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ARC Review: Breaking Without You by Carrie Ann Ryan
Breaking Without You
Carrie Ann Ryan
Fractured Connections Series, Book 1
From NYT bestselling author Carrie Ann Ryan, comes a brand new series where second chances don’t come often, and overcoming an unexpected loss means breaking everything you knew.
I fell for Cameron Connolly at the wrong time. And when he left, I thought my life was over. But then, after the worst happened, I truly understood what that phrase meant. Now, he’s not ready for a second chance, and I’m not offering one. Though given that our families have been forced together after losing one of our own, I know there’s no turning back. Not this time. Not again. Not when it comes to Cameron.
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I never wanted to hurt Violet Knight, but there were reasons I had to leave all those years ago—not that she’d believe me if I told her what they were. I not only left her, I also left my foster brothers. Honestly, I didn’t want to come back to Denver to help run my father’s failing brewery. But when it comes to my brothers, I know I’ll find a way to make it work. Perhaps I’ll even earn Violet’s forgiveness and face the connection we both thought long forgotten in the process. Because I wanted her then, but now I know I need her. I just hope she needs me.
4 Stars
Breaking Without You is the emotional and deep beginning to a brand new series, Fractured Connections by Carrie Ann Ryan.
Violet Knight is living through one of the hardest events of her life. Losing her best friend has left Violet with many unanswered questions and feeling empty and numb. For the second time in her life, Violet feels as if she’s broken. On the day of the funeral she (literally) runs into the man that caused her first heartbreak. Seeing Cameron caused a flood of emotions she was unprepared for, and hits her like a bomb. Now how to pick up the pieces and move on……..
Cameron Connolly has a past that most people never to want to think about let alone imagine. He had an addict for her mother, was moved around to foster homes being separated from his brother until a wonderful couple not only open their house but their hearts changing the lives of not just one but young men’s lives. Giving them a family made deeper than blood, made on love. Cameron’s loyalty and dedication to family caused him to make s decision that intern hurt many people he loves. Now back in Denver, Cameron takes tries to fix the fractures that have cracked his life.
Cameron is amazing. Hands down. He made choices that cost him, but in reality they also show the kind of man his is. He tries so hard to rebuild the relationships that have suffered. Cameron never lost his love for Violet and that makes me smile. He’s a dedicated, loyal and so compassionate. Violet is so strong and doesn’t even realize it. Her would keeps throwing curveballs at her and she keeps getting up and going. Even though at times it may not seem like that. Heartache is just as bad as any physical pain and we see Violet going through it all. Cameron and Violet never lost their love for each other but the heart is finicky when it gets broken. Communication is always the key, and at times the keys got lost for Cameron and Violet. Their chemistry was amazing and passion was heart touching. They just had to find their way back home to each other.
Breaking Without You is unlike anything Ms. Ryan has given her readers. There is so much emotion throughout the book it’s so hard not to get lost in all the feelings. Loss is a touchy subject to begin with, then add in all the unanswered questions, the raw emotions and the guilt. That’s a emotional bomb just waiting to go off. Violet loses her best friend to suicide which puts her in a state of unknown, and I must applaud Ms. Ryan for her elegance and grace on handling the subject. The roller coaster of emotions, the bouncing between being fine and being at the end of the string. Ms.Ryan hit the nail on the head so to speak, with the beautiful way she delivers Violet grief.
Breaking Without You, the first book of the Fractured Connections series is everything I have to love for Ms. Ryan and more. Grab some tissue ladies, you just might be needing it for this one.
Release Day Review: Trick by Laramie Briscoe
But then he moved in with his new flavor of the month and told our daughter his new woman wasn’t into children. That pissed me off.
Now Riley feels abandoned, and I can’t make it better; no matter how hard I try. I’m desperate to help her adjust to the loss of a male figure in her life. The companion program that matches adults up with children who have loneliness and abandonment issues is my last hope.
The counselors tell me he’s doing community service hours, and I ask to sit in on his meetings with Riley. The minute I see him astride the matte black Harley, I know neither my nor Riley’s life will ever be the same again.
Trick
Community Service. Two words I should be thankful for, but I’m not. I resent the hours it’s away from building my business. The two previous kids I’d been paired up with didn’t work out because their mothers were more interested in getting in my bed. This next match with a little girl is my last hope. Unless this kid works out, I’m destined to serve time.
When they push her into the room wearing pink converse with a black dress, her crazy curls barely held back by the barrette in her hair, and studious glasses on her face, I can tell she’s scared – of new people, of change, of being pushed aside. Something inside of me breaks, and I want this girl to feel wanted again.
What I’m unprepared for is meeting her mom. The second our hands touch, there are fireworks, bright lights, and a picture of the future I could one day have. The future I’ve never allowed myself to wish for.
Community service becomes more than a chore, more than time I resent for being taken away from me. In the months that follow, I realize they’re just like me: they’ve been abandoned, left behind by the world, forgotten by those who should love them.
Thanks to the one last hope in both our lives – we found the light in the darkness we’d been searching for.
Hadley is a single mom doing it all. Work a full time and part time job to give her daughter what she need. Hadley’s life changed on the drop of a dime when her cheating husband decided that was not the life for him. She picks up the pieces and makes a new life for the two of them. Hadley takes a leap of faith and enrolls Riley in a program that will pair her up and give her a positive male influence in her life. Little do they know it will be life changing for them both. Knowing what it like to be a single mom doing it all, Hadley is hands down awesome.
Patrick “Trick” Tennyson has made some mistakes in life. He’s a man that takes full responsibility for his actions and is paying his debts society. He’s a man that takes full responsibility for his actions and is paying his debts society. Little did he know the companion program his community service requires him to take part in, would change his life in more ways than one. The hard as steel, tatted up, panty melting man has a heart of gold and the . patience of a saint. Trick’s exterior appearance is just an added bonus to the amazing qualities of this truly wonderful man .
Sweet, slow burning and deep!
A second chance at life, trust, leaps of faith, listening to your heart and unconditional love make up the amazingly emotional story that is Trick! I have been very fortunate seeing Ms. Briscoe’s writing develop and grow from almost the beginning. In the last year I seen her talent take some amazing steps forward. Trick, in my mind, is a different type of book for her, one which I absolutely adored. It also shows the growth in her talent for weaving work together not just writing, but creating a story. Ms. Briscoe characters are seem so real and reader are able to relate with them on many levels. Every emotion is beautifuly protraded perfectly. Allowing the reader to not just read the story but feel it as well.
Deep emotions line every page creating a story that the reader not only gets lost in, but gets attached to. Likable and lovable characters draw you in, make you laugh and feel. Slow building passion that add fuel to the fire of passion for Trick and Hadley. Sexy, hot and passionate with a ton of heart. If you are looking for a book that is low on angst and drama but will hit your heart hard, Trick by Laramie Briscoe is the read for you.
Author Bio
Laramie Briscoe is the best-selling author of the Heaven Hill Series & the Rockin’ Country Series.Since self-publishing her first book in May of 2013, Laramie Briscoe has published over 10 books. She’s appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling E-books Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. She’s been called “a very young Maya Banks” (Amazon reviewer) and her books have been accused of being “sexy, family-oriented, romances with heart”.
When she’s not writing alpha males who seriously love their women, she loves spending time with friends, reading, and marathoning shows on her DVR. Married to her high school sweetheart, Laramie lives in Bowling Green, KY with her husband (the Travel Coordinator) and a sometimes crazy cat named Beau.
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