Best Kind of Broken
Chelsea Fine


Description (from Goodreads)

Pixie and Levi haven't spoken in nearly a year when they find themselves working―and living―at the same inn in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are... awkward.

All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.




*This book was received from Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I devoured this book. I really did. I finished it in about two days, although I had a lot of stuff to do.

Levi and Pixie were great characters. You just instantly were pulling for them. They were so broken and it was so clear that being with each other would help them get through it. I just wanted to smack each other over their heads and be like "Get it together!"

Yeah, I'm a sucker for reunion stories. And these two had history. Delicious history.

I loved Fine's sense of humor, which came out mostly in those scenes with Pixie and Jenna. And I also liked reading about Levi's and Pixie's backstory throughout the novel.

And I also liked that the characters didn't get together right away. It always seems like in this genre they just put aside their problems and proceed to the nearest bedroom. Yeah, we're all waiting for it, but let's not be too hasty. And Fine really took the majority of the book to develop their relationship. I think that was a natural progression, and while I wanted that tension to finally be broken, it would have made the book less if it had.

Of course there was a love triangle. There always is. But for once, the author handled it well. The story began with Pixie in a relationship, and after Levi re-enters her life, she inevitably dumps the other guy. She knows it's just not going to work. I don't mind if love triangles function as a plot device like as in this manner. The end of her relationship signaled her acceptance with the fact that the life she was living wasn't going to work. My only problem was that after Mark (or Matt, one of them's the boyfriend and the other is Levi's dad, which is a bit problematic, if you ask me) bows out, that's it. We literally don't hear anything about him again. What happened to him? Did he ever even confront Pixie?

And I would have liked more character development with Pixie's mom. She didn't have to see the light or anything, but...I don't know. Something was missing. But I loved the scene where Pixie told her off.

Also, Daren? I kept thinking that he would do something. I suppose that manifested in a way, but I kept wondering if he had nefarious plans. But I suspect he's going to be in a later book, so I don't think that was going to happen after all.

I picked this up on NetGalley and didn't go into it expecting much. Perhaps that is why I was so pleasantly surprised. I suspect I will be reading more from this author.

4/5