Review: 4.5 stars for the alpha male, Lukas ~ Romantic Reading Escapes Blog
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 7, 2013
I'm not gonna lie.  I can't remember being this engrossed in such a gripping and angst filled novel in a long time.  Emma Grayson has cut open my chest, squeezed my heart to pump faster and harder, sent a jolt to my system, and managed to make me melt into a drooling puddle on the floor with Unbeautifully Loved.  My eyes would not leave the pages of this spelling binding book for even a second except to sleep and go to my pay job, which I deeply resented because it took me away from Lukas, one of the hottest alpha males to grace my Kindle.Lexie is a survivor of horrible physical and emotional abuse, caught in a downward spiral with no way out of her circumstance.  When Lexie turns to her family for help upon finding out she is pregnant, she is shunned by them, leaving her with no hope.  She keeps her secret hidden deep within her until finally her best friend, Mollie, comes to her rescue and helps Lexie escape from her tormentor.  On the run and trying to stay one step ahead of Dex, her ex-boyfriend and father to her four year-old son, Finn, Lexie and Mollie find themselves living in flea bag houses and apartments, never finding a place to really call home.  Lexie knows Dex is looking for her and won't give up until he finds her ... not so much because he loves her - he clearly doesn't - but for the ghastly game that he's playing.  This man is so abusive to Lexie's mentality, she has been completely broken.  Lexie is a character who is real in so many ways because her circumstances are real.  She sees no way out of her situation, has very low self-esteem, and her mentality has been broken, causing her to stay in the cycle of abuse, which she sees as her only option.  The only thing I didn't like about Lexie is her ability to trust other men so easily after having barely survived everything she went through.Mollie is the best friend who has supported Lexie since they were very young girls, wanting healing, happiness, and safety for her best friend.  Mollie is also a schemer (in a good way) and does what she can to provide Lexie and Finn with a life as normal as possible.  When Mollie finds a nice house in a new town for them to live, things begin to look promising ... especially when a hot alpha male who rides a motorcycle lives just down the street.  Mollie is hilarious and the type of friend who is deeply concerned with her own sex life and quick to offer Lexie advice for her own.Lukas Gunn is all that and a bag of chips!  He is short spoken, demanding, controlling, sexy, caring, and as alpha as they come!  Lukas is a natural protector and will go to any lengths to protect what he claims ... or wants to claim ... as his own.  His character is strong and he proves to be exactly what Lexie needs and wants.  The electrifying chemistry is there between the two; Lukas sees it, Mollie sees it, everyone in town sees it.  Lexie's just too stubborn to come out of her denial to embrace it.  Still battling her self-esteem issues and fearing her past, she can't believe that she could be anything more than just a one-night stand to someone as impressive as Lukas, not to mention that she just came out of an abusive relationship and is in no hurry to jump back into another relationship with a complete stranger.  When they finally do get together, it is hot hOT HOT!  The steam radiating from these two could melt the panties off of a snow-woman.Unbeautifully Loved is filled with enough suspense that I was reluctant to put this book down.  From the prologue to the last page, I was caught within its grip.  Just when you think you know who is really chasing after Lexie, the author has the ability to make you second guess yourself.  I thought I knew ... then I thought I must be wrong ... then I threw suspect to the least obvious to be proven wrong again.  You will keep guessing until the end, which I love in a story.  There are a few contradictions in Lexie's character, but nothing so great that it took away from the story or my enjoyment.  Also, I was reading an ARC, so I will assume it was pre-edited and that the final copy was proofread and the errors were fixed.  These are the only concerns that prevent this book from being a 5-star read for me.  Because the story is so compelling, this is a book that I can recommend to those who love a good mystery with just enough angst to smack anyone who dares to disrupt your reading of Unbeautifully Loved.  While this is book #1 in the Breathe Again Series, it doesn't end with a cliffhanger and we get a complete story.  At the end of Unbeautifully Loved, we get a sneak peek with the prologue to book #2, Unbearable Guilt, due for release Fall, 2013.  This will be the story of Kane, the sexy and dangerous former best friend to Lukas, and Whitney, whom we briefly meet in Unbeautifully Loved.