ARC Review – Beautiful Scars by Shiloh Walker

Shiloh Walker wrote a love story that takes your breath away and has tears in your eyes throughout the story for both of the main characters. ~ Guilty Pleasures

 

Description:
Some scars cut right to the heart.

Three years after her divorce, Chaili Bennett is over her ex. Her only problem now? Of the few men she’s dated since, no one “gets” her. Not like Marc Archer—a man who’s never seen her as more than a friend.

Marc Archer needs a date for a last-minute charity event, and he needs it fast. Not that women aren’t throwing themselves at his world-famous face and body, but sometimes it’s less messy—as in less personal—to use his sister Shera’s escort service.

The last woman on earth Marc expects to see in his sister’s office is Chaili. There’s something different about her, but nothing pleases him more when Shera sets them up. That simple date quickly evolves into much more as they both discover the other fills a deep, secret need they’ve shared with no one else.

Though Chaili insists one night is all she wants, Marc isn’t walking away now. Not until he discovers what put the shadows in her eyes. And the scars on her soul.

Warning: This book involves soulful songs, soulful sex, a soulful singer and lots of heartbreak. But no worries, there’s a happy ever after.

Nothing gets me more than a tortured soul – especially a man. And, wow, did Marc Archer sweep me off my feet and break my heart and have me panting.

Marc is living a very famous but lonely life. A musician with a deep, dark secret and a heart that has been abused. Is there anyone out there that could understand him, love him for him and not his fame and fortune, just be with him? He’s tried and lost in the past and is at a point where he feels that there is no one out there for him.

Chaili has loved Marc for as long as she could remember. Problem – he’s her best friend’s brother and he looks at her as “just a friend”. An opportunity arises that finally gets her that date with Marc and allows her to spend some time with an old friend that hasn’t been around much. By the end of the night, her life is turned upside down and she is even more confused about her feelings for Marc. Her biggest worry – how would he feel if he knew the truth about her? How would he react to her “defects”? Would he run away as fast as her ex-husband did? She can’t take that chance; she wants her one night of making-love with Marc; she’ll hide her defects.

Marc’s secret – he’s a sexual dominant. He finds his girls at “Blue’s” which caters to his cravings. It also a place where he could find a woman to fulfill his needs with no expectations and no promises. He can’t have a relationship after Lily’s betrayal and now, there’s Chaili and her secretes. He knows she’s a sexual submissive just by the look in her eyes when he “takes control” of the kiss. But, will she submit to him the way he needs her, why does she have that wall built around her, what are her secrets? Why is she so insecure?

Chaili’s secrets – She likes it rough. Yes, she’s sexually submissive but is not a submissive in the true sense of the word. She will never give up her freedom to a man, she will never allow a man to run her life, she has no want to be a slave – as her ex-husband expected her to be. She wants nothing more than to have a relationship with Marc, but she’s afraid of what he will think of her, her needs and her body.

Marc and Chaili … what a beautiful, heart-wrenching love story of two people who finally find each other but are afraid of what the other is hiding. Not only from themselves but from each other. When Chaili finally opens up to Marc and he realizes all that he has missed in her life, he makes it his mission to help her, love her and give her everything that she deserves. Especially the love and understanding of the man that she has loved most of her life. As he plays and sings “True Believer” to her, he realizes just how much she means to him and now it’s time to get her to stop hiding, stop running from him and give him a chance.

I was blown-away by Beautiful Scars. Ms. Walker had me at “hello” as the old saying goes. I fell in love with Marc Archer in the first chapter. He was funny, loving and caring. His compassion for Chiali as he found out about her scars was what every woman would dream of after facing a total mastectomy. His acceptance of her and her body was beautiful. She wrote a love story that takes your breath away and has tears in your eyes throughout the story for both of the main characters.