Monica Murphy

Wracked with guilt over his best friend's death in the Iraq War, Colin makes it his mission in life to make it up to the one person who was devastated the most - his friend's sister Jennifer, but she isn't interested in his charity or his guilt, instead she wants his love. Original.

A Novel

Three Broken Promises

Missy Zuber 

Kept my interest. Enjoyed the others in the series but Colin and Jen are better.

Both are likable characters who have their own issues and demons to deal with.

Jen and Colin dance around their feelings and Colin just doesn't want to face the truth

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After falling in love with Drew and Fable in One Week Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend, I was thrilled to see this series continuing with Three Broken Promises. But this wasn't Drew and Fable's story, it was Jen and Colin's. Anyone who read the first two books will recognize Jen and Colin and understand why I was excited to get a glimpse at their story. 

I liked both Jen and Colin, but I never felt like I connected with them quite the way I did Drew and Fable. (I know, I know, I shouldn't compare the two couples, but I can't help it!) But I loved their "friends-first" romance. (That's one of my favorite story lines, if you didn't already know.) There's just something about watching (or reading about) an existing, close relationship changing shape and becoming something so much more that just lights me up inside. I'll take that over "insta love" any day. 
But back to Jen and Colin. They obviously shared strong feelings for each other. They also each had a past that affected their present life and relationships in different ways. It took them some time to admit their true feelings to each other, but when they finally did and they gave in, sparks flew. Holy crap. The love scenes were seriously steamy. They were good together and despite a lack of communication and honesty, I liked them and was rooting for them. 

I enjoyed this story of friendship, love and redemption. I like Monica Murphy's writing and her characters – all of them – but, I can't wait to get back to Drew and Fable's story in Drew + Fable Forever. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

I really, really wanted to like Colin and Jen’s story, but it was just… okay. I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it either. Colin and Jen didn’t suck me in like Drew and Fable did, and I didn’t connect as much with them. I was super excited for Jen and Colin after reading Second Chance Boyfriend, because they seemed like great characters. But… this is one of those cases where I’m sad to say had a great potential, but just fell a bit flat.

Jen is Fable’s friend and co-worker at the restaurant that Colin owns. It turns out that Jen and Colin go way back–Jen is the little sister of Colin’s best friend who died in Iraq. It’s been two years since his death, and Jen has grieved and moved on, but Colin has not. He constantly has nightmares about his best friend’s death, and every time, Jen goes to his bed to console him. Jen has been living with Colin since he took her in when she was at a very low point in her life, and he pretty much saved her. Jen’s always had a crush on Colin, and her love for him has bloomed even more so ever since he saved her, but he doesn’t return her feelings. At least, she doesn’t think he does. And so Jen has nothing left for her in the city where she lives except for bad memories, and she wants to leave. But will Colin let her?

Colin’s going to be angry that I’m leaving, but maybe, the tattoo will give me strength. Will remind me that what I’m doing is the right thing. I need to go. I need to really learn how to live my life on my own, not this childish running-away shit and living out of my car like I did last time. I’m older now. Smarter. Wiser.
I need to fly and be free.

I had a hard time liking Colin. He’s a very commanding person, and he know what he wants and likes, which is mostly Jen, but he’s terrified of ruining their friendship. Actually, both of them are, but Colin even more so, because he relies on Jen emotionally, as Jen relies on him physically (materialistic-wise). She’s the only thing keeping him sane after his best friend’s death. But it was like he wanted to keep a leash on Jen, which was exactly how she felt, and the reason she wanted to leave. He doesn’t want to have a relationship with her, and yet he doesn’t want to let her go. His indecision really didn’t endear him to me, but I will admit that I really liked that he had been falling for Jen for years, and not just when he saw her again recently. Usually the guy in this trope will start falling for the girl when he sees her again after a few years, but Colin has loved Jen for ages.

Fuck it all, I want to kiss her. Forget the past, forget the present, forget the scary-as-hell future–I just want to lean over the center console and press my lips to hers. Steal her breath, steal her thoughts, steal her heart.
Like she’s done to me.

But then of-freaking-course they’d do the whole friends-with-benefits thing, which I ended up not really liking. Because… there might have been way too much sex. It’s not that I don’t like reading sex in books, but for some reason, I just didn’t feel anything for the two of them. I couldn’t feel the emotion and connection and intensity between them. It was the whole sexual relationship that didn’t work for me. It was like they took a step backward, or at least not a step forward at all, because even though Jen and Colin still have feelings for each other, they’re still not letting each other know. Frustrating!

But still, it was mainly their sexual relationship that I didn’t like. Everything else was pretty good. There was the right amount of angst, which Monica Murphy didn’t overdo, and Colin and Jen are very sweet with each other. Colin grew on me later on, with his protectiveness and sweet words. I loved seeing some of Fable and Drew, and really enjoyed the story once Jen and Colin stopped holding back from each other. Three Broken Promises isn’t a favorite in this series, but I was glad that we finally got Jen and Colin’s story.

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1vRa9wK
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1AZBEu5

Three Broken Promises A Novel

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