His little niece calls him "Uncle Beast" after her favorite fairytale. Marine veteran Nicholas Reilly, severely scarred from surviving a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, calls his isolated home "Beast's Lair". He's reclusive, suffers from PTSD, and has a lonely existence until he meets Maribel Barbier, who goes by Belle. He rescues her after her car slides off the road during an ice storm and brings her home. Unlike any other woman, Belle sees the man behind the scars. Their attraction is there from the first night and deepens as they realize this is something more than either one expected. He battles PTSD but with Belle at his side, Nicholas learns to live a little more each day. They have more to overcome together than his PTSD but he comes to believe what Belle tells him - scarred or not, it's just a face, it's not the man. Together, they seek a future and a life where looks don't matter at all.
