Kaiya Marlow has always been cautious, precise in every decision she makes. When her dark past threatens to resurface, she decides to take precautions to protect herself by enrolling in self-defense classes at her gym.
Her instructor, Ryker Campbell, is the tattooed womanizer everyone warns about. Kaiya attempts to resist Ryker's advances, but the more time they spend training together, the harder it is for Kaiya to resist him.
Ryker's view on relationships is simple: strictly sex, nothing more. Haunted by demons from his past, he never allows himself to become attached to any woman. No attachment means no weakness, no vulnerability, no pain. He doesn't realize that his whole world is about to be turned upside down when Kaiya enters his self-defense class. Determined to have her, at least for one night, Ryker sets a plan into motion that will change both of their lives forever.
Will love be able to heal their scars, or are they too deep to overcome?
Scars - 1: a mark left (as in skin) by the healing of injured tissue;
2: a lasting moral or emotional scar
I’ve heard people say that time heals all wounds, but I think that’s bullshit. All time did was allow the wounds to scar, leaving a permanent reminder of your suffering. The emotional pain might fade away, but a little piece of it always lingered, taunting your happiness, and never letting you forget. Now love was a different story. I believed love could heal all wounds, but only if you let it; only if you trusted it.
Everyone has scars.
Whether you can physically see them, or rather they are the ones that you can’t.
Everyone has them.
Some worse than others...
Kaiya Marlow is scarred.
Yes you can physically see one but her emotional scars are the worst. The emotional scars that she carries around with her are enough to bring most people to their knees, and while Kaiya believes that she is not strong, to me, she has an unremarkable strength – she just doesn’t realize it yet.
Kaiya is haunted by the demons of her past that resulted in, Kaleb (who I suspect and was correct in who he was), being admitted to the hospital. After years and years of pain and suffering at the hands of him, she tries her best to survive with the help of her older brother Kamden and best friend, Nori.
When Kaleb is up for release, Kaiya is shattered, but she knows that she must take action and learn how to defend herself if he is released and he comes after her again like she assumes he will. Kaiya goes to Kamden’s gym with him and eventually enrolls in self-defense classes.
Enter Ryker Campbell.
Tattooed.
Muscled.
Sexy.
Damaged.
Womanizer.
Ryker Campbell is what some people may call a man-whore…I mean…they would be right but I loved him. I did. I really did.
Ryker isn’t the relationship type of guy after being hurt so horribly in the past.
He’s into one-night stands and to be honest, he has no desire to change that…until he sees Kaiya and feelings that he long ago turned off start to make themselves known.
I’m not saying that he doesn’t want to screw Kaiya’s brains out - I’m just saying that he would keep her around for longer than one night.
“You don’t want to get involved with me.”“Oh, yeah? Why not?”“I just… I have a lot of issues.”“Don’t we all?”“Not like mine.”“You tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”“That’s never going to happen.”“Never say never.”
Kaiya pushes Ryker away so many times, but his desire for her is no match for her reluctance.
And finally…F.I.N.A.L.L.Y…they end up together…but the aftermath? Yikes.
Kaiya gives into Ryker and that’s enough to send her running into the opposite direction and Ryker, being a guy, of course doesn’t take the rejection as well as he should.
Foot-in-mouth moment anyone?
After some ups and downs and highs and lows - they finally get there stuff together and are together - THANK.GOD!
“I’ll help you pick up the pieces if you let me, Warrior. I want to be the one to make you whole again.”
When you have two scarred people though, life and love aren’t always going to be easy, but when they fight for each other, and they come out stronger than when they went in…there’s nothing more beautiful.
”I’m trusting you with those tiny, broken pieces of my heart, everything that’s left of me. There’d be no way to put them back together after you— you’re the only one who knows how.”
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Before I started this review I was going to give The Scars of Us 4.5 stars - but as I was writing it I realized I couldn’t. I usually have issues writing reviews but this one just poured out of me, and the only way that is possible is either -
1. I’m having a good day.
OR
2. I just liked it that much.
I’m going with number two.
This is my first book by author Nikki Narvaez and I have to say that I will be coming back for more. This is book one is the Scars series and I’m hoping that the next book will be Kamden’s. As much as I was swooning over Ryker, I focused a lot on Kamden and I know that he is just as scarred as Kaiya from mistakes that haunt him from the past too.
A fantastic start to a series that I’m excited to read more of.
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