Scan barcode
pe2305's review
5.0
This was an epic love story about two young, incredibly poor children that grew up in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia, in families where physical and mental abuse was the norm. Eventually, Jimmy Crawford and Lila Robbie escape their purgatory and try to make something of their lives. Jimmy becomes James, an A list actor and Lilah is the next 'it' girl model. But Lila has demons that haunt her and only self medicating helps numb the pain. Jimmy is the only one who can calm those demons and this leads to a pattern of love, hate repeat that is incredibly self destructive. After yet another self destructive binge, Lila heads to rehab to get clean and give her and Jimmy a chance. Once Jimmy and Lila are officially a couple, one cataclysmic mistake changes the course of their lives forever.
PART TWO - SIX YEARS LATER
After Jimmy cuts Lilah out of his life, he moves on with his life, gets engaged and wedding preparations are in full swing for the A list wedding of the year, when Jimmy sees Lilah on TV. Knowing he cannot marry his fiancee without banishing the demons of Lilah, Jimmy sets out to find her and put that part of his life behind him. What greets him when he confronts Lilah, will change everything once again.
This book is amazing, it is well written and flows beautifully. It brings the characters of Jimmy and Lilah to life, makes you feel their pain and that makes you invested in their lives and their happiness. This is a must read!!!
PART TWO - SIX YEARS LATER
After Jimmy cuts Lilah out of his life, he moves on with his life, gets engaged and wedding preparations are in full swing for the A list wedding of the year, when Jimmy sees Lilah on TV. Knowing he cannot marry his fiancee without banishing the demons of Lilah, Jimmy sets out to find her and put that part of his life behind him. What greets him when he confronts Lilah, will change everything once again.
This book is amazing, it is well written and flows beautifully. It brings the characters of Jimmy and Lilah to life, makes you feel their pain and that makes you invested in their lives and their happiness. This is a must read!!!
teriann81's review
4.0
WOW when Piper Rayne they were going dark, they were not joking. This was not at all what I was expecting from the writing team. This was dark, gritty, has themes that are not at all the adorable contemporary books we’ve come to love.
Lilah and Jimmy are childhood best friends. Jimmy has always been Lilah’s protector, her rock and has always had love for his best friend. Lilah coming from a very broken abusive home , Dealing with her own struggles and addiction she knows that she can only give so much to Jimmy. The friendship finally starts to turn into a little more and then the ultimate betrayal happens.
6 years later is what I love to call The Age of Lilah. Man, this girl turns herself around, she still has her struggles but she’s thriving, stunning, healthy and the growth of her character is beyond anything I was expecting.
There wasn’t much to Jimmys growth but he kind of already had it together – I wasn’t mad at it. I really liked him as a character, wished he was a little less stubborn but there always comes a point where you wonder if you love someone so much that its hurting you.
I loved that P.Rayne put those tough situations out there. Struggling through addictions, loving someone with an addiction and of course the off page child abuse. These are all very real very dark issues and I feel like they did such a great job with them.
Lilah and Jimmy are childhood best friends. Jimmy has always been Lilah’s protector, her rock and has always had love for his best friend. Lilah coming from a very broken abusive home , Dealing with her own struggles and addiction she knows that she can only give so much to Jimmy. The friendship finally starts to turn into a little more and then the ultimate betrayal happens.
6 years later is what I love to call The Age of Lilah. Man, this girl turns herself around, she still has her struggles but she’s thriving, stunning, healthy and the growth of her character is beyond anything I was expecting.
There wasn’t much to Jimmys growth but he kind of already had it together – I wasn’t mad at it. I really liked him as a character, wished he was a little less stubborn but there always comes a point where you wonder if you love someone so much that its hurting you.
I loved that P.Rayne put those tough situations out there. Struggling through addictions, loving someone with an addiction and of course the off page child abuse. These are all very real very dark issues and I feel like they did such a great job with them.
dollbookreviews's review
5.0
Ok I was stoked to see how this story was going to go. P Rayne is the pen name for Piper rayne and if you have read their books this is complete different vibe . I will say that I am hooked. Lilah has so many demons to settle and Jimmy has been the one she can always count on. Jimmy has loved her forever but Lilah feels like she is not good enough. This story is emotional and heart wrenching to see the obstacles for Lilah. My heart clenches for Jimmy who loves and gets pieces of Lilah at a time . You just want to root for Jimmy and hope that he can find his HEA. This story was beautiful and just done right!
jenjenbookfan's review
5.0
Beautifully Scarred by P. Rayne is a heart-wrenching foray into the dark romance genre that features the story of Lilah and Jimmy, two best friends/childhood sweethearts who have been with each other through some of the most devastating situations life can throw at a person. I feel like I should give potential readers a Trigger Warning, as the book deals with difficult issues like abuse, child SA, and addiction. The authors handle these subjects very well. The world building is on point, and the writing brings out authentic emotions and empathy for the characters. Lilah is literally drowning in the shame, pain, and depression from the demons of her past, and Jimmy is fighting tooth and nail to save her, even if he derails his own life. At a certain point, he has to realize that he can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. The high angst and push and pull between Lilac and Jimmy broke my heart. These two characters survived childhoods that no person should ever experience, and their bond is one for the ages. Will they be able to build a future before their past destroys them, or new obstacles disrupt their journey forever?
The book is a roller coaster ride of angst, drama, tears, love, scorching passion, and some plot twists and secrets that add yet another layer of intrigue. It’s hard to write a review for a book like this, because I pride myself on not giving away the plot, and so much happened in this book that I would love to talk about! I’ll just say, if you like dark romance with tons of angst, overflowing emotion, and fiery passion, this book is a must read for you!! It includes a great time-jump epilogue, but there’s also a bonus scene that you can download. I, for one, am looking forward to more from this author.
I received an advanced review copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The book is a roller coaster ride of angst, drama, tears, love, scorching passion, and some plot twists and secrets that add yet another layer of intrigue. It’s hard to write a review for a book like this, because I pride myself on not giving away the plot, and so much happened in this book that I would love to talk about! I’ll just say, if you like dark romance with tons of angst, overflowing emotion, and fiery passion, this book is a must read for you!! It includes a great time-jump epilogue, but there’s also a bonus scene that you can download. I, for one, am looking forward to more from this author.
I received an advanced review copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1bookobsessionconfessions's review
5.0
4.5 STARS
Lilah and Jimmy’s story spans from their traumatic childhood together, their tumultuous young adult years trying to make it in Hollywood and the years after Jimmy has become an A-List actor.
It’s a bit gritty, exceptionally emotional and heart wrenching.
It’s a story of two damaged people who share extremely painful experiences, secrets and a one of a kind love.
Jimmy is the stable, caretaker of the two. Lilah is self destructive and she numbs her pain with vices.
Both, are flawed in different ways. Their love is never a question, it’s very special and yet, their relationship is so very toxic at times.
I found myself riveted by their messy, yet beautiful friendship and relationship. They are complicated characters, I never judged their “bad” behavior. They were doing the best they could given a really terrible start in life.
It’s a story of survival and loving yourself enough to do the right thing.
The tragic and tumultuous times were balanced with enough lighter scenes between the characters and enough loving beautiful moments to be enjoyable, not so dark that it was depressing to me.
It has plenty of pain, it’s what makes the beautiful things shine brighter.
I really love these characters and their beautifully written journey of love in many forms.
Lilah and Jimmy’s story spans from their traumatic childhood together, their tumultuous young adult years trying to make it in Hollywood and the years after Jimmy has become an A-List actor.
It’s a bit gritty, exceptionally emotional and heart wrenching.
It’s a story of two damaged people who share extremely painful experiences, secrets and a one of a kind love.
Jimmy is the stable, caretaker of the two. Lilah is self destructive and she numbs her pain with vices.
Both, are flawed in different ways. Their love is never a question, it’s very special and yet, their relationship is so very toxic at times.
I found myself riveted by their messy, yet beautiful friendship and relationship. They are complicated characters, I never judged their “bad” behavior. They were doing the best they could given a really terrible start in life.
It’s a story of survival and loving yourself enough to do the right thing.
The tragic and tumultuous times were balanced with enough lighter scenes between the characters and enough loving beautiful moments to be enjoyable, not so dark that it was depressing to me.
It has plenty of pain, it’s what makes the beautiful things shine brighter.
I really love these characters and their beautifully written journey of love in many forms.
readingwithstrangers62's review
4.0
Beautifully Scarred is the debut novel for @authorprayne , the author duo has written dozens of light hearted romance books but have decided to branch out into some dark romance books. This story was about childhood friends, Jimmy and Lilah, they went through extremely difficult times as children and that followed them into adulthood whether they wanted the reminders or not.
Lilah is very difficult to like at times. Especially in Part 1. She was addicted to drugs and was constantly making Jimmy’s life more and more difficult as he tried to make it in Hollywood and make their dreams come true. They had constant peaks and valleys throughout their relationship and when Lilah finally gets clean it still isn’t smooth sailing. In the end they do get their HEA and Lilah has truly turned her life around, even dedicating time to helping others like herself.
I’ll be honest, throughout the book I had very mixed feelings. They were both very complex characters. However after completing the book I read the acknowledgments my opinion was firmly in the camp of these two people were real. Obviously not every relationship deals with everything these two dealt with but their issues were hard and real. Neither were truly bad people, they were handling what life dealt them as best they could. This was a great debut novel for P. Rayne!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lilah is very difficult to like at times. Especially in Part 1. She was addicted to drugs and was constantly making Jimmy’s life more and more difficult as he tried to make it in Hollywood and make their dreams come true. They had constant peaks and valleys throughout their relationship and when Lilah finally gets clean it still isn’t smooth sailing. In the end they do get their HEA and Lilah has truly turned her life around, even dedicating time to helping others like herself.
I’ll be honest, throughout the book I had very mixed feelings. They were both very complex characters. However after completing the book I read the acknowledgments my opinion was firmly in the camp of these two people were real. Obviously not every relationship deals with everything these two dealt with but their issues were hard and real. Neither were truly bad people, they were handling what life dealt them as best they could. This was a great debut novel for P. Rayne!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
mistysreads's review
5.0
Have you ever read a book and at the end you feel like your waking up and coming back to the present with hours having past? That what it felt like reading Beautifully Scarred. It is such a change from what we are used to from Piper Rayne but they did such a beautiful job writing these topics.
Jimmy and Lilah grew up together, had traumatic childhoods, and have always been there for one another. When they move to LA to escape, Jimmy is able to move on but Lilah descends into drugs and alcohol to try and escape her past. There were so many times that I cried with and for Lilah, I wanted to shake Jimmy, and yell at them both to get their act together.
After you read their story you realize how perfect the title of the book is and how beautiful their life together became. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Piper Rayne and to anyone who is looking for a new book. I think you will be happy you did.
Received ARC in exchange for voluntary honest review.
Jimmy and Lilah grew up together, had traumatic childhoods, and have always been there for one another. When they move to LA to escape, Jimmy is able to move on but Lilah descends into drugs and alcohol to try and escape her past. There were so many times that I cried with and for Lilah, I wanted to shake Jimmy, and yell at them both to get their act together.
After you read their story you realize how perfect the title of the book is and how beautiful their life together became. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Piper Rayne and to anyone who is looking for a new book. I think you will be happy you did.
Received ARC in exchange for voluntary honest review.
love2read1995's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kristisam's review
5.0
You know you’re in deep when you feel drained after reading. I love when a book has the ability to both tear you down and lift you back up. There were moments when I felt a true vulnerability in the character’s emotions which in turn had me tied up in knots. I appreciate that the author didn’t shy away from the sensitive subjects, but instead took us on a raw and real emotional journey. An incredible story that I highly recommend.
readwithrach's review
5.0
I loved this heartbreaking story. Lilah and Jimmy's story was angsty perfection to me. I cried a lot but I was constantly rooting for these two characters. I am being vague so I don't spoil, but if we can expect more angsty goodness from this new pen name, I am IN.