Marley Valentine

What We Broke

aleksandra

4.5/5

When I saw a new book with a marriage in crisis trope, I knew I have to, and will read it. I’m such a sucker for this type of books. Reading about two soul mates who somehow find themselves in a situation where their relationship is close to falling apart, so they try to fight for it and rebuild it, because losing it is like losing half of themselves, it's so terribly satisfying. True colors in most relationships usually reveal themselves after some time, and this is the moment when you can see if the couple really loves each other and will overcome difficulties together. Or not. In this case, the book has a HEA, so don't worry about that. Our main characters get a well-deserved happy ending. 

I want to say at the beginning that I’m obsessed with the cover, I know there is a discreet cover too, but the man on this one is gorgeous. I usually hate covers with people, but this guy’s back? *swoon*

I won’t include any spoilers here, because it will spoil all the fun, but there is no cheating or any drama close to it. I feel like there should be something written about this in the blurb, because if there was cheating, I wouldn't have touched the book. I’m just saying that because of the title and the word "broke", as this may confuse someone. I tried to include trigger warnings in this review because I think they should be read before going into the book, but I couldn’t. So go to the author’s website. Be aware that’s a spoiler! 

Probably quite important information about the book, because I know that not everyone is a fan of this type of format, but there are "then" and "now" chapters. I’m personally not the biggest fan of it, but here I kinda loved it. It was much needed as we got to see how they met, their engagement, first times etc. 

The book follows two men/ husbands/ souls mates/ each other’s everything during the time in their life when their marriage it’s close to falling apart, after something happened. It’s revealed in the prologue, so you don’t have to wait ages for the reveal. The story focuses on how they try to fix it, because how can you let go of someone you love with your whole being?


  
    “I love you, Leo,” I say. “No matter what you try to tell yourself or how unloveable you try to insist you are. I. Love. You.”
  


I adore both characters and the relationship they created. I loved how determined Jesse was to do anything not to lose his husband, but at the same time I totally understood why Leo felt that way and distanced himself. 


  
    "For him I would.  For him I would move heaven and hell or die trying."

“Sometimes I feel like there aren’t enough letters in the alphabet to string the right words together to tell you how much I love you.”
  
 

Despite the situation, their marriage was healthy and they were trying their best. It took some time, a lot of ups and downs, but at the end they found each other again. 

I praise this book, but I didn't rate it five stars. Why? There were some stuff, not really their relationship focused, but there were. Like, why they had this 'dream' house with heated pool in Seattle, but Jesse was a mechanic and Leo was working odd, different jobs? How could they afford it? Is it that easy in America? Or who was the bartender? I also felt that Jesse's feelings after being a rock to this family and basically gluing them back together weren't touched enough. I wanted a little more.

In overall, the book was pretty much everything I wanted from this type of story. It’s shows that grief is coped differently for everyone, a relationship doesn't have to fall apart if you both have at least a little bit of hope to rebuild it and simply that, love is love and will always win. I can highly recommended!


*I received a free copy of this book via Grey's Promotions and am voluntarily leaving a review.*