Synopsis:
“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?
Review:
5 Stars
Where to begin!! This book was a mind-numbing, twisting crazy book!!! I could NOT put it down….I read it in one day. And to try to put into words for a review about how amazing it was….let’s just hope that I can do it an ounce of justice. My mind is completely shaken to the core.
We get this book not in one person’s point of view….oh no! We get it in THREE peoples’ points of view. Maggie, the shattered and broken down, beautifully hurt girl; William, the man who loves her and always wants to ‘fix’ Maggie; and Asher, the very sexy neighbor with a few secrets of his own.
Maggie was the town slut….yes, the one that had her way with every man, married or not, some her doing…..others not so very much. Manipulation is an ugly being, and when you are young, lies and deceit are not fair….especially when your family doesn’t believe in you. But that was the young misunderstood Maggie….not the new Maggie, the one that wants to turn over a new leaf….to be a new person.
To be so hurt, so broken, so shattered…..she feels she doesn’t deserve to be loved. She hides behind walls that she has erected to protect herself and her heart. She needs to learn to let her inner demons out…..to release the anger she holds over herself in order to move on with her life. She has lost so much, and is afraid to let anyone else in…but she has so much to offer, if she would just allow herself to feel again.
William loved Maggie…..he wanted nothing more than to protect her. Maggie left him abruptly….left town, left him broken hearted and without a word……but a year later, she is back and a bridesmaid in her sister’s wedding to none other than William. It was odd…..because the pull William felt for Maggie was still very evident. William wanted to still protect her, to make sure she was ok. She wasn’t, and he knew it…..but she also wasn’t willing to let William back in. Maggie has been gone for a year…..her coming back has sparked something in William; something he didn’t think was there anymore. Something he thought he could deal with, but is quickly learning that he can’t.
Maggie used to sneak midnight swims in the neighbors pool….until one night she gets surprised when the neighbor happens to be standing there as she comes up for air. Asher was a very hot man; with a deep belief in life and love. Maggie knew her way to a man was to get in his pants….to have her way with them. She tried to put the moves on him, but he refused to give in to her sexual advances. Asher saw something in her…..he knew she was beautiful and deserved more than the quick sex she was throwing at him. He wanted a deeper connection to her because he saw something in her. Asher didn’t want to just sleep with her….he knew there was more to her than she was letting on. He made my heart smile….Asher was *swoon-worthy*! He truly wanted to treat her like the lady that he knew she was…..if he could only get her to realize it.
“Why me, Asher? I’m just some small-town slut with too much baggage. You could have anyone.” I can feel his heart beating against my cheek and its steady pace increases at my question. “Why me?”
“Sweetheart, when you know the answer to that question, we won’t be talking anymore.”
I pull back and blink at him. “You’ll be gone?”
His lips quirk. “I’ll be inside you.”
Asher was every bit the gentleman…..I totally and completely fell in love with him. He was the epitome of the perfect gentleman, saying and doing all the right things to make Maggie feel like the cherished woman she was and should feel like. I loved the way he talked to her….he didn’t use her for sex like all the other men did. He took her out…..and did special things with her. Asher made her look at life with a whole new meaning…..made her see life in a whole new light. He wanted to make her feel cherished and loved….something she deserved.
“I want you”—he tilts my chin toward the sky--to look at these stars”
“You don’t need to pretend to be strong with me, Maggie. Just be.”
I loved the way he protected her….he was always there to make her feel cherished, to protect her from the ‘townies’ that called her names from her past. He was such a good man…..she finds herself finally leaning on Asher and allowing him into her world….letting her walls down and opening up her heart to him. He is what she finally needed to live again….to breathe…..to love. She was able to open up and tell her deepest darkest secrets and free herself from their hold on her life.
Sadly, Maggie stumbles onto a part of Asher’s history that Maggie can’t come to grips with…..it tears her up. My heart literally broke for her! Her walls fly back up and she runs…..she needs to save her heart. Asher needs to set things straight and be a man….and oh my, does he ever. He had my heart from the beginning….he was pure in his love for Maggie, unadulterated and honest. He had such strong protective feelings for her and made sure she felt it all….he is her knight in shining armor and I completely fell for him!!!
This book left my head spinning and my heart exploding. The love is so evident and I love the way it was written. Lexi Ryan did a wonderful job making you see the story from ALL sides and living through each person’s feelings and emotions. This book was A M A Z I N G.
5 steamy and beautiful stars for this amazing book!
Love,
Bethany
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About the Author:
Lexi Ryan
Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I'm not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids--a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I'm feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I'm really, really slow) or do yoga. Don't worry, I'm always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.
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Wow, that's some high praise for this book! It sounds really interesting that there are three narrators, I can't think of any book I've read like that before. But I do love dual POV, so I would probably like triple POV too (triple - does that sounds right?)
ReplyDeleteBut, the way you talk about Asher, already has me swooning over him lol!! Excellent review :)
Amy @ The Reading Realm
Thanks Amy!! I really enjoyed this book....it wasnt bad going between them. I thought I would get a little confused....but it was a great read. And Asher....oh Asher. He is the epitome of swoon-worthy. He is the picture next to swoon-worthy in the dictionary!! ~Bethany
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