Beautifully Forgotten
Beautifully Damaged, Book #2
By L.A. Fiore
ISBN# 9781477823965
Author’s Website: http://www.lafiorepublishing.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
*Beware of spoilers*
We met Lucien Black in the first book of this series, Beautifully Damaged. He’s sexy, dangerous, successful, and a total player, not to mention every girl’s fantasy come to life. But he wasn’t always that way. Lucien grew up in an orphanage, never knowing who his real parents were, and without a penny to his name. Lucky for him he had Sister Anne looking out for him, who was like a mother to him.
Then in his teen years he met Darcy, who was dropped off at the orphanage by a mother that didn’t like her various men giving her daughter more attention than they gave her. Darcy and Lucien made quick friends that turned into so much more!
However, tragedy soon struck, when Sister Anne died shortly before Lucien’s 18th birthday. Shortly after her death, Lucien was planning to leave the orphanage and he asked Darcy to run away with him and she agreed! He waited at the agreed upon spot, but Darcy never came. When he went to find her, he was told that she left with her mother. Lucien’s heart was shattered and it’s never been the same since.
It’s been 14 years since Darcy last saw Lucien. But when she heard that he had a job opening at one of his clubs, she jumped at the chance to be near him again, even if being so close to him and not being with him may break her heart all over again.
Of course he hires her, and things are difficult at first, but they eventually try to get their friendship back. However, as they grow closer, Darcy knows she has to tell him her secret, but she’s afraid it will drive them apart forever. But will finding out from someone else be even worse?
I loved Beautifully Damaged and couldn’t wait to delve into Lucien’s story!! However, I found the start of the book to be a little rough. There were a lot of flashbacks in those first several chapters, sometimes you’d be in a flashback and be immediately thrown into another one that was even older. And, the flashbacks were all out of order making the writing choppy. I think there were better ways of showing us these important scenes of the past. Thankfully, as the book progresses the flashbacks become fewer and farther between. Not to mention, this book and this romance completely sucked me in!
I absolutely loved Lucien, but after meeting him in Beautifully Damaged, I had no doubt that I would fall for him, head-over-heels! I do love the cocky bastards, after all, and there aren’t many surer of themselves that Lucien! He was a bit of a jerk at times, but I can’t say I can completely blame him. If I were him I highly doubt I could have brought myself to hire Darcy, after all.
“We have no idea who the fuck we are dealing with, but based on what they’ve done to us so far, I’m betting there is very little this person wouldn’t do to get whatever the hell it is they are after. If you think for a second that I am going to sit back and watch as you step into potential danger, you are out of your fucking mind.”
Her anger rose to match his. “And if you think that I’m going to take a step back just because you and I are sleeping together and your inner caveman is coming to the fore, you are out of your fucking mind.”
His voice turned icy. “If I were being a caveman, I would have already knocked you over the head with my club and put you over my shoulder. Not that the idea doesn’t have some merit.”
But by the end of this book I was swooning for the sexy caveman!
“I’ll try to leave my club in the cave.”
And Darcy was a tough cookie, herself! I can’t imagine having gone through all she did at such a young age, especially since she did it all alone.
And, like Beautifully Damaged, this book has a mystery of its own to uncover amidst all the romance. I’m finding that I love the combination, even if I was able to figure most of it out before the big reveal! And the mysteries were much easier to follow in this book, than it was in its predecessor!
Considering what all Darcy and Lucien have been through in the past, I was a little surprised they weren’t more careful, all the hot sex with no protection or any mention of it at all.
We also got to see more of Trace and Ember in this book. I had mixed emotions about that, at first. I didn’t want anything to distract me from Lucien and Darcy and I definitely didn’t want to take anything away from them. But, in the end, it was nice to have a few more perspectives of what was going on in the book.
“Even from her distance, Darcy heard Trace yelling at Ember loud enough to shake the building.
Kyle leaned up against the wall with a slight grin on his face. “Understand now?”
“Yeah, she’s going to go deaf.”
“Probably, but she totally had it coming.”
“It must be nice to have someone love you so much to shout at you until you’re disabled,” Darcy said almost dreamily.”
This was another great read from Fiore and I can’t wait to get my hands on Rafe’s book!
Source for graphic:Photobucket
