. Peyton called her a drama queen in the beginning and I felt she definitely lived up to that. That didn't allow me to connect fully with Fran on that level. It did finally pick up when the heat level was turned up between the two. I really enjoyed their banter and the wit between the two. I love how sarcastic Fran was! I had some good laughable moments in this book with her. Matt was a super sweet and loving man that gave more than most men would in the very beginning to a gal that breaks down into tears quite often. He is definitely the sexy strong one in this book and I enjoyed his caring side. He is definitely book boyfriend material! He was a true gentleman and a "real" man that looked inside rather than dwell on surface imperfections. I really did like him.