Review: Tragically Beautiful
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 14, 2013
I fell like I'm about to go all Alladin on you guys because I'm going to quote the big tiger head cave thing in the movie. Tragically Flawed is a diamond in the rough! Behind all the intense drama and suspense lies a really great love story between two people who both have been affected by tragic circumstances.Riviera has spent the past few years in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend  I am not a fan of abuse whether it's in reality or book form. I hate to see characters suffer as badly as Riviera does until she finally decides to take action and get away. She packs up and moves to Colorado for a fresh start and a chance to follow her dream of painting. When she actually gets the opportunity to paint beautiful murals in some of COlorado's most expensive homes she comes across Benjamin Shandon, the owner of the construction company. He makes a bad first impression on Riviera when he loses his temper with her and with her abusive past she is all but set to write him off but the more time they spend together working on the houses the more a relationship starts to develop. I really enjoyed the romance that bloomed between Shan and Riviera over the course of this book. Because she was so damaged from her previous relationship Shan had to work harder to get her to fall for him. Shan was a little rough around the edges but he has his own issues that have wounded him also and kept him from getting close to anyone.As these two grow closer and Riviera gets more confident in her painting she decides to strike out on her own instead of working for her miserable boss Marsha Sue. Shan helps her set up jobs with clients he's worked with and makes her his exclusive muralist ousting Marsha Sue from her spot. She doesn't take it too well and takes matters into her own hands causing both Shan and Riveira serious problems as Hargrove steps up the drama the deeper in you go. I was caught by surprise as this couple battled both their pasts and the repercussions that unresolved issues throws at them. I was nervous at a certain point in the book when riviera goes missing without a trace while Shan does everything he can to find her. I wasn't prepared for things to go from Zero to Sixty within a few pages but it was well worth the stomach upset to see how everything turned out. I loved that Shan brought out the big guns to find the woman he loves. His character, although gruff and ornery sometimes  was actually a deep guy with a big heart and it totally showed the more you get to know him. I loved watching Riviera fall in love and finally find the strength to stand up for herself. I admire strong female characters and Riviera became one of those women for me by the time the book was over.Tragically Flawed was way more than I expected and such a pleasant surprise. There were some really nice steamy moments between these two characters. I love a good sex scene and Hargrove throws in several between Shan and Riviera. I was really happy she was taken care of so thoroughly and not just sexually. The romance was a nice backdrop to the action and suspense and a much needed reprieve from the more intense moments in the story. Hargrove does a fantastic job of creating a believable set of characters with flawed circumstances who find each other against all odds. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't put this book down until the end. I would recommend this to fans of romantic suspense thrillers and anyone who can handle nail biting, pulse pounding stories that take you to the brink and rescue you at the last second!