Lauren Layne

Lauren Layne’s heart-wrenching novel tells the story of a girl with secrets, a guy with scars, and a love that could save them both . . . or destroy them. When Olivia Middleton abandons the glamour of Park Avenue for a remote, coastal town in Maine, everyone assumes she’s being the kind do-gooder she’s always been. But Olivia has a secret: helping an injured war veteran reenter society isn’t about charity—it’s about penance. Only, Olivia’s client isn’t the grateful elderly man she’s expecting. Instead, he’s a brooding twenty-four-year-old who has no intention of being Olivia’s path to redemption . . . and whose smoldering gaze and forbidden touch might be her undoing. Paul Langdon doesn’t need a mirror to show him he’s no longer the hotshot quarterback he was before the war. He knows he’s ugly—inside and out. He’ll do anything to stay in self-imposed exile, even accept his father’s ultimatum that Paul tolerate the newest caretaker for three months or lose his inheritance. But Paul doesn’t count on the beautiful twenty-two-year-old who makes him long for things that he can never have. And the more she slips past his defenses, the more keeping his distance is impossible. Now Paul and Olivia have to decide: Will they help each other heal? Or are they forever broken? Praise for Broken “A solid tale and a quick read, with plenty of steamy romance and sex.”—Library Journal “Broken is as heartbreaking as it is heartwarming. It’s a story about two people saving each other from themselves.”—Hines and Bigham’s Literary Tryst “Five stars! I pretty much loved everything about this book . . . the characters, the storyline, the pace, the writing, the love, the chemistry . . . everything!”—The Book Hookup Lauren Layne’s New York Times bestselling Oxford Novel series can be read in any order: IRRESISTIBLY YOURS I WISH YOU WERE MINE SOMEONE LIKE YOU I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE I THINK I LOVE YOU Don’t miss any of Lauren Layne’s hot reads: The Love Unexpectedly series: BLURRED LINES | GOOD GIRL | LOVE STORY | WALK OF SHAME | AN EX FOR CHRISTMAS The Sex, Love & Stiletto series: AFTER THE KISS | LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH | JUST ONE NIGHT | THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE The Redemption series: ISN’T SHE LOVELY | BROKEN | CRUSHED The I Do, I Don’t series: READY TO RUN | RUNAWAY GROOM

Broken

Siya S

0 Star

DNF at 25%

Terrible..just one terrible book. Cringey lines, terrible writing, unconvincing romance and questionable plot. I'm not a big fan of New Adult romantic novels myself but that doesn't mean I won't read them every once in a while. I'm still a girl in her mid 20s after all. But boy, do they all have to be bad?? Why does it so hard to come across something good in this genre???



Broken was a fairy-tale retelling of, heh, Beauty and The Beast where Beast was, in fact, a mere mortal ex-military with hideous scars and all. We've all been through this type of book at least once, so nothing new, I guess.

So Olivia Middleton was a rich girl (privileged and annoying as hell) who decided to do some charity case (which was, of course, not really, she was running away from something...) tending to the mysterious ex-military guy whom she thought was an old grumpy vet. Turned out it was Paul Langdon who was far away from being old but still as grumpy as expected. So he was hot. Big deal. Olivia was caught off guard and la-di-da the two fulfilled each others in so many ways (not sexual innuendo). Love bloomed. But alas! he was broken, inside and out, and thus obstacles must be crossed. The end.

The writing felt awkward from the start, like reading something from some amateur writer in literotica.com or something. Regrettably enough but I ignored my inner voice and moved on (see? I've tried). I was at somewhere around Chapter 4 that I decided this book wasn't going to worth it. I couldn't bring myself to care for any of the characters, and the lines, OMG, made me cringe back-to-back from head-to-toe!

Here's what happened when our two protagonists met for the first time:


  From the back, he’s practically perfect. He’s wearing a black T-shirt that’s tight enough to show the ripples of his sculpted back, and his dark denim jeans ride just low enough on his hips to be interesting. I’m pretty sure that if he lifted his hands above his head, I’d catch a glimpse of boxers.

Or briefs?

Why is my mouth watering?


OOOOOO....Kayyyy. I...I'm sorry but I can't just read this without feeling super uncomfortable because well, this is it. This is finally the right time to use this word, "vicarious embarrassment", which I've never used before. 



Instalove is never my cup of tea but I'm always willing to look over my prejudice in order to discover a somewhat great love story. But this? This was just utterly predictable and not so creative, wasn't it? 

And then it got better. Why? Because the worst lines ever written was just one sentence away:


  I haven’t even seen the guy in full light yet and I’m about fifteen seconds away from asking if his offspring would like to take up residence in my uterus.




NOOOOOOOOOO. nononononono. NO. That's exactly why this planet is overpopulated! If every time a girl saw some guy for the first time and the first thing that came to mind was to have a darn baby, this planet is doomed! Olivia suddenly sounded like a boring sex-crazed rich girl with no self control and unimaginative mind. 


  “I have a serious lady boner for the guy I’m supposed to work for.” 


Being naughty could be cute (try Gwen Ashby from The Headmaster, but there's a thin line between being naturally adorable and being an obsessive creep who likes to state the uncomfortable. 


  “You’re one messed-up piece of work.” 
“Yeah, but you’re starting to worry that you might like me,” I say confidently. “Considering I also give you a boner, shit’s gonna get reaaaaal complicated here in the next few months.” 


Needless to say,I cringed so much I almost passed out from abdomen cramps. You know what? Forget it. Poorly written. Unlikeable characters. Predictable story line with a plot we've all seen before. I don't even bother giving it a score. But 4 stars on Goodreads? It's like I've read a completely different book from the rest of the voters here! Thank god it had only wasted my precious life for just about 6 Chapters. I'm so angry, like trees actually died for these kinds of publication, for Christ's sake.

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A long, long time ago (at least in book time) I read a novella called Isn't She Lovely. It was my first time reading one of Lauren Layne's books. I fell in love with it. Then, for one reason or another, I totally forgot to check in and see when a sequel would be available. It wasn't until I was on NetGalley a month or so ago and saw the second full-length book was available to request that I thought to look further into the series. I hate that I waited so long to do it, but I am so, so glad I read this book. 

Olivia was a character I didn't much care for in Isn't She Lovely. The ex girlfriend of the leading man, she just didn't impress me much. She came off as spoiled and shallow and generally unlikable. And she really was. But that's the old Olivia. In this book, she knows she screwed up when it came to Ethan and Michael. She was all about paying her penance, and was doing so by going to Maine for the summer to attend to a wounded war vet. She had no idea what she was getting herself into. 

Olivia thought she would be assisting an older, cranky war vet, but what she got instead was Paul. Paul was nearly her age, stunningly attractive (even with the wounds on his face) and incredibly bitter. His dad was ready to write him off entirely. The staff at the house found him difficult. He didn't want Olivia's help. He didn't want anyone's help. He simply wanted to be left alone. The only reason he even agreed to having Olivia there was so that his father would give him the inheritance he needed to help his now deceased friend's family. But, as it so often happens, what he wanted least was what he really needed most. 

I don't even know where to start when it comes to my feelings for this book. I loved the depth of the characters. I loved that Olivia was strong enough to push back when Paul tried to get under her skin. I didn't expect that of her, which made it even better. I'm a sucker for a good antagonistic story and these two did it better than any books I've read in recent memory. I loved the pace at which things happened between them. It felt real. It was great to watch them move from barely tolerating each other (and desperately trying to push each others buttons) to friends to something physical and to something more substantial. I enjoyed their banter and their passion. But still, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop because I knew it would. It broke me when it did. Then it put me back together again.

This book was just fantastic. It's one of my favorite new adult reads of the year so far. It was real and honest and all kinds of emotional. I fell in love with the characters and cheered their growth throughout the book. My heart broke for Paul at times as I watched him struggle to accept who he was now and find those small ways to enjoy the things that used to be a huge part of him. I started off the book relatively ambivalent about Olivia, but I was singing her praises when it was all said and done. I loved that she was strong and confident enough to push him, to help him, but also knew when to walk away. Gah! I just loved these two so much. They made me feel everything. 

I'm definitely excited for the next book in this series. I'm interested to see what Michael is really all about. If the first two books in this series are any indication, I will fall in love with it.

Joana Rodrigues

personal disclaimer: Lauren Layne is my free pass in this genre. i have free pass when it's her books and no one can judge me for reading these...adult romances.

Broken

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