Beautiful Broken Promises by Kimberly Lauren

I must admit that I am fangirling on Kimberly Lauren right now. Every time she publishes a book I make sure I buy it and read it within 24 hours. I loved both of the previous novels to Beautiful Broken Promises and could not wait to see what Lane was hiding. I was not prepared for this story, so yes tears were shed but it still made my night.

I want to avoid giving too much away about the story because I enjoyed being surprised to discover the source of Lane's heartache. In Beautiful Broken Mess, Lane is portrayed as this giant who protects Aubrey, physically and emotionally. So when we discover that the reason he is so distant and secretive is because he feels like a failure for not protecting someone he loved we better understand the depths of his pain and his affection for his friend. He possessed a maturity that the other characters are lacking in the previous book but here we see that he is not infallible and he allows the weight of his burdens to hinder his good judgment. In spite of that, Lane is still the more systematic and calculating member of his new found family. Although there is a moment when Jaxon has the cooler head and gets Lane out of trouble that I found endearing.

Lane's story continues after Aubrey and Jace have had their baby. The novel moves away from the college romance and focuses on how this group is maturing and embracing adulthood. There is still a silliness to the story and some comic relief, largely thanks to my girl Emerson, who is now begging her husband for a family. The beginning of the story focuses on what Lane has lost, the extent to which he has gone to regain it, what happens when he finds it, and what he gains in his discovery. There is the road trip element in this story which I always enjoy because the characters are faced with new challenges in each setting. Lane travels from Texas, to Mexico, to California, then New York.

We get to meet Lane's parents and a new interest, Raegan. She is young, disoriented, naive and riddled with guilt and self-doubt. She is driven by a singular focus that Lane threatens. Facing this challenge, Lane and Raegan connect; he with her because she returns what he lost, and she with him because she is unwilling and unable to give up what has been hers to protect. Their union is built on sacrifice and compassion. At one point he tells her, "I wish I had found you sooner so I could love you longer." Kimberly Lauren weaves a beautiful love story for Lane, which he deserves.

Consumed (The Devoured Series Book 2.0) by Emily Snow

Disregard all of the entanglements that kept this book from the public eye for far too long and just let the conclusion to Lucas and Sienna’s story consume your world for a few hours. The story opens up in the exact moment that Sienna watches the music video and Lucas arrives to make amends. From there, after a two night sex fest tucked away in the Tennessee mountains, their story continues and Sienna joins Lucas on tour. The set up is rather obvious because Sienna is going to have to contend with Lucas’ demons and Lucas is going to have to reveal more to Sienna than he ever planned. However, the rest of the story is much more interesting and far more exciting. 

I read Devoured some time ago and became enamored with Lucas Wolfe, the sultry lead singer of Your Toxic Sequel in this story. He embodies the rock god persona mingled with the fantastical alpha male with a penchant for a little bondage and BDSM.  In Consumed, Lucas is full frontal (pun intended) and we see EVERYTHING! His big secret is revealed... he opens up and lets Sienna in... I mean this is book boyfriend ambrosia. Lucas is laid bare and you just want to touch all of him. He hasn’t lost any of his tendency to be a jerk that we read in All Over You or Devoured, but he is more open and ready to love Sienna. He recognizes that their relationship is better for him and its function is better for him, “...I turn my head and find her mouth. I devour her. And she consumes me. It’s the only way we will work.”

Sienna was the most surprising aspect of this book. That fiery red hair always matched her personality and she could give as good as she got, but in this story she changed her approach with Lucas. At first I worried she was being too compliant and letting him have his way too much (who wouldn’t?) but then I realized she was stroking his ego and allowing him to be the man he was telling her he was. The bonus to all of this was the unabashed pleasure he provided in exchange for her compliance. I also realized that by gentling her approach to him she was better able to get him to open up to her. In spite of his want for Sienna and promises to her, Lucas still remained guarded about his past. His defense proves problematic for Sienna throughout the story (great for the plot line, not so much for her overall health). 

Of course, Lucas’ sister, Kylie appears in the novel along with the rest of the band so there is plenty of good-natured jibing and comic relief. A few more details of Wyatt and Kylie’s story are revealed and we see the happily ever after is happening for the entire Your Toxic Sequel family. This book is going into my ‘will definitely read again” column.

Into the Deep by Samantha Young

I read On Dublin Street over a year ago and once finished I knew that I had to read any and everything that Samantha Young published. I am always a little on the fence about new adult romance because I prefer my book boyfriends to be established gentlemen (or hot, sexy, alpha male, badass bikers). Imagine my surprise at discovering Jake Caplin to be a rather mature and self-assured charmer. I have had Into the Deep in my cue to read for some time now and with the recent release of Out of the Shallows I figured now was as good a time as any other. 

Into the Deep is the story of Jake and Charley, a young couple who meet again at a study abroad in college after a heartbreaking separation that happened when they were teenagers. Jake is firmly attached to a new girlfriend and Charley is unable to trust Jake four years after their break up. Both Jake and Charley have best friends who are with them on this adventure in Edinburgh and they end up spending time together with their collective group. Somehow in the midst of all of this mingling, things get complicated: Jake wants to make amends with Charley without hurting his girlfriend and Charley wants closure with Jake but knows she could very well get hurt again in the process. In the meantime, Charley is quite fetching and manages to attract the attention of the lead singer of a band who also happens to be friends/roommates with Jake. See? Complicated.

Into the Deep is definitely a page-turner. Jake and Charley are a couple you want to know more about, you want to see what happens. In truth, I despise love triangles. I personally do not bother with the complicated. I am an all in or walk away type of girl. So I found myself urging Charley to not listen to her heart and walk away from Jake throughout the story. The wonderful thing about the structure of this story is that the reader does not immediately know how Jake hurt Charley, we just know that he did. The first two-thirds of the book alternates between the present day and four years ago. We toggle between their reconnection and their initial introduction and burgeoning romance. This configuration allows the reader to see how incredible Jake is without holding too strong a grudge against him. Charley often comments on his maturity and charm and all of the things about him that led her to give him her heart. So by the time we do discover the awful truth the hurt and heartbreak is felt from both parties. The scene encapsulates the hurt Charley feels at the words and actions Jake renders while also capturing how much pain he feels in giving them to her. It is harrowing and enchanting all at the same time.

Charley is a strong-willed heroine who unfortunately suffered heartbreak much too early. She is fortunate to have a close-knit family and group of friends that add a lot of body to this story. I found myself laughing out loud at a good deal of the banter between the friends. The secondary characters are really good at helping Charley and Jake come to terms with all that they are dealing with, placing a multitude of perspectives on what happened between them four years ago and what is happening with them in the present day. Top all of this off with the beautiful and always bewitching setting of Scotland and Into the Deep is a lovely story. QUOTABLE: "I knew after weeks of meeting you that I was never going to love another girl like I love you. You're it for me. They write books about what we have." Whew!

Beautiful Broken Mess (Broken Series, Book #2) by Kimberly Lauren

This time around we get Jace's story. If I'm bring honest, I liked Jace better than I did Jaxon, even in the first book. We also get a better understanding of Audrey, the misunderstood vixen in Jaxon and Emerson's story.

Audrey has had a rough life: enduring an abusive father, abandoned by her mother, and getting pregnant and married while in high school. Now she is attending the same school as Jace and trying to find a way into his life. Jace is haunted by fleeting memories of his brief time with Audrey. He wants her, has wanted her for four years. He faces some other melodrama in his life that also puts a hitch in his wagon. Somehow, circumstance presents roadblocks in their journey to be together and these two have to figure out a way to get past all of the nonsense. All of the characters from the first book are back and they either make trouble or just join in in the fun.

Plus we get to meet Audrey's new companion Lane, a rather large and sexy man whore.

Once again Kimberly Lauren presents the hooker with a heart of gold heroine for readers to judge and the holier-than-thou Riley brothers to redeem her. Audrey is back but we find out that she made mistakes and doesn't want to apologize as much as she just wants to get her story out there so they'll stop judging her. Jace is still the sexy, intelligent twin but makes the same mistakes his brother did by not trusting the people around him for guidance. He does reveal a dominant side that I am all for hearing more about. I love that he knows how much Audrey wants him to take control and does so with a smile. When we're not dealing with the theatrical guilty feelings, we get to enjoy some pretty hot rendezvous between these two. The story dragged at times and I put my reader down more times than I care to admit. Another bright spot in the story is Emerson is still around and she is funnier than ever. She has a few more one-liners in this story than she did in her own. She is still slutty in a fun-loving way but her comedic relief takes away from the drama of so much history between Jace and Audrey. Admittedly, I was not as enamored with this book as I was the first but it is still enjoyable and I'm looking forward to Lane's story and discovering what secrets he's been keeping.

Hidden by Catherine McKenzie 4.5/5 Stars

Similar to Karen Smith, from Mean Girls, I have this very special psychic ability to tell when a movie is going to either show on television or come up in conversation. I have had this ability since I was a child where I will think of some arbitrary film that I’ve seen and then within the next day or two it is on television. Forget trying to understand this phenomenon, that’s pointless. I just call it happy circumstance. 

Recently, the movie Intersection (1994) came to mind, I am still not sure why. I just thought of Richard Gere playing the infidel and Lolita Davidovich and Sharon Stone standing at the site of the car accident both with these knowing smirks that in the end he chose her. After my capricious thought passed I knew, at some point this movie would come around. Well in this case, the movie never came about but a book did, Hidden by Catherine McKenzie. This is the story of Jeff Manning who dies after being struck by a car leaving behind his wife and son. However, Tish Underhill is a co-worker that feels this loss rather strongly as well, which leads to the question of whether or not Jeff was having an affair with Tish. Unlike in the movie, Intersection where the viewers know the main character was having an affair, in this novel the reader proceeds throughout the story with innuendo that maybe something did happen between Jeff and Tish or what could have been.

I was rather excited about reading this book largely because I only read adult fiction about once a month. The writing is very artfully crafted, spanning three perspectives in narrative: Jeff, his wife, Claire, and Tish. The author intersperses these metaphors and allusions throughout the novel that showcase her talent and intelligence. At one point, Claire refers to Tish as the “dastardly Mr. Wickham.” She writes her characters with insecurities based around their families, whether it is a child, father, husband, or sibling. Even the secondary characters reveal these self-doubts which then fosters the movement of the plot. Without giving too much away, the story centers around the doubt and guilt each of the three narrators feel from past transgressions and how these doubts spur their actions and reactions to the events in the book.

Hidden is a gem of a read. I know I’ve said it before but honestly it bears repeating, this story is so well crafted. The carefully structured wording and piecemeal revelations of the characters’ lives that the reader gleans from each narrative could each act alone as reasons for reading this novel, but in this case we get to enjoy both.