Courtney Cole

"In If You Leave, we continue the wild ride Courtney Cole started us on in If You Stay. This raw story of heartbreak and hope solidifies Cole's standing as a rising star in hot contemporary romance." --- New York Times Bestselling author of Down to You, M. Leighton "Another raw, gritty masterpiece with a sexy-as-hell Army Ranger to swoon over." --- K.A. Tucker, author of Ten Tiny Breaths Ex-Army Ranger Gabriel Vincent is a badass hero. Or he used to be. Home from Afghanistan, Gabe can't stop thinking about that one horrible night on the battlefield, a night that changed his life forever. He knows he's messed up, but with the help of a little beer and a lot more women, he's keeping it together. Until he meets Madison Hill. Madison is happily single-or so she thinks. After the tragic death of her parents, she took on the responsibility of running the family restaurant, and that's just about all she has time to worry about. Until she meets Gabriel Vincent. Though they don't realize it at first, Gabe and Maddy will soon develop a weakness: each other. But Gabe has a secret, a hidden monster that he's afraid Maddy could never overcome. And Maddy is dealing with issues she fears Gabe won't understand. They quickly realize they need each other to be whole, but they have demons to fight-and the problem with demons is that they never die quietly. Can they find a way to heal the past . . . before they lose each other?

The Beautifully Broken Series:

If You Leave

Beatrix Haase

Sven Test

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

IF YOU LEAVE tells the story of Gabriel, an ex Army Ranger and Madison. Madison appears in IF YOU STAY, seeing as she is Mila's sister. Gabriel pulls out of the army because of something that happened while being away and it is something that keeps tormenting him still. He tries to live a normal life but he has night terrors—terrors that are so vivid that can take a toll on him while he sleeps and affects others around him and even led to almost killing Madison.

Madison is a sweet and funny woman. Madison is the owner of her parent's restaurant. She has an employee, Jacey, who takes Madison to a club to meet her brother but Jacey disappears with her boyfriend and Madison is left alone until she meets Gabriel. Madison catches a small glimpse of how terrified Gabriel is, how messed up he got from the Army. At the time, she didn't know why he was acting like that until he almost killed her.

Madison and Gabriel's story is sweet yet intense—not only in the sex tense but also in general. It was a great story to read. I ended up crying a little a few times because it was heart wrenching the experience Gabriel had to go through. I really fell in love with him because of who he is: a guy that really cares about everyone, even if he doesn't fully know them. 
The characters are funny and quirky. The story is beautiful. It gives just a small insight on how terrifying experiences in the Army can be and what can cause in your life.

Tânia Borges

3.5 stars. It was alright, not the typical summery, fluffy contemporary book, it was quite heavy at times. Also, I liked that the author included the whole military aspect to the story. All in all, it was okay.

Lacey

Also posted at Booklovers For Life

Oh my… If You Leave is a huge improvement from If You Stay, the first book in the Beautifully Broken series. I didn’t connect very much with If You Stay, but If You Leave took my breath away. It wasn’t perfect, but I still loved reading it. Courtney Cole is an absolute genius at wringing out the angst and pain and emotion to the max. In this book you really feel–the characters’ pain, their heartbreak, their fears, everything. Because of this book, I’m a huge, huge fan of Courtney Cole’s writing.

If You Leave tells the story of Madison, the sister of Mila from If You Stay, and Gabriel, the older brother of Madison’s friend Jacey (whose own book, which I loved, is coming soon!). From If You Stay, we saw how Madison took over her parents’ restaurant after their deaths, and how protective of Mila she is. Madison is very put together, and can sometimes act cold, but this is only because of how much she had to grow up at a young age. And in If You Leave, we truly see how much Madison’s parents’ deaths have taken a toll on her. We also get more in depth than we did in If You Stay about how abusive her parents’ relationship really was, and how that’s affected Madison and her fears and her relationships with men.

Madison and Gabriel meet, unbeknownst of their connection through Jacey, and are instantly taken with each other. They want each other, and are close to having a one-night-stand until they get into a car accident. They are unharmed, but the car explodes, and Gabriel freaks, badly. He just came back from war and has PTSD, but Madison has no idea of his problems and becomes wary of him. She takes him home though, helps him get through the night, and then she leaves, thankful that she never has to see him again.

But… of course they see each other again. And though they try to pretend their feelings are casual, they fall for each other so hard. The road to their happily ever after, though, is not easy. Far from it. They have to deal with Madison’s trust issues and Gabriel’s PTSD. They’re both broken, but together they’re happier than they’ve been for a long time.

Oh my goodness, Gabriel is wonderful. He’s an ex-soldier who recently retired and came back from Afghanistan, but the horrors he witnessed still haunt him daily, and he carries so much guilt. Courtney Cole writes Gabriel with such perfection, because he’s so real. His pain and his guilt and especially the love he has for Madison come right off the pages, and this beautifully broken man stole my heart. But the best thing about this man is that despite how alpha-male he is, he knows he’s broken and is willing to get help for his PTSD. He wants to be the man for Madison, but he knows he can’t when he’s still dealing with his guilt.

“Is everyone in the world broken, Gabriel?” Even to my own ears, my whisper itself sounds broken in the velvety night. I can feel the weight of Gabriel’s gaze as he stares down at me in the dark.

“I think so,” he finally answers. “In their own way.”

(Can you hear my heart breaking?)

If You Leave is so intense. It’s gripping and raw and passionate and real. Madison and Gabriel, especially Gabriel, go through hell and back. Reading this, I was on such a roller coaster of emotions. My heart broke so many times for Gabriel and Madison, at how many times they had to deal with death and other devastating parts of life, but I held on to hope for them. Despite being broken, they fight through their pasts and fears, and they fight for each other.

But death is part of life and the fear of it can’t stop us from living.

4 stars (although there were some emotion parts that warranted a 5)! If You Leave is a beautiful, heart-wrenching story of how a broken soldier and an emotionally scarred woman find love and happiness through each other.

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Haleigh Marshall

Prerana agrawal

"In If You Leave, we continue the wild ride Courtney Cole started us on in If You Stay. This raw story of heartbreak and hope solidifies Cole's standing as a rising star in hot contemporary romance." -- New York Times Bestselling author of Down to You, M. Leighton "Another raw, gritty masterpiece with a sexy-as-hell Army Ranger to swoon over." -- K.A. Tucker, author of Ten Tiny Breaths Ex-Army Ranger Gabriel Vincent is a badass hero. Or he used to be. Home from Afghanistan, Gabe can't stop thinking about that one horrible night on the battlefield, a night that changed his life forever. He knows he's messed up, but with the help of a little beer and a lot more women, he's keeping it together. Until he meets Madison Hill. Madison is happily single-or so she thinks. After the tragic death of her parents, she took on the responsibility of running the family restaurant, and that's just about all she has time to worry about. Until she meets Gabriel Vincent. Though they don't realize it at first, Gabe and Maddy will soon develop a weakness: each other. But Gabe has a secret, a hidden monster that he's afraid Maddy could never overcome. And Maddy is dealing with issues she fears Gabe won't understand. They quickly realize they need each other to be whole, but they have demons to fight-and the problem with demons is that they never die quietly. Can they find a way to heal the past . . . before they lose each other?

If You Leave The Beautifully Broken Series:

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