Name: Torn
Rating: 3.583333333333333 (66 reviews)
ISBN: 9781539139461

Carian Cole

Tor has loved Kenzi since the day she was born. He is fifteen years older than her, but sometimes love pays no attention to society's demands.

Torn

This book was really interesting. I understand the author was going for age gap dad’s best friend. I just think the execution lacked 

Murphy-Ann Craig

Toren Grace hat seinen Traum aufgegeben, Musiker zu sein, und das Familiengeschäft übernommen. Obwohl er immer von Familie und langjährigen Freunden umgeben war, blieb er einsam. Kenzi Valentine ist seit ihrer Geburt Teil seines Lebens und mit ihr verbindet ihn ein ganz besonderes Band. Er betrachtet sich als eine Art Onkel und engen Vertrauten von ihr. Doch eines Tages passiert das, was nie hätte passieren dürfen. Ein Kuss, der alles auf den Kopf stellt. Als Kenzi Valentine fünf Jahre alt war, verkündete sie dem besten Freund ihres Vaters Toren, dass sie ihn eines Tages heiraten wird. Mit achtzehn Jahren ließ sie ihn wissen, dass sich an ihrem Entschluss nichts geändert hat. Ihr ganzes Leben war Toren ihr Fels in der Brandung, und auch wenn ihr bewusst ist, dass sie ihn niemals auf diese Art lieben sollte, kann sie es nicht ändern. Denn das Herz hat seinen eigenen Willen und Kenzi ist längst kein kleines Mädchen mehr.

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.
 


So much power hides in words, and once you speak them, you give them life, and you have to accept the truth that comes with them.


Torn by Carian Cole was such a book that I have been so excited for, this is THE book that everyone in the book community seems to rave about even more than “Don’t Kiss The Bride” and I have become so intrigued by this one and it has been on my kindle for quite a long while and I have been meaning to read it but I knew i needed to be in the right mood for this one, I knew it was an age gap but there is some family connection in the romance so I admit that is the biggest reason this doesn’t have the highest rating (as I will explain below). But I found that this story was such a win of a book and those that love the age gap, will definitely love this one. It had its own emotion and heart that will just endear the reader from beginning to end. I was torn by this book because even though there were some aspects that didn’t quite work for me, it also breathed life into my soul at the time and I do see why it’s so well-loved by so many and Carian Cole has definitely written a well worth it of a read and I think any contemporary romance lover needs to add this one to their shelf because the experience of it is well worth it.

I want crazy fucking love. I want someone that’ll never let me go. I want to wake up to my best friend every day.

torn is a romance that will tie you up in knots and deliver a range of emotions which features:
Toren Grace- A broody silent hero, driven in searching for the “ONE”, protective, loving, beast in the bedroom but tender in loving his woman
Kenzi- A feminine woman of grace and love, raised in the rock band world, yearning for friendship and love and mature for her young age

My love, walk in the rain with me, kiss me in the misty fog. Let me hold you all night under the hush of the wind. I’m waiting for you, throwing pennies, making wishes. I’m wishing only for you, always for you. Come back to me. I’ll fight for you, I’ll fight for us. Wish for me too and I’ll make it come true. I love you forever and longer.

Torn sets off with the very beginning of the bond that begins between these two from the birth of Kenzi. Toren is the best friend of Kenzi’s father, and her godfather, and swore to be her protector and friend. From her birth, he has always put her first in his life and has been there for all of her firsts and helped her adjust to life in the rock star world while being her best friend all of her life. Toren has always been the silent type, he has craved a woman that would be the “one” but only gets chased by women who just want him for sex and a pocketbook and nothing more than that. He has always viewed Kenzi as a friend, a young woman that is brave and strong, but as Kenzi grows into a grown woman and gets past the age of consent, there is more than just friendship growing for Toren and he is torn up in two inside. This is the daughter of his best friend, and he feels like he is betraying his best friend by allowing these feelings to grow. Kenzi, has always been raised with love by her parents and her uncles and Toren who has always been by her side through all of the joys and struggles in her life. But she senses a deeper intimate connection building between them, and she refuses to let go of what is building quickly between them or let their age difference or the taboo nature of their relationship keep them from finding forever. But finding your one is vastly different from finding your happy ever after with them and the journey to the later will be a battle worth fighting for….

When I look at you, I don’t see my father’s friend, or my uncle, or my godfather, or an older man. All I see is the person I’ve always loved and has always made me happy. That’s it. I just see you.

Torn was such a different romance than I was actually expecting, all I knew going into this one was that it had an age difference, I didn’t research this one further and know that there was some familial type of connection to each other. Although if I had known, I might not have picked this one up and I am so grateful that I decided to take a chance on this one. Because it was such a beautiful story that just won my heart so quickly. I actually enjoyed the flashback that we see in this story and seeing their relationship in the way that we see it happen here. I was so fascinated in seeing the way that their relationship would change. Now I know that there is a big taboo in this book and it might put you off and I completely understand that. It is the reason why this isn’t a five star read, because while this had me in my feels, I did struggle with the fact that Toren practically raised Kenzi, and even though this was more about friendship until she in adulthood, it will be a struggle for some readers to see that bond but there is no blood tie between them. However, I did struggle with that aspect but it really was only a struggle in the first half of the book. There was this shift in the second half of the book, where their relationship just changes in such a beautiful way, and the doubts and reservations that I seemed to have had just seemed to fade away and I was cheering this couple on. Seeing the growth of their bond was such a thing of beauty. There are so many feelings within this one, and I loved that they understand each other so much, and are willing to fight for each other and their dreams.

Love is like an onion, with a lot of layers and a lot of tears before you get to the good part

What really made this book shine was the character growth. There is so much character growth in this story and the way that the author capitalizes on this just had this story build all the layers that we see throughout the reading of it. I loved both of these characters, both of their personalities just are some of my favorite attributes to see in a romance. In Toren, we see a strong silent figure of a man, who is an alpha in all the ways that it matters but I might categorize him as an alpha cinnamon roll. He never apologizes for who he is or the type of woman he is looking for. Then we have beautiful Kenzi. Kenzi is a woman that isn’t afraid to go after her dreams. I loved how she embraces her inner feminity and is willing to fight for her dream to be a wife and a mother and you see how afraid she is of embracing it because she knows she will be mocked for it. But Toren emboldens her to go after that dream, no matter what others may think of it. I just wanted these two to be together and embrace the beauty of what they had together. There are some conflicts that stand in their way though, a big one once Kenzi’s father finds out, I really enjoyed the way that the conflict of this played out, and yes I expected what we see happen and I might have been a bit amused in this scene, not gonna lie (LOL) because the father’s anger is justified here even while I was cheering for Kenzi and Toren to find a way to their HEA. There is a bit of a side plot with the father and mother (as the mother is in a coma) but I am intrigued to see how the ending gets played out in book two or if we see that happen, I hope we do!

I wished you would never doubt me again. I’ve spent almost eighteen years being there for you, Angel. Because I want to. No one ever made me or expected me to. You’re just where I always wanted to be.

Overall I found Torn to be a satisfying read that won my heart so fiercely, it has a poignant feel to the romance that will only endear you deeper into Toren and Kenzi’s story that was so beautifully captured and is guaranteed to win your heart!

He’s my other half; the one who makes my heart beat. The man who makes me feel every feeling that could possibly be felt – and then some. The man who held me and loved me through almost every moment of my life. I have no past without him, and no future without him. Quite simply, he is my world.

Megan Lowe

This was an okay book. I liked the love between Tor and Kenzi. I felt it was authentic and wasn’t at all creepy. It was a great love story.
Where this fell down for me was the supporting characters. I really disliked pretty much every one of them. They were horrible and said horrible things but they were just allowed to skate by.
I also don’t know what took so long at the end. A whole year? It seemed so impossible to me, especially given Tor and Kenzi’s relationship.
As I said, this was an okay book. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it might be for someone else.

Missy Zuber 

One of those books that had me from the beginning. I could not put "Torn" down.

Loved the characters and the plot. I liked the age difference and the way the relationship progressed from "family" to romance.

Kensi was mature enough and not whiny. Toren was just all around good.

This book made me go back and read the Ashes and Embers series and I'm glad I am.

This was my first Carian Cole novel and I'm hooked.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

I really like forbidden romances. I was so looking forward to this one but I just. Ouldnt ready connect with the characters or believe their relationship. The only scene that made me believe they were really a couple was the epilogue. The rest of the book felt bland and too dragged out. It should have been shorter and just more of Kenzie and Tor acting as a couple or something.

Sophie Elaina 

celeste

this was....alright. maybe it was the fact that i listened to the audiobook, but i just couldn't really connect with the characters nor the story, because there was legit no story at all, except for the characters spending 50% of the book to get together. and after the chase, i kinda lost interest in them. also, how can you make the misunderstood psycho brother of the H who's in only ONE scene be the most interesting character out of your whole damn book??? 

the fact that each chapter started with a flashback of when they were younger to show how they were always in each other's lives also didn't help with my boredom. 5 or 10 flashbacks i'm okay with, but 37 flashbacks to tell me how they've always cared about each other instead of SHOWING it to me in the present time? not that great. i wanted more from them in the present time, to see their relationship develop, but instead i got this pull and push between them because of the fact that the H has known the h since she was born, and is the best friend of the h's father. the only thing that caught my interest again was when kenzi's father finds out about them being together and that happens nearly towards the end of the book, so you could say i wasn't that enthralled. 

the smut wasn't even hot, the scenes were so boring and lasted for like a paragraph and the H usually finished two minutes into the scene, like okaaay is this supposed to be steamy? the H was always there for kenzi but sometimes he would legit do the bare minimum like get her flowers and she went on and on about how amazing he was and thought it was the most unbelievable gift anyone ever gave her, and i'm like sis it's just a fucking flower pleeeeease the bar is so so low i can't even. i can't wait for tyler's book tho, we love misunderstood edgy brooding characters here.

Cat Nunez 

This is my first book by the author and my first read of 2021 and I’m so glad it was!! I saw it as a recommendation on instagram and I knew I had to read it. I love age-gap, taboo and forbidden romances so this one is definitely my type of book and now I’m dying to read the rest of her books.

Kenzi and Tor were amazing, he knew her all her life and they always had a deep connection that evolved into something more than friendship. I loved how sweet and caring Tor was with her and how she always knew he was going to be there for her if she had a problem or needed anything.

I really enjoyed reading their journey, they were all the time together and they really enjoyed each other’s company. She liked everything Tor loved, not like the other women he met so it was really good for them to be able to share their passions and that’s how little by little their relationship started to grow into something bigger and special.

Tor always respected Kenzi and he always fought his feelings for her at first because he knew it was wrong somehow but neither of them could denied their chemistry so they were bound to crash at some point, and it was amazing, all the angst and drama were worth it in order for them to get their HEA. It was a long way but it was the perfect ending for them.

Kaele Perkins 

** spoiler alert **
           I read this in 24 hours. This was a very captivating story. I knew going in that this would be a crazy book. My extent of this type of forbidden relationship is DIMILY but this was a new level entirely. I loved this characters. I always like a quiet Main Hero. And I agree with all of the other characters when I say that Kenzi was very mature for her age and not an annoying female which I appreciated. Oh my goodness her dad got me so frustrated towards the end. Tor was so sweet. I loved the animal aspect. Good ending. Kinda sudden, I wanted more of a resolution and more epilogue scenes. Their wedding, when the baby was born, etc. just realized this is a spinoff from her other books, I might have to go back and read the rest...

Lacey

pisceso

Megan Leigh Wehby 

In this beautiful love story of "forbidden longing" (New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas), a sweet young woman and a rough and tough biker are connected in a way they can’t contain—and they’ll do anything they can to be together. When I was five years old, I told Toren Grace we were going to get married someday. He’d been my closest friend, my protector, and my rock since the day I was born. But during my senior year, our relationship slowly changed. Silly conversations morphed into serious heart-to-hearts. Innocent friendship turned to stolen glances. Then one day, an unexpected kiss changed everything. While that kiss was all I’d ever dreamed of, it knocked Tor clear off his axis. His strong moral compass makes it impossible for him to accept our feelings for each other. Because, not only am I eighteen and fifteen years younger than him, I’m the one person he should never, ever want. Tor is my father’s best friend—my pseudo uncle. Neither one of us can stand to betray or hurt my dad, but we can’t keep our relationship hidden forever. Will there be a way for us to find our happily-ever-after? Or will we all be torn apart? Torn is book one in the All Torn Up series but can be read as a standalone novel.

Torn

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