Review: Scarred by Love by C.A. Harms

Scarred by Love is the first book that I have read by C.A. Harms, and it is also the first book in her Scarred by Love series. I was really drawn to this one by the blurb and the cover, and couldn't wait to read Riley and Zander's story. I did have some things about this story that didn't work for me, but yet I also had a lot that I really liked as well. I am pretty torn on how to rate this one, which is why I ended up in the middle with 3 stars. I think that a lot of people will really enjoy this story, but I also think that there are others that will have the same problems that I did with the book. I am curious to read more from Harms though, and I am interested to see where she takes this series after this book.

Riley is just getting out of an abusive relationship and has been withdrawn from living her life when her friend convinces her to get out again. Riley has been strong all her life growing up with four brothers, and refuses to let her ex continue to keep her from enjoying herself any more. Riley meets a sexy guy at the party her friend drags her to, but she is instantly convinced that he is giving her cheesy pick-up lines. When she sees him dancing with another girl she thinks that he is also a cheater and wants nothing to do with him. She moves forward and shortly after meets a nice and preppy guy who is far from her typical type of bad boys. Even though Grant is nice and everything she thinks she wants now, she doesn't feel the same chemistry with him as she did with Zander at the party. Soon Riley realizes that appearances can be deceiving though, and she decides to give Zander a chance after finding out that the girl he was with was actually his best friend. Things are going great between Zander and Riley until mistake after mistake is made and Riley ends up feeling as though she is an outsider to Zander's life. Can Zander convince Riley that she is the only one he wants and that he is willing to fight for her before it is too late?

I liked Zander a lot. He was sweet and caring, and wasn't afraid to admit his feelings. He was probably the most forthcoming guy I can remember reading about in a long time. But he did struggle with constantly finding a way to screw things up, and frankly he missed a lot of things that were going on right under his nose. As much as he claimed to love and want Riley, he continued to let his best friend Beth put his relationship with Riley in jeopardy. I felt like he should have been more on Riley's side and seen where she was coming from because she was never unreasonable. I liked Riley a lot. She was strong and not girly at all. I loved that she could dress up and look great, but that she could kick some ass at paintball and video games as well. She was comfortable being herself and having grown up with four brothers made her a cool chick that could go with the flow. But I did feel as though she let Zander get away with a lot and that she gave him way too many chances. She was so forgiving and ended up coming across as a doormat that he could walk all over. I kept waiting for her to just say enough, and it was frustrating that she just let him get away with things so easily. I thought that Zander and Riley had a lot of chemistry together and were building a strong relationship. I thought that their feelings were real and genuine, but I just thought that things kept running hot and cold and after awhile I started to get irritated with them both.

I also have to say that I absolutely hated Zander's friend Beth. She was a complete bitch and interfered far too much in their relationship. The fact that Zander didn't have a clue what was going on and continuously blamed Riley rather than Beth really pissed me off. I felt like Riley deserved more and Beth was really blatant about it. She would do it right in front of Zander and he just didn't really ever seem to get it or do anything about it. I wanted him to man up and drop her despite their history, but it just continued. Then when Riley decided to be the bigger person and fix everything between Zander and Beth after everything that had happened, I really just wanted to shake her. Beth screwed up so bad and honestly didn't even do anything to redeem herself or prove that she was worthy of the effort. I never came around on her character, and honestly it made me think less of both Zander and Riley because of how everything was handled. I am interested to see more of Riley's brother Carson and her best friend Kate though. I think their relationship is intriguing and I would love to get to know both of them better. I do think that Riley and Zander were great together when they were actually together, but I think that outside forces influenced their relationship way too much and far too easily. I hope that in the next book we see them on solid footing and that they have figured out everything between them. I will definitely read the next one to see more of all the characters, and I look forward to seeing what C.A. Harms has in store next.

**Review Copy Provided by Book Enthusiast Promotions**

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