Review: Sophie Jordan's BEAUTIFUL SINNER.

​Sophie Jordan’s Beautiful Sinner hit me right in the heart.
 
Days later I’m still feeling the glow of a Happily Ever After realized; I’m still floating from the sweet justice of two lovely characters getting the ending they deserve.
 
The latest release in her Devil’s Rock series, Beautiful Sinner tells the long-awaited story of Cruz Walsh, a man who confessed to a murder which he did not commit (for reasons revealed later in the novel) and who has now been exonerated and released from prison. Though Cruz has been deemed innocent of the crime, he’s still viewed as guilty by most of Sweet Hill’s residents and as an object of endless curiosity by many of the others.
 
Reporter Gabriella Rossi never wanted to return to the place where she was bullied by her classmates and called “Flabby Gabby,” but she drops everything—even taking a sabbatical from her job at an Austin newspaper—so that she can care for her Nana. When her boss asks her to get the inside scoop on Cruz—reminding her that the woman he was believed to have murdered was her cousin—Gabriella is dismayed and interested. She’s a truth-seeker and Cruz’s story—the mystery of why he did what he did—calls to her.
 
But Cruz doesn’t want to share his secrets, especially with the media, even if a night spent in a locked janitor’s closet reminds him of how much he’s always been attracted to Gabriella.
 
This story is unbelievably sweet and the main characters are admirable: both Cruz and Gabriella nobly sacrifice their own opportunities so that they can take care of people they love. BUT don’t be fooled: Beautiful Sinner is also hot, hot, hot. The chemistry between Cruz and Gabriella is undeniable and Gabriella can’t help but want to act on it, even if she knows that sex with Cruz would only complicate things since they’re both haunted by the past.
 
Will Cruz and Gabby decide that they’re both worthy of a Happily Ever After? That it’s worth fighting for?
 
Beautiful Sinner pretty much blew me away. I rooted for Cruz and Gabriella. I wanted them to see how good they were. I fell in love with them. And even after the amazing Epilogue, I was greedy for more.   
 
**I was given an ARC of this book from Edelweiss+, but all opinions provided are my own.

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