Broken

by Jessica Freely

LGBT Multicultural

Eben does what his brother, mob boss Nicky Flannery, tells him, even when he’s not so sure it’s right. Letting Nicky do his thinking for him is a lifelong habit. So is hiding the fact that he’s gay. Then Nicky buys a Hong Kong rent-boy to expand the mob's escort business and Eben's life gets a lot more complicated.

Forced into prostitution, Song Xiu is an unsentimental survivor. He takes his pleasures where he can and leaves his clients weak in the knees. Xiu knows he's hot for Eben's powerful body, but it’s more than that. Eben's kind face and gentle touch give Xiu a strange feeling that no amount of sex or drugs can banish. Is this what people call love?

Eben is instantly attracted to Xiu's erotic beauty, but it's the sweet young man beneath the glossy surface that he falls for. When he learns Xiu's story, he begins to wonder if Nicky is really the hero he grew up worshipping, or something else entirely.

An unguarded moment leads to a passionate encounter that rips away all of Xiu and Eben’s illusions. Suddenly the answers to their questions become alarmingly clear. They have one last chance to rescue each other from their broken lives, but only if they can survive Nicky's retribution.

Publisher's This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find dubious consent, male/male sexual practices, menage (m/m/m), prostitution.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, Abuse, Contemporary Romance, Erotica, Gay

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 20, 2011

About the author

Jessica Freely can't resist a wounded hero. As a reader and a writer, her favorite stories are of soul mates finding redemption in each other's arms. Married to the love of her life in a beautiful relationship based on mutual goofiness, Jessica also warps minds as an instructor in Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction MFA program. Her dog, Ruthie, doesn't seem to care that Jessica's an award-winning and best-selling author in multiple genres. She just wants to play tug of war with Jessica's pages.

Reviews

[Nikyta]

Damn, would you look at that cover? And holy shit mobsters? O_O

[Valentina Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally written for The Romance Reviews and can also be found there.


Ever read a book that screamed amazing, but you just didn't feel it? Wonderful characters, great plot line, sweet, adorable and even stupidly brave, but still, something just wasn't clicking. Well, it happened to me here, and I can't stop flipping the rating in my head.

Eben is the muscle for his brother Nicky, the mob boss. He does as he is told without questions, all the while hiding behind his false stupidity so that he doesn't have to think too hard about his actions. He holds onto the promise he made to his mother before she died – he would do anything to protect Nicky and listen to what he was told.

Things are working out on the surface. Ebon goes through life with amazing naivety, taking the verbal abuse from his brother and doing everything he can to make his conscience shut up and to hide the fact he's gay. But then in comes Xiu or Shoe, as Eben calls him, his brother's new rent-boy, and suddenly questions just won't stop and secrets keep wiggling their way out.

I thought the romance was very believable, the slow growth from liking someone to right out loving him. The small gestures and honest words made it work even in the trap of a life both Xiu and Eben had. The bad guys didn't hold their punches and although this wasn't really a story with detailed descriptions of all criminal activity, it was a story with just enough information to keep the reader intrigued.

The final resolution, or should I say the final road to happiness was written nicely, without loose ends and unbelievable scenarios. I was actually wondering how the author would do it and wasn't disappointed.

Still, throughout the story, something was missing. Eben's slowness or rather his naïve outlook into the world didn't sit well with me. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, which it never did. Everyone who's ever read my reviews knows I like sex in books, and don't mind a lot of it. In this one, although hot, it kept popping up in awful moments. Don't get me wrong, there wasn't a lot of sex, at all, but if felt more like it was placed there just to make things explicit when in all truth wasn't even necessary. Can't believe I'm going to say this, but it would have completely worked without the sex between the two main characters. They were sweet enough, even damaged enough that the story could have easily stood on simple affection. Oh, and I should mention that the first sex scene in the book is a ménage not including both characters.

I didn't catch any big flaws nor do I have an explanation why this book didn't click for me. I guess sometimes it just happens, and a wonderful book doesn't light a flame it should have. Nonetheless, this is a popular subject and a nicely written book that shouldn't be missed. I'm sure it will find its place on many shelves and become a favorite pastime for Yaoi fans. So I'm going with four stars, but I'm thinking three.

[Free_dreamer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, this book was just stupid. I hated Eben and Xiu wasn't much better.
Eben was the dumbest character I've ever met. His crime boss big brother tells him to pick up a guy from the airport. Says that the guy will tell him he's here with the international student exchange program (or something like that, anyway). What does Eben do? He tells his brother how nice it is of him to take on a Chinese exchange student. *facepalm* As if that wasn't bad enough, when does meet Xiu, who's dressed in a short school uniform and at one point behaves "like one of Nicky's girls" (prostitutes), Eben still buys the whole exchange student crap. On the way from the airport Xiu gets sick. At home, Nicky injects Xiu something he calls "ancient Chinese medicine". What does Eben do? "But you're no doctor, Nicky!" *bangs head against wall* Seriously, how naive and trusting and plain dumb can you be?
Everybody kept saying how very innocent and good Eben was. Even though he's part of the mafia and beats up everybody his big bro tells him to beat up. How can you be innocent and naive when you live a life like that? And then the dumb idiot keeps calling Xiu "Shoe" because he's too damn stupid to pronounce the name properly!!! It made me furious every time I read it. Made me roll my eyes when they had sex.
The few times I wasn't annoyed at Eben, I was annoyed at Xiu.
And then the plot. Seriously. Why the hell would you import a whore from China? A junkie whore, to top it off! If you want an Asian whore, I'm sure you can get one in America!
Oh yeah, and of course we had a lot of "I'm not good enough for him. He deserves someone better." going on on both sides.
At times, the plot was just ridiculous. And when it wasn't ridiculous, it was ridculously cheesy.
Seriously, if I'd read a print copy of this crap, I'd have thrown it against the wall!!!

[Chippy Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a while ago and loved it, but I hate writing reviews after a long time has past because it's hard to remember everything, just the general drift of how things went. BUT, the 5 does the speaking because I think I will probably do a re-read, because this was a hot book. Though, it did take a little getting into, but not much. On my to-read-again list.

[Simsala · Rating 1 out of 5]

A nice cup of coffee and a yummy peace of cake would have been the better choice.
The comparison to Yaoi is not an excuse - I`ve read many Yaois that were better than Broken.
Incredibly dumb cardboard characters in a pathetic story...no,thanks!

[Charly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many clichés for me

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 5/10

PROS:
- There’s enough unpleasantness in the early stages of the book that I doubted the author’s ability to bring things to a satisfactory (for me, that means happy) close. But I was pleased with the conclusion.
- For readers who like sex, there’s a decent amount of it here, and it’s pretty descriptive.
- (Disclaimer: I’m not sure whether this is a pro or a con.) Eben’s inability to pronounce Xiu’s name properly sort of made me think of Eben as an idiot, which I’m not sure is a positive character trait in a romantic hero. However, the simple-mindedness with which Eben views the world is also kind of refreshing at times. He is an interesting mix of naïve and tough.

CONS:
- The story incorporates one romance cliché after another: hurt character igniting passionate protective instinct in the other, immediate attraction, erotic dreams that begin soon after they meet, situation in which the guys want each other but simply cannot be together because Fate is cruel, etc.
- The dialogue sometimes sounds forced because the characters are saying things that people in that situation wouldn’t really say. I got the impression that the author was trying to convey details about time, place, background, etc. using dialogue when the characters would already know all of that information and probably wouldn’t talk about it.
- Freely’s phrasing is odd at times. I couldn’t figure out whether she was attempting flowery descriptions and just went overboard or she didn’t have a solid grip on the English language. Examples: “Xiu took a moment to run his hands over the muscles bunched there like boulders at the foot of a hillside”; “Shoe [pounded] Eben with relentless majesty.”

Overall comments: I like the premise here, and I really wanted to like the story. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t end up particularly liking it either. The story relies too heavily on cliché for my liking, and it takes a lot of depth in a story to make me believe in a romance between men who are 21 and 20 years old. This one simply didn’t do it for me. I started skimming about 40 percent in.

[Heather♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a random comment but as a niggle of mine (I know bitch, bitch) the early menage scene caused me to have a few doubts as to whether I would truly enjoy this story after all. I'm not a big fan of random menages unless they end up being in a relationship and then it can be quite hot. Here it just wasn't, but for good reason. They were simply trying out Xiu as the new whore. What I wasn't expecting was for Xiu to be begging for it and quite satisfied at the end (since he didn't want to be there) or for Eben to be quite so devastated by witnessing it (since he and Xiu had just met). It showed us a side of Xiu that I thought maybe sweet Eben shouldn't be around. So it took me a bit longer to warm up to him. But Xiu's mindset was still understandable though. Besides now being a drug addict, he had been forced into prostitution so in order to survive he was going to make the best of the situation and take advantage of certain things at the same time. He was a manipulative professional. But then he met Eben who saw him as a person instead of a plaything, and he began to have hope for a brighter future for the first time in a long time. And even though he was super sweet, I thought Eben was a bit too naive about things (as in, dumber than dirt - exchange student, really?), especially where Nicky was concerned. But his time with Xiu finally allowed him to wake up and make changes in his life for the better. Their struggles to break free from all the brutality kept me turning the pages and I enjoyed their personal growth along the way. Even though the epilogue was a bit frustrating because I would have liked to have heard more of what had happened during those five years, I thought the very end with Xiu's visitor was quite fitting.

[Tj · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet story. Eben is so abused and doesn't even seem to realize it. Xiu is a "junky whore" that has been forced into the life he is living and sold to Eben's brother Nicky. Nicky is a pretty typical "mobster", loves his brother but his "business" comes first. Eben seems really naive even given the fact that he has been a bit sheltered by his brother and his supposed low intelligence. Still it is a lovely written story and the romance is sugary, sweet:)

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm finding this hard to rate. On one hand, I really liked Eben. He is sweetly naive despite the fact he knows what Nicky does is wrong and the world he lives in is harsh. I had a hard time reconciling the facets of Xiu's personality though - the hardened junkie whore vs the sweet man boy who wanted to be a doctor. The pair is sweet together, though I just felt something was missing.

[Heidi Belleau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stayed up all night reading it, and despite my best efforts, couldn't put it down. I really can't give it a more glowing review than that! The characterization of Eben and all the supporting characters was really nuanced and interesting. I loved how complex his relationship with his brother was and genuinely didn't know how things were going to pan out! Immensely readable!

[♥J ♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to review, as it had the right plot elements to be good, it had likeable characters and it was told decently enough. It still lacked something for me though. It needed to be more gripping, more sweet, and the sex scenes needed to be hotter.

[Sammy Goode · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic Justice...that is what happens in this novel, Broken by Jessica Freely...poetic justice. Some might see it as too neatly wrapping up a story...too sweet a happy ever after...an unrealistic outcome to an otherwise incredibly taut, action filled, intense dramatic novel. I call it poetic---the good get living and the bad get what they deserve. Ah...if only life could imitate art more often then we would hear a story such as this every time we opened a newspaper or turned on the television. One where a young man forced into sexual slavery and force fed heroin until he was addicted is actually set free from both his addiction and his live of slavery. Xiu comes to America to be sold to Nicky Flannery, a lowlife scum, who deals in sex and drugs. But perhaps Nicky's greatest crime is the way he treats his brother Eben. With disdain and ridicule, constantly reminding him of a deathbed promise to their mother and that his brother has not one thought to call his own--Nicky slowly grinds Eben down into a broken tortured soul, who thinks little of himself and believes everything his bastard of a brother tells him. One day, on a delivery for Nicky, Eben meets Xiu...and poetic justice begins it's slow and steady march across the pages of this novel as one barrier after another is erected and smashed much like the chains that hold both Eben and Xiu in their crippling brokenness.

This is a love story...a story of two souls that collide at just the right moment and the winds of destiny are forever shifted. Jessica Freely writes a compelling story, a hot, sensual story that never shies away from exploring the seedy underbelly of the drug and sex slave trade. While she does wrap up her story into an incredibly unbelievable happy ending (hence the 4 star rating) you still feel yourself sighing with gratitude that these two men made it--not only do they survive but they come away healed, ready to face a future together that promises to be sweet and gentle and kind...ah the beauty of poetic justice. I strongly recommend this book. It is well worth the almost overly sweet ending to read Eben and Xiu's story...to see two men who have suffered so much finally get what they deserve...love.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Xiu Song (Shoe) – a 20 year old, strung out junkie…with an enormous sweet tooth. He is forced to pay a debt to Uncle Lao (fucker) through prostitution. Xiu is sold to Nicky Flannery to be contracted/prostituted out to Nicky’s clients.

Nicky Flannery is a pimp and drug dealer with a stable of “girls” that keeps him rolling in the dough. Xiu is the latest edition to the stables that adds some new variety to Nicky’s organization.

Eben Flannery – brother to Nicky…in-the-closet enforcer for the Flannery Organization….in the beginning. He depends on his brother and does whatever his brother tells him to do. It is because of a promise that they made to their ma on her death bed. He is the muscle for his brother. He runs errands and did the dirty work. One of the errands is a pick up at the airport. He meets and falls hard for Xiu but doesn’t realize what those warm and fuzzies mean in the beginning.

”Something tightened in his chest, like a big rubber band was wrapped around it. It was hard to breathe.”

The attraction is so thick; you could cut it with a knife.

”You're sex on wheels, Shoe. I pop a boner at the sight of your left eyebrow.” - Love that!

It comes down to Eben having to make some hard decisions about what he want in his life. It’s hard to believe that he’s only 21. There is an innocence underneath that Nicky does not see, could not see, would not see. But Xiu does, and he’s determined to make it better for Eben. Both Eben and Shoe have to become strong for one another. And they each go through a lot to get there.

I had a hard time working through some parts of this read. Did not like the way Xiu was treated by the Uncle. There are some cruel and violent parts in this book, so look out. All in all, it was an enjoyable read with a HEA. Eben and Shoe were made for each other.

[KV Taylor]

I sat down and read this in a few hours tonight straight through, so you know it gets the thumbs up.

Imagine the chaotic, confused lovechild of yaoi manga and The Friends of Eddie Coyle and you're there. There's some massive angst and heavy issues -- drug addiction, organized crime, human trafficking, torture. They're treated with appropriate gravity, but at the same time with a kind of light touch you'd expect from... pretty much what I said up there in the first sentence. That's what makes it the kind of story you can read in one sitting and smile real big when you put it down.

And then there are the random Bruce Lee references. There's a chapter called Enter the Eben. Oh man. Gotta love an author who knows how to place her homage in perspective.

In spite of the massive stereotype potential of most of the characters (we've even got a Heart of Gold in there -- or two, really...), and their occasional adherence to said types, they come off as individually sweet and stupid and dragged me right along. I'm pretty touchy about exoticism -- with good reason -- but there was no creepy fetishizing going on here. Appreciation, yeah, but dude, it's a romance novel. There's a difference, and I dig that she got it.

There's definitely that manga, almost anime element to both characters and plot, and it works decidedly in the book's favor. Dark in its way, but ultimately sweet.

It's one of those books that I think people taking it out of context probably won't get, but people who know where it's coming from can love. I definitely had myself a good time, and will be looking up the old backlist, best believe.

PS- Not doing stars cuz this is from one of my own publishers. Every author has their own policy blah blah blah... <3

[leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good gangster/rentboy story with distinctly drawn, heroic characters.

Eben, just turned 21, is an enforcer in a Boston Irish gang run by his older brother, Nicky, who is Eben’s entire world. Xiu, forced into prostitution and heroin addiction in his teens, is the newest acquisition into Nicky’s escort business.

Xiu is younger than Eben, but vastly more worldly. He sees the obstacles to any kind of future between them more clearly even than Eben, who is closeted and at the mercy of his brother and the gang. I liked the tone of the narrative, which alternated between cynical realism and flashes of daring, trepidatious hope on the part of both characters. Some of the realities of organized crime, drug dealing, addiction, and indentured service were spelled out. If the eventual resolution to these was a little too easy, I’m forgiving of that in a yaoi-influenced romance.

Each character helped the other to find the best in himself, and the strength to escape his situation. Along the way, there were tender moments, very nicely executed sex scenes, and enough action plot to keep the pace brisk. A satisfying epilogue wraps the story up for all concerned.

Recommended.

[Sumire-chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I upgraded this to 4 stars after a second read.
I didn't give it enough credit the first time, and I was also a little miffed that Eben seemed incapable of pronouncing Xiu's name, thus making me have to read the word "Shoe" more times than anyone should ever have to.
It is actually pretty rare to have a book where the Asian (and smaller, physically weaker) main character isn't strictly submissive or on the receiving end during sex. It is most of the times not even considered or brought up in a book that the roles just play out that way. And even if it is, it's some big deal, some past trauma, a chip on the shoulder that makes a character only want to top. As if who penetrates whom says anything about their personality or dominance or submission or whatever stupid notions people have.
I loved the dynamic between Eben and Xiu, how they both grew to understand what they were feeling and adapt to the new situation.
I would have liked to see a bit more about them adapting to life after taking Nicky and co. down, but it was a satisfying conclusion nonetheless.

[Tamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt so awful for Xiu, forced into such a rough life, addicted to drugs against his will. But he deals, very strong. Eben is a surprise. At first he comes across as almost a simpleton. But really, he just has a very soft heart, a big soul. I enjoyed the story line and very quickly learned to really hate Nicky. I never really 'saw' Eben. I'm so sorry for the way things ended between Eben and Nicky, but it was almost the only way for Eben and Xiu to move forward. Good story. Recommended

[Darkm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice book about how meeting the right person can change the shape of someone's life, and for the best. Eben is a good man, but to not break a promise made to his mother when she was dying, he has become a thug bending to his brother whims, even when all he has to do is beat and scare people. Xiu is a prostitute and addicted to heroine, and he doesn't believe his future can hold something more than this. Despite everything they fell in love and manage to build a good future.
I loved the message: our lives are very much our owns and we can always try to change them and make them better.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the start I did not know if I really liked this authors style of writting. There were a lot of dream sceens. I was screaming, "Get on with it, get the characters together." Once the characters got together I fell in love with the story and the writting. I ended up staying up all night reading the book. Meaning I started the book when I went to bed, planning to read for a few hours, and when the bedroom got lighter and lighter I realized that I had stayed up all night reading. Messed up my sleep pattern, but Im retired so its all good.

[Det · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.6

I just felt that there should be more stronger base of loyalty that Xiu and Eben had for each other than what is shown in the story.I know it's weird or something but I was bothered because I felt more of the bond, brotherly love and loyalty of Nicky and Eben, I was saddened for what happened between them. I mean for that kind of strong bond & trust, of years for being always there for each other to be betrayed there should be more in Xiu and Eben's story that I didn't see. (❛︵❛)


Despite that it was still a good read!! so enjoy! ◕‿◕

[Sucajo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about this book when I started reading it but I gave it a go because it was the BOM. I ended up really enjoying it. I didn't particularly like Xiu at the start of the story, particularly in the menage scene, but as the story progressed he did grow on me. I found Eben a much more lovable character and who wouldn't love a man who drinks cold coffee! As I was reading, I couldn't see how the story would resolve itself but the ending suited the book - not too sweet.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but it felt a little like fan fiction. It's seems Yaoi influenced with the main character Eben loving Manga comics and the rent boy Song Xiu apparently looking exactly like a Manga character. Everyone seemed like characters too with the typical bad guys, good guys roles well defined and the action a little cartoonish.

[SueM · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
A good to very good M/M romance novel about two men who have been forced into a lifestyle not of their own choosing. Both men have been damaged by their past, but as they slowly become closer to each other, they become aware that perhaps with each other's help, they can escape the ties that bind them to their current roles. It is a novel of self growth, courage and love.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another weird plot/story that was surprisingly good. This author obviously has a talent for taking unlikely characters and relationships and giving them a happy ending. I loved 'Shoe' and Eben a lot.

For most of the book I really couldn't see how they were going to get out of their situations and get together in the end. But Ms. Freely made it happen. It was a very satisfying read.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tough book to read. And not because anything about it was bad. The writing was great, the story super interesting, it was just hard to see them kept apart. Two really sweet guys in what seemed to be an impossible situation. I stayed up way too late to read this which says a lot. I really, really got sucked right it. Great read! :D

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Disclosure - I received a copy from a Goodreads giveaway.***

I've never read yaoi or any other books like this (male/male erotica) before, so I don't have much to compare it to.

It was good and fast paced.

The love story was nice, the action worked well, and the erotic scenes were good too.

[Ilona Fenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, Intriguing, Intense all could be used for this story. Both main characters fit the title of Broken but at the same time they are both good people caught in a bad situation. I loved how they interacted and how the secondary characters were equally well written and helped make this a story I enjoyed reading immensely.

[pbj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half rounded up to four because it was much better than a lot of books I've given a three to, but somehow I didn't totally connect with this book. It felt predictable. Good, but unsurprising.

Plus - any book with a PL Nunn cover is an immediate yum!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good m/m romance about a naive, closeted, yaoi-loving enforcer who works for his mobster brother. Things start to fall apart for him when he becomes entranced by a prostitute his brother has just purchased from China.

[Ashley♥Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 3.5 read but I had to bump it up for the amazing "i cant believe that just happened" ending. The last quarter of this story was CRAZY good. Really exciting and well written, I'll have to pick up this author again.