About the Book

GRIEF IS A POWERFUL THING - but love conquers all.

A friends-to-lovers romance

A man who’s love and compassion was only reserved for a select few, Ezra West was cold-shouldered, skeletons hanging in his closet from his dark past that continues to lurk over his life even over half a decade later. With the painful reminder in the form of his six-year-old, Marguerite he soon comes to realize her unhappiness and the fact he barely knew his daughter. In an effort to fix their relationship, he decides a change in scenery is what they need, even if it means going back to the hell he ran away from.

The plan was not to become acquainted with his daughter's English teacher. The plan was not to enjoy her company, to relish her smiles, find pleasure in watching her beautiful dark skin radiate against the light. and as terrified as he was, he couldn't stay away.

And that temptation was Iridessa Zola.

The woman knew pining over her student’s father was probably against some regulation. that finding excuses to see his face around the small town of Haven Harbour was probably creepy. All signs pointed to pursuing him being a bad idea. But the man with his green eyes and rose hand tattoo was too irresistible. and no matter how hard he tried to push her away, she only pulled harder. She wanted him - even if it possibly meant breaking both their hearts in the end.

Review

It was clear early on that Monica Lu put a lot of love into this book. As a debut, it’s a gripping, emotional story. I enjoyed Iridessa as the main character. I loved her POV, her personality, and her relationship with her friends and siblings. I especially loved her relationship with her students and Maggie. It was all sweet. I wish there had been more scenes of her teaching because it was clear that she had a passion for it and had built up a connection with her high school students.

I loved her and Ezra together. They had a beautiful slow burn that worked for them. I was never frustrated with how long it took them to get together because it made sense for the story.

As for Ezra, he was unlikeable at the beginning. He had spent years working and trying to make his daughter’s life better than what he had. The problem is he barely knew his young daughter and never took the time to hang out with her. I appreciated that he saw the problem and immediately acted. That bumped him up in my favor. However, an issue I had with him was that he was always quick to throw money at situations. I don’t think he quite learned that money can’t solve everything.

A major theme within this book is grief. Both Ezra and Iridessa had lost people close to them, and their loss shaped them and their future actions. Monica Lu committed to that theme, and it worked mostly. There were a few things that didn’t land as much as the others.

Final Thoughts

Damned and Beautiful was a solid debut novel. It did suffer from a lot of grammar errors and story beats that didn’t quite land. However, those are things that can be fixed. I’m interested to see what else Monica Lu writes. I hope her future books contain as much love as this one.

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