THE BROKEN ONEby RUTH CARDELLO
In New York Times bestselling author Ruth Cardello’s sexy and emotional romance, a billionaire dares to invest in the riskiest proposition of his life: a second chance at love.
Single mom Heather Ellis would do anything for her adopted daughter, Ava. Even post an online reward for anyone who found the girl’s lost stuffed animal. Who’d have guessed it’d be returned by a drop-dead-sexy man with such sadness in his eyes that she had to reach out to him? To Ava, he’s a hero. To Heather, he’s a fantasy that puts at risk the happy life she’s made for herself.
It’s been five years since billionaire developer Sebastian Romano lost his wife and unborn child in a tragic accident. Now he’s all business. No room for emotion. Until he stumbles across that damn stuffed wolf and the beautiful single mother looking for it. Is he ready to give love a second chance?
But there’s more to Sebastian, his family, and his past than Heather knows. More than even Sebastian knows. Will the life they’re building together be challenged when the truth is finally revealed?
"Brave doesn't mean never being afraid. Brave is being stronger than what scares you."
This one had all the makings of a great book. The synopsis was intriguing and the teasers pulled me in....it just had my eye. But for some reason, it didn't work out very well for me. It felt completely forced and disjointed, and that's not my favorite kind of read. I want smooth and entertaining, the kind that makes me think and want to turn the pages. This heroine was completely wishy-washy, but also pushing for scenarios and forcing contact when the Hero was a complete jerk. Was it cute? Yes, actually - it started out that way. Did I feel the magnetism....? No, not really. But something clearly kept pulling them together, and that was what I wanted to discover. Unfortunately, for me, I didn't make it far enough to make that discovery. <sigh>
This was a surface scratching kind of storytelling. The depth and emotion was written - unfortunately, I just didn't feel it. I could see that she was trying to give me that emotional impact, especially with Sebastian's (I love that name!!) history. That should have been a heart-tugging, emotionally powerful detail of the overall story arc, but I just didn't feel anything. I hate that I didn't feel it. I think, for me, the story was told to me instead of allowing me to experience it. It left me without a real draw towards the emotions that should have been weaved throughout this story.
By the time I got to 31%, I was already rolling my eyes about the seriously ridiculous way that Sebastian was acting towards Heather, and vice versa. His need to take care of her was awe-worthy, but the way it played out and the way it was told made me cringe. It just sounded so forced. Don't get me wrong, I'm allllll about the alpha that knows who his "one" is and in turn will move Heaven and Hell to get to and take care of her. Those kinds of stories are my kryptonite and I gravitate towards them - not gonna lie. I don't like a mushy man, but I do like a man in touch with his feelings. I love an alpha that will stop at nothing for his woman, but I don't like a ridiculous show of machoism without any basis. Is there a fine line between these sentences? I'm pretty positive there is, but I also like when an author can finesse that line and make me fall at the feet of their characters' love and undying devotion.
Overall, I felt the emotions were canned and the situations were one step beyond an eye roll. I know that sounds awful, but I started expecting the events before they happened, so it turned somewhat predictable, and not in a good way. Some of it was awkward at best, and it made it hard for me to get into the scenes, and other times I was like, ok. This is going somewhere. But that wasn't a consistent thought while I was reading this one. I still believe the actual storyline of this book can and is a really cute one, but I just don't think the execution of it worked for me. I am honestly sorry that this one wasn't going to get a recommend from me, but I couldn't even make it through to give it a starred rating. This is clearly a 'me' issue as many have loved this one.
~BEE
~MEET RUTH CARDELLO~
Ruth Cardello hit the NYTs and USA Today for the first time back in 2012. Millions of sales are evidence that her books are akin to potato chips, addictive from the first one. She has created a multi-series billionaire world with a combination of escapism and realism that has gained her a faithful following of readers
.~CONNECT WITH RUTH~
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