Gorgeous was ALMOST a DNF for me. The first 10-20% of the book was just not my style. Raunchy, crass, and crude were all the theme and it made me feel nothing for the characters except disgust. But, I kept reading. The reviews were so good. I'm glad I did. This book had me crying! Even though Breck and Cade were crass in their conversations with each other and others, I actually loved their story.
Breck's brother died in Afghanistan while serving under Cade. After Cade's men all died, he lost it and began living on the streets in a small town in Georgia. His recovery is part of book 1 in the series, Commander in Briefs, which I didn't read (didn't really affect my understanding of the story). Breck sees a homeless Cade on TV and decides to give up her life in NYC and move to podunk Georgia and save Cade. I will admit, this plan did not give me hope for Breck. What an idiotic idea and quite frankly, really narcissistic of her to think SHE can save Cade. But, whatever.
Cade is attracted to Breck and NOT happy about it. He has demons and does not feel he deserves happiness (survivors guilt). His friends intervene though and force him and Breck into situations together to push him. Breck and Cade have enough baggage for multiple life times so their story is mountainously rocky! While I didn't initially connect to these two because of all the crude talk, I did find their stories were emotional and painful. I had tears streaming down my face at multiple points. When Cade would lash out in anger at Breck my heart broke for her.
I'm not sure when Gorgeous wormed into my heart and took hold, but it did. The raw emotions and struggles of all the characters (not just Breck and Cade) are impossible to ignore and are so real it hurts. If you like broken heroes and tough girls who want to save them, Gorgeous is a perfect pick. Unless you don't like crude sexual references ALL THE TIME. If that is the case, you won't make it past the 20% mark.
- POV: dual 1st
- Tears: yes
- Trope: ex-military, secret identity
- Triggers: Cade has PTSD and some of his episodes are violent
- Series/Standalone: stand alone within an interconnected series
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: yes, with epilogue
other ex-military romance books like Men of Honor series by KC Lynn, Axel by Harper Sloan, Cowboy SEAL Homecoming by Nicole Helm...then you will probably like Gorgeous!
See full review on The Book Disciple