A Beautiful Disaster by Willa Okati

17661158Title: A Beautiful Disaster

Author: Willa Okati

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novella (136pgs)

Publisher: Loose Id (26th March 2013)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3 ½ Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: After being betrayed and abused by an ex-lover, Sean trusts no one–but he can’t help wishing he could trust gentle-hearted tattoo artist Riordan. When these two vulnerable men, scarred inside and out, find each other, neither is willing or able to walk away.

Both starved for touch and lonely in his self-imposed exile, Sean can’t help wanting Riordan both body and soul and in his bed, and Riordan is captivated by the sweet nature and the beauty he can still see beneath Sean’s scars. Yet despite his hunger for affection, Sean can’t break free of a cycle of shame and despair, not even as Riordan’s falling in love with his beautiful disaster.

Will Sean be able to break through the barriers he’s built around himself and let Riordan in–and will Riordan find the key to unlock Sean’s frozen heart?

Purchase Link: http://www.loose-id.com/a-beautiful-disaster.html

Review: Sean has trust in no one anymore. Abused, betrayed and then nearly killed, it has taken everything in him just to live again. trusting another human being is next to impossible, but when he meets Riordan he begins to have a yearning for touch and comfort. The second Riordan sees Sean he is drawn by something in him. Beneath the scars, the pain and the betrayal Riordan knows that there is a strong soul just looking back at him. A warm loving person that needs to be nurtured back to humanity and Riordan is determined to be the man who does it.

This is a very touching story that is filled with a wealth of pain and survival, of determination and beginning to live again. Riordan is a nurse and a tattoo artist he combines both careers to help those who have lasting scars. Creating beauty in a show of strength. Sean used to be an artist, it is no longer an option, but he is still drawn to the beauty of art and it is really all he has left. When Riordan and Sean meet, Sean has issues controlling the hurt and anger still dwelling inside him. But, Riordan’s gentle coaxing begins to ease his heart. Riordan can’t explain what about Sean draws him in. Sean’s wall is drawn tight around him, but Riordan wants to pull it down.

Both Riordan and Sean have faced death. Riordan from being in the wrong place at the wrong time and Sean because of a betrayal that led the man he was trying to run from straight to him. Both men are scarred, but Sean’s scars are far deeper, delving into his emotions and destroying his trust. I found both men to be vastly interesting and the trauma each man has suffered through was touching. The connection both men found in the other was unique and although it was hard to pin point, there was something special between them.

Although I was happy with how the relationship progressed between them, I found other things unsatisfying. Sean should have been in heavy therapy to help him work through everything that had happened to him; to get over the disappointment of the police failing him, to forgive the act of betrayal that led to him being nearly killed and for the loss of his life as he knew it. Riordan might have had experience with external scars and emotional hurt, but he just didn’t have the experience to deal with Sean’s baggage.

I will recommend this story to those who love emotional damaged men, overcoming fears, finding love and a happy ending.