Book review: Unbreak Me (New Hope #1) by Lexi Ryan

Unbreak Me (New Hope #1) by Lexi Ryan 

New Adult contemporary romance

Paperback/eBook, 234 pages

Published May 24th 2013 by Smashwords (first published May 23rd 2013)

New Adult contemporary romance. Due to sexual content and heavy subject matter, this book is intended for mature readers.

“If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”

I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…

“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”

But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his.

With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?

No matter what camp you're in concerning whether or not New Adult is or is not a genre, I don't care. This category has some of the hottest talent writing for it right now and readers are the winners. Unbreak Me by Lexi Ryan is a prime example of this exciting explosion.

I did not expect the gripping, emotional, roller coaster ride Unbreak Me took me on. I couldn't put it down. Maggie took a piece of my heart with her own personal heartbreak. She is incredibly hard on herself, agreeing with the labels some of the townspeople have put on her since she was fifteen (something happened and the truth never came out). At first I thought she was too hard with berating herself but the more I thought about it, the more I realized: aren't we our own worst judges? Don't we take our faults, our mistakes, and magnify them like a gazillion times more than anyone else could? Lexi Ryan hit her character development right out of the park with Maggie. Just the right blend of self-condemnation, angst, and raw passion to make her realistic. I felt for her. The opening scene with her sexy neighbor and the way she reverts to her old self was fantastic and a pure indicator that there was so much more to come.

Family dynamics, an old love not able to let go, Maggie returns home--the ultimate black sheep of the Thompson clan--to attend her sister Krystal's wedding, an union between a beloved sibling and her own ex-boyfriend, William, a man who still loves her. She still has feelings for him since he was her fiancee a year ago, which definitely adds tension. Maggie just wants to attend, do her sisterly duty, and get on with her life. Not so fast. After her little encounter with Asher, she not only has him openly interested in her, she also feels something for him.

Maggie and Asher have a ton of baggage and it's the weight of their secrets which adds fuel to the fiery conflicts in this book. Maggie stays and decides to help William out and subjects herself to opening old wounds inflicted by her dalliance with an old professor. Jealousies, past hurts, acceptance of one's self, there's so much going on besides the blossoming love story between Asher, who happens to be a musician, and Maggie, an artist. Add William in and that's a powerful triangle. I liked the three main characters. Maggie is indeed broken but with patience, love and therapy she can move on. Despite his own past, Asher has a heart of gold and genuinely loves Maggie. Their scenes together were touching. William was also a great guy and I couldn't blame him for wanting to move on after Maggie left, even if it meant marrying her sister.

Unbreak Me is an incredible read. Swoonworthy hunks, terrible secrets, passion, music, and family problems, I couldn't stop reading until the final paragraph. Hot romance, poignant storytelling and realistic character development, I will definitely be checking out anything Lexi Ryan writes.

Rating: 4

Cover comment:

Two highly creative people fall in love. This cover exemplifies that. Smoking.

Book source:

I received a promotional copy in return for my honest review.