Beautifully Damaged

Beautifully Damaged

J A Owenby

5 HOT STARS!!!!!

Once again I am blown away by Owenby's storytelling. This is the story of River and Holden who come from opposite worlds but find their way to each other.

Holden is determined to make River feel safe after the trauma she has faced in her past.

The steam is turned all the way up in this one. 5 stars for the steam alone. And the patience and care the Holden takes with River.

This one definitely leaves you wanting more.

I can't... DNF 53%

The male MC isn't damaged. He is petty, self-absorbed, and manipulative. All under the guise of, “pushing her away.” Just because he rescues damsels in distress and says he loves her, doesn't make him any less of a jerk. Yes, he had some shit happen in his past. Yes, darker books are my jam. But there is dark and there is borderline abusive. He is playing mind games with her and is doing stuff on purpose to HURT her.

Soapbox warning

The female MC doesn't step up to the plate. She makes excuses and stays on the sidelines while he, “acts out.” Why is it so hard to find a female in a contemporary romance that has the ability, to demand communication. To demand respect, to be treated right. I CANNOT relate to these women! Is the idea of being a strong, independent woman, who likes to be owned and fucked like an animal, truly only acceptable in the Paranormal/ Erotica/ Fantasy genre?

Sorry, but I am so tired of this. I love Rom-Com movies and TV shows. But I very, very, very rarely find a female MC, in this genre, I can relate to. I think I am done.

As a whole I really liked the story, though it was longer than I expected and had a lot of typical bad-boy, innocent-girl tropes. I was expecting Ember to have a bit more backbone from what I read in the synopsis, I didn't think this would be your run-of-the-mill “girl tries to fix boy” storyline. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the writing because the story did keep me hooked throughout the second half but I wish there was more substance to the relationship between the main two love interests. I didn't really understand what Ember saw in Trace besides the savior act he pulled when they first met. She even thought and was warned multiple times about the playboy he was, and at that point he didn't really have any redeeming qualities that stood out. (Even his “knight in shining armor” moment wasn't too shiny considering the bartender would have stepped in even if he hadn't.)

I usually love the characters the most when it comes to reading romances–and the secondary characters were pretty great–but Ember and Trace were a bit too one-dimensional for me to invest any attachment to them. Their romantic moments were sweet but that's about it. Even their sex scene were lackluster, and I usually like those no matter what romance I'm reading. Ultimately they seemed to lack the chemistry of a romantic couple; I think they would have been better off as friends. In fact, plot-wise, Ember could have been there and helped Trace with his tragic past as a friend and literally nothing in the book would be different. She could have loved and supported him as just a friend and the story would still have the same storyline and the same ending, they just wouldn't be romantically involved.