What do you think?
Rate this book
Broken
Bailey Wrenn is a small town girl with a big back story. Her mother left when she was young, leaving her in the care of an out of touch alcoholic father that barely noticed her existence. After trudging through life with no clear direction, she begins to wonder if she needs to leave this scarred memory of a town behind and finally move on. When Bailey hears from her friend Julie that life in Chicago is great and she should come out sometime, she takes that open invitation, and comes to visit her old friend with no idea of when she’s going to leave.
One night, after Julie drags her from the apartment to see a local fight, she sees Kyle, a mysterious MMA fighter with a winning streak and an elusive personality. He doesn’t talk to anybody after his fights, and disappears faster than Bailey can blink. One day during a chance encounter filling out job applications, Bailey runs into Kyle at his work, and the electricity between them is bright enough to light up the city.
It’s only when they begin to get close, though, that things are turned upside down. An old boyfriend and a brutal and devastating past makes Bailey believe she can’t be close to another man ever again, even if he seems perfect. She feels alone. She’s broken.
HEA and no cliffhanger! This is a standalone novel.
*This book is recommended for readers 17 and up for violence, language, and some adult situations.*
219 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2014
40 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
M.L. Young
27 books81 followersM.L. Young is an author currently living in Illinois. She is the author of The Stipulation Serials. To find out more and to stay up to date on all things related to the books, follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
twitter.com/realmlyoung
facebook.com/realmlyoung
twitter.com/realmlyoung
facebook.com/realmlyoung
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
May 19, 2014
I feel like I read the wrong novel.
I was so enthusiastic to read this novel. The synopsis intrigued me. And when I read the first few pages, I was instantly piqued. But it all went downhill after the succeeding pages.
Another thing I'd like to add: Bailey and Kyle were boring. There wasn't any dynamic to their relationship. They didn't even argue at each other! There's no conflict between the two of them which is unusual for a relationship. I guess I was looking for some excitement in this sea of static.
Erika's Review pretty much sums up all of my feelings for this novel. I was greatly disappointed, I actually skimmed through the pages until the end.
I was so enthusiastic to read this novel. The synopsis intrigued me. And when I read the first few pages, I was instantly piqued. But it all went downhill after the succeeding pages.
Another thing I'd like to add: Bailey and Kyle were boring. There wasn't any dynamic to their relationship. They didn't even argue at each other! There's no conflict between the two of them which is unusual for a relationship. I guess I was looking for some excitement in this sea of static.
Erika's Review pretty much sums up all of my feelings for this novel. I was greatly disappointed, I actually skimmed through the pages until the end.
June 10, 2014
This is a enjoyable book. I love Kyle. Bailey meh. There are aspects of this book that are wonderful and aspects that need some TLC. First the author has a good idea and the overall story is good. Kyle is the kindest, most patient guy I have read about. The view of Buddhism with MMA is interesting and how he treats Bailey is incredible. His hard work ethic is great to see as well.
The book falters with Bailey and how some of the aspects are drawn out. Bailey is wishy washy and she is confusing. I know that some of that confusion is needed but her character is not all together. Bailey has had a hard life and that life has gone over into her adulthood. She feels trapped so she walks away from her life and goes to Chicago. Here she meets Kyle and begins to put herself together.
She does hide from Kyle and even when she shouldn't she does. Kyle really never gets the full story about Robert when it comes to the texts. She hides to the last possible moment about the therapist. She hides or omits telling things. Her dad she doesn't face and blames for her mom. Your dad can't shoulder everything, your mom made the decision.
As for the Robert story, this is a interesting plot twist but Robert isn't really believable with all he did. Some is but some isn't. The drugs are believable but what he did for drugs meh. His ability to find her and get away for so long no I mean after all that time he finally wants her again and than goes all gungho no doesn't really sit well. No one knew where she went but he found her easily. Hard to swallow. And how he looks and acts is a little overboard. I understand why this was done it helps to get the reader vested but here it is a wee bit much.
Bailey is made stronger by Kyle. Kyle really makes this story. I know the story is about Bailey and her growing stronger and into her own but really Kyle is how this all occurs. and he is the star of this book.
A nice story on love and how it help people shine and feel safe enough to find themselves and become stronger people.
The book falters with Bailey and how some of the aspects are drawn out. Bailey is wishy washy and she is confusing. I know that some of that confusion is needed but her character is not all together. Bailey has had a hard life and that life has gone over into her adulthood. She feels trapped so she walks away from her life and goes to Chicago. Here she meets Kyle and begins to put herself together.
She does hide from Kyle and even when she shouldn't she does. Kyle really never gets the full story about Robert when it comes to the texts. She hides to the last possible moment about the therapist. She hides or omits telling things. Her dad she doesn't face and blames for her mom. Your dad can't shoulder everything, your mom made the decision.
As for the Robert story, this is a interesting plot twist but Robert isn't really believable with all he did. Some is but some isn't. The drugs are believable but what he did for drugs meh. His ability to find her and get away for so long no I mean after all that time he finally wants her again and than goes all gungho no doesn't really sit well. No one knew where she went but he found her easily. Hard to swallow. And how he looks and acts is a little overboard. I understand why this was done it helps to get the reader vested but here it is a wee bit much.
Bailey is made stronger by Kyle. Kyle really makes this story. I know the story is about Bailey and her growing stronger and into her own but really Kyle is how this all occurs. and he is the star of this book.
A nice story on love and how it help people shine and feel safe enough to find themselves and become stronger people.
May 13, 2014
1.5 Stars.
Broken, was just that. Broken. The dialogue was stilted and came off very juvenile at times. This just created so many problems with the book. The main characters had no chemistry. The dramatic aspects of the book lacked any kind of actual suspense. I think the worst part of this was that the storyline of the trauma that Bailey faced prior to moving to Chicago was handled terribly and very unrealistically. At least a year of trying to ignore and repress a supposed major sexual trauma and she goes to one short counseling session and she is okay? I get that this was a short book and the storyline was moving along in hyperdrive. Seriously, even Han Solo would have been impressed with the speed at which this book progressed. Anyway, she does continue with therapy, but it really bothered me how she had been struggling for that long and all of the sudden she is no longer broken and has no problem facing her ex.
So. I can't say that this was absolutely terrible. However, it most definitely was not good. If there is some serious tweaking of the dialogue, pacing, and general "feel" of the book, there may be potential for the storyline.
Arc provided by Netgalley for a honest review.
Broken, was just that. Broken. The dialogue was stilted and came off very juvenile at times. This just created so many problems with the book. The main characters had no chemistry. The dramatic aspects of the book lacked any kind of actual suspense. I think the worst part of this was that the storyline of the trauma that Bailey faced prior to moving to Chicago was handled terribly and very unrealistically. At least a year of trying to ignore and repress a supposed major sexual trauma and she goes to one short counseling session and she is okay? I get that this was a short book and the storyline was moving along in hyperdrive. Seriously, even Han Solo would have been impressed with the speed at which this book progressed. Anyway, she does continue with therapy, but it really bothered me how she had been struggling for that long and all of the sudden she is no longer broken and has no problem facing her ex.
So. I can't say that this was absolutely terrible. However, it most definitely was not good. If there is some serious tweaking of the dialogue, pacing, and general "feel" of the book, there may be potential for the storyline.
Arc provided by Netgalley for a honest review.
February 22, 2017
I received this free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
The synopsis was amazing when I first got this book. It sounded very similar to "Beautiful Disaster" by Jamie McGuire, which I absolutely love, so I was very excited to read another novel like that.
This is nothing like BD... First, I really dislike the dialogue in this book. It's stilted, awkward, and sounds like they are learning English as a second language and not sure which words to use in their sentence. Second, I don't really like Bailey. I mean, she's fine I guess, but there's no personality to her. She's just there and going through the motions, but not really getting into anything. Kyle is alright, but again, no feelings when it comes to him.
It's almost like the author knows how to write when they are doing, but not what they are feeling and doesn't know how to put it down in words to make it flow better.
So, yeah, this book. I just couldn't. I really wanted to like it, but definitely didn't, sadly.
The synopsis was amazing when I first got this book. It sounded very similar to "Beautiful Disaster" by Jamie McGuire, which I absolutely love, so I was very excited to read another novel like that.
This is nothing like BD... First, I really dislike the dialogue in this book. It's stilted, awkward, and sounds like they are learning English as a second language and not sure which words to use in their sentence. Second, I don't really like Bailey. I mean, she's fine I guess, but there's no personality to her. She's just there and going through the motions, but not really getting into anything. Kyle is alright, but again, no feelings when it comes to him.
It's almost like the author knows how to write when they are doing, but not what they are feeling and doesn't know how to put it down in words to make it flow better.
So, yeah, this book. I just couldn't. I really wanted to like it, but definitely didn't, sadly.
September 8, 2014
I have to agree with the previous reviewers.
I've bumped it from 2 stars to 3 because it has great potential to be an excellent story with some help from an editor. Even talking to another author who can give some imput of some kind.
It had a great all round feel to it, but many a times it fell flat on its face. Because I read many books [as most reviewer/readers do] we often times come across similar things in the same genre and I have to say, I've read stories like this before. Just a little spice, something challenging in between the pages and it could be a wrap.
I give honest feed back, my own thoughts and I wish no harm to the author. This is just my humble opinion and take on it. I struggled a lot with this book. But I did read it until the end, so that proves to me, there is a lot there than can be altered to keep full attention of a reader.
I've bumped it from 2 stars to 3 because it has great potential to be an excellent story with some help from an editor. Even talking to another author who can give some imput of some kind.
It had a great all round feel to it, but many a times it fell flat on its face. Because I read many books [as most reviewer/readers do] we often times come across similar things in the same genre and I have to say, I've read stories like this before. Just a little spice, something challenging in between the pages and it could be a wrap.
I give honest feed back, my own thoughts and I wish no harm to the author. This is just my humble opinion and take on it. I struggled a lot with this book. But I did read it until the end, so that proves to me, there is a lot there than can be altered to keep full attention of a reader.
June 3, 2014
review to come soon...
March 13, 2016
Sometimes it happens that we find some lucky good readings, a lot of them being of this new kind in vogue which is New Adult. With Broken I was agreeably surprised, I enormously appreciated my reading which I finally found a little too short. The auteure describes the complicated life of Bailey who until now did not have any luck, which does not know how to be happy and make the things occur well for her. Then there come Kyle who will help her, make her discover Chicago and what is it to be happy, carefree. The love, fights, the black past, the lack of confidence, all that makes this novel more interesting!
Bailey is an intelligent young person who doesn't move, not knowing really what she wants to make of her life, except to leave her father and her hometown. She will be lucky and will seize the opportunity to go to Chicago. We follows as a result the difficulty of adapting to a big city, to be make friends, to find a job and to fall in love. Bailey's life never was easy, on the contrary. All that worked her and not necesary in the good way. She does not manage to completely trust people nor her feelings. She is also a coward by times, but it will evolve little by little. The only thing that I have to reproach her, it is the too large number of things that she hide from Kyle, while knowing that will get her some problems early or later.
Kyle is an young man whom we can only appreciate. He resembles on certain points to Bailey. He left his suburbs town in order to changen and to have an objective in his life. He is a serious student, which works and fights in a pledge to pay his studies. He is a complex interesting character. He is an enthusiastic Buddhist and pacifist, and yet it is a famous MMA fighter. He seems sure of himself with Bailey, whereas he is nervous. But he is the perfect man who sells us dreams and I will not feel sorry for that!!
Concerning the supporting characters, some are more proposed than others, evolving during the story or not. But they play a whole part in the evolution of Bailey and her relation with Kyle. Julie, Bailey's BFF, she is the reason which made that the young girl comes to Chicago and yet she seems to be more lost than Bailey. She is the stereotype type of the countryside's girl which was integrated into the town life perhaps a little too well. Bailey's father will also change in a radical way, just like his daughter. Bailey's boss is the kind of boss whom we would like to have, understanding, nice. And there is obviously the dangerous psychopath ex-boyfriend which will give a little prickly to the story.
The intrigue concentrates primarily on the passage at the adulthood of Bailey. The first job, searches of a goal, first true love, family reconciliation. All passes there and with enough accuracy so that does not make it too obvious, too simple, too readable. But what is most interesting, it is the impact of the past on the couple which form Bailey and Kyle. She will have to trust to tell him everything and be able to make a fresh start, but not only that. That will gave her a chance to discover certain things about herself and finally to be able again to feel in love.
Broken is an excellent novel primarily centered on the emotion. It is touching, sometimes poignant and its short format makes it possible, not to have too long scenes which could have been useless. Moreover, the MMA's fights scenes adds action and gives rhythm to the story. Even if that can give an impression of deja vu, but that did not obstruct me more than that and I recommend this book to the fans of this kind!!
Bailey is an intelligent young person who doesn't move, not knowing really what she wants to make of her life, except to leave her father and her hometown. She will be lucky and will seize the opportunity to go to Chicago. We follows as a result the difficulty of adapting to a big city, to be make friends, to find a job and to fall in love. Bailey's life never was easy, on the contrary. All that worked her and not necesary in the good way. She does not manage to completely trust people nor her feelings. She is also a coward by times, but it will evolve little by little. The only thing that I have to reproach her, it is the too large number of things that she hide from Kyle, while knowing that will get her some problems early or later.
Kyle is an young man whom we can only appreciate. He resembles on certain points to Bailey. He left his suburbs town in order to changen and to have an objective in his life. He is a serious student, which works and fights in a pledge to pay his studies. He is a complex interesting character. He is an enthusiastic Buddhist and pacifist, and yet it is a famous MMA fighter. He seems sure of himself with Bailey, whereas he is nervous. But he is the perfect man who sells us dreams and I will not feel sorry for that!!
Concerning the supporting characters, some are more proposed than others, evolving during the story or not. But they play a whole part in the evolution of Bailey and her relation with Kyle. Julie, Bailey's BFF, she is the reason which made that the young girl comes to Chicago and yet she seems to be more lost than Bailey. She is the stereotype type of the countryside's girl which was integrated into the town life perhaps a little too well. Bailey's father will also change in a radical way, just like his daughter. Bailey's boss is the kind of boss whom we would like to have, understanding, nice. And there is obviously the dangerous psychopath ex-boyfriend which will give a little prickly to the story.
The intrigue concentrates primarily on the passage at the adulthood of Bailey. The first job, searches of a goal, first true love, family reconciliation. All passes there and with enough accuracy so that does not make it too obvious, too simple, too readable. But what is most interesting, it is the impact of the past on the couple which form Bailey and Kyle. She will have to trust to tell him everything and be able to make a fresh start, but not only that. That will gave her a chance to discover certain things about herself and finally to be able again to feel in love.
Broken is an excellent novel primarily centered on the emotion. It is touching, sometimes poignant and its short format makes it possible, not to have too long scenes which could have been useless. Moreover, the MMA's fights scenes adds action and gives rhythm to the story. Even if that can give an impression of deja vu, but that did not obstruct me more than that and I recommend this book to the fans of this kind!!
May 2, 2016
Review originally posted at Ramblings From This Chick
I have been looking forward to reading Broken since I first read the blurb. Unfortunately once I started reading this one, it just never really was able to fully come together. I thought that the main characters were likable enough, but I was just never fully engaged in this story. I thought that this one had a lot of promise, and the story could have been really good but it had a lot of areas that I thought could have used improvement.
Bailey was left as a child by her mother, and ever since her father has been a drunk. She goes to school and tries to avoid home as much as possible. She ends up going to stay with a friend of hers in Chicago to get out of town. While looking for a job and adjusting to city life, she ends up meeting a sexy fighter. They are attracted to each other and instantly hit it off. They start dating and things are going great until someone from Bailey's past reappears and threatens to ruin everything. Bailey is also struggling with a painful event in her past, and it makes it hard for her to get close to Kyle. Can Kyle and Bailey find a way to overcome her past and move forward together?
I liked Kyle. He was sweet and kind, and was really caring and patient. He accepted Bailey for who she was and let her know that he was always there for her. He let her take her time with everything and gave her space when she needed it. But his character had some conflicting beliefs to me, and no matter how much the author tried to reason it out with Kyle's explanations it just didn't work for me. He was a fighter but also a Buddhist. It was just really confusing. I thought that Bailey's character was also a bit weak. She would say one thing and then in the next sentence would say the complete opposite thing. She had trouble making up her mind, and she didn't really have anything to make her stand out. While she was likable, she wasn't overly special or memorable. I felt like Kyle and Bailey did have chemistry, and they got along great but there wasn't a lot of heat between them. This one was pretty light on the physical action, and I think that in this case the story suffered a bit for it.
I also felt like the dialogue needed some work. A lot of it was almost robotic feeling and just seemed pretty awkward at times. The whole book also felt sort of rushed to me. Things seemed to progress at an advanced rate, and it just wasn't natural to me. Without going into too many details, I just felt like Bailey's past incident came out of nowhere and them before long she isn't struggling with it anymore but all of a sudden she is capable of facing it down on her own. It just didn't seem realistic to me, and I thought that she was at times completely over it but then when it came to anything physical with Kyle all of a sudden it was right back to where she had been before. I do think that this book had some promise, but unfortunately it just fell short. While I did like Kyle and Bailey, this one just wasn't for me.
**Copy Provided by Author**
I have been looking forward to reading Broken since I first read the blurb. Unfortunately once I started reading this one, it just never really was able to fully come together. I thought that the main characters were likable enough, but I was just never fully engaged in this story. I thought that this one had a lot of promise, and the story could have been really good but it had a lot of areas that I thought could have used improvement.
Bailey was left as a child by her mother, and ever since her father has been a drunk. She goes to school and tries to avoid home as much as possible. She ends up going to stay with a friend of hers in Chicago to get out of town. While looking for a job and adjusting to city life, she ends up meeting a sexy fighter. They are attracted to each other and instantly hit it off. They start dating and things are going great until someone from Bailey's past reappears and threatens to ruin everything. Bailey is also struggling with a painful event in her past, and it makes it hard for her to get close to Kyle. Can Kyle and Bailey find a way to overcome her past and move forward together?
I liked Kyle. He was sweet and kind, and was really caring and patient. He accepted Bailey for who she was and let her know that he was always there for her. He let her take her time with everything and gave her space when she needed it. But his character had some conflicting beliefs to me, and no matter how much the author tried to reason it out with Kyle's explanations it just didn't work for me. He was a fighter but also a Buddhist. It was just really confusing. I thought that Bailey's character was also a bit weak. She would say one thing and then in the next sentence would say the complete opposite thing. She had trouble making up her mind, and she didn't really have anything to make her stand out. While she was likable, she wasn't overly special or memorable. I felt like Kyle and Bailey did have chemistry, and they got along great but there wasn't a lot of heat between them. This one was pretty light on the physical action, and I think that in this case the story suffered a bit for it.
I also felt like the dialogue needed some work. A lot of it was almost robotic feeling and just seemed pretty awkward at times. The whole book also felt sort of rushed to me. Things seemed to progress at an advanced rate, and it just wasn't natural to me. Without going into too many details, I just felt like Bailey's past incident came out of nowhere and them before long she isn't struggling with it anymore but all of a sudden she is capable of facing it down on her own. It just didn't seem realistic to me, and I thought that she was at times completely over it but then when it came to anything physical with Kyle all of a sudden it was right back to where she had been before. I do think that this book had some promise, but unfortunately it just fell short. While I did like Kyle and Bailey, this one just wasn't for me.
**Copy Provided by Author**
September 9, 2014
Reviewed on behalf of Fictional BookHos:
+++
This is a sweet book with a lot of potential, but I'm sorry to say it fell flat for me in several areas.
The book features a young 19 year old girl, Bailey, and a handsome and mysterious fighter named Kyle. Bailey's mother abandoned her and her father when she was 5 years old. We never learned why. This tore up her father, sending him into the land of alcoholism. Growing up was not a happy time for Bailey. Her father never abused her, but he did tend to neglect her while he was drinking and passing out on the sofa.
Bailey manages to get into college in her small Illinois town, but on the spur of the moment decides to chuck it all and go stay with her friend in Chicago. It's here she meets Kyle. He is a devastatingly handsome fighter who has never lost a match. He has a reputation of being an enigma, a ghost who never stays around after his matches. He shows up, wins, and then quietly leaves.
But Bailey runs into him at a local coffee shop and they begin a tentative relationship. You see Bailey has intimacy issues because of a horrible thing that happened to her several years ago. I won't go into detail here, but suffice to say it involved and old boyfriend, who unexpectedly shows up in Chicago and begins stalking her.
I liked Bailey, and felt bad for what happened to her, but she did seem to me to be very immature. She was seeing Kyle regularly for weeks, but still did not consider herself to be his girlfriend because he had not asked her to be. Kyle finally took her to a nice restaurant and formally asked her to be his girlfriend, almost like a marriage proposal. It just felt weird to me, as if it was not official until he asked her.
Later they do a pinky swear about something, which seemed more than a bit juvenile to me. Although they kiss and cuddle, they do not get seriously intimate until the very end of the book. I felt bad for Kyle. He must have had a very bad case of blue balls by then.
When they finally do decide to get it on, they plan it out two weeks in advance. It was not spontaneous in any way and felt very sterile because of that. I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think it has a great premise, but unfortunately it was just unable to live up to it.
+++
This is a sweet book with a lot of potential, but I'm sorry to say it fell flat for me in several areas.
The book features a young 19 year old girl, Bailey, and a handsome and mysterious fighter named Kyle. Bailey's mother abandoned her and her father when she was 5 years old. We never learned why. This tore up her father, sending him into the land of alcoholism. Growing up was not a happy time for Bailey. Her father never abused her, but he did tend to neglect her while he was drinking and passing out on the sofa.
Bailey manages to get into college in her small Illinois town, but on the spur of the moment decides to chuck it all and go stay with her friend in Chicago. It's here she meets Kyle. He is a devastatingly handsome fighter who has never lost a match. He has a reputation of being an enigma, a ghost who never stays around after his matches. He shows up, wins, and then quietly leaves.
But Bailey runs into him at a local coffee shop and they begin a tentative relationship. You see Bailey has intimacy issues because of a horrible thing that happened to her several years ago. I won't go into detail here, but suffice to say it involved and old boyfriend, who unexpectedly shows up in Chicago and begins stalking her.
I liked Bailey, and felt bad for what happened to her, but she did seem to me to be very immature. She was seeing Kyle regularly for weeks, but still did not consider herself to be his girlfriend because he had not asked her to be. Kyle finally took her to a nice restaurant and formally asked her to be his girlfriend, almost like a marriage proposal. It just felt weird to me, as if it was not official until he asked her.
Later they do a pinky swear about something, which seemed more than a bit juvenile to me. Although they kiss and cuddle, they do not get seriously intimate until the very end of the book. I felt bad for Kyle. He must have had a very bad case of blue balls by then.
When they finally do decide to get it on, they plan it out two weeks in advance. It was not spontaneous in any way and felt very sterile because of that. I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think it has a great premise, but unfortunately it was just unable to live up to it.
May 13, 2014
This is a sweet story with a lot of potential, but I'm sorry to say it fell flat for me in several areas. The book features a young 19 year old girl, Bailey, and a handsome and mysterious fighter named Kyle. Bailey's mother abandoned her and her father when she was 5 years old. We never learned why. This tore up her father, sending him into the land of alcoholism. Growing up was not a happy time for Bailey. Her father never abused her, but he did tend to neglect her while he was drinking and passing out on the sofa.Bailey manages to get into college in her small Illinois town, but on the spur of the moment decides to chuck it all and go stay with her friend in Chicago. It's here she meets Kyle. He is a devastatingly handsome fighter who has never lost a match. He has a reputation of being an enigma, a ghost who never stays around after his matches. He shows up, wins, and then quietly leaves.But Bailey runs into him at a local coffee shop and they begin a tentative relationship. You see Bailey has intimacy issues because of a horrible thing that happened to her several years ago. I won't go into detail here, but suffice to say it involved an old boyfriend, who unexpectedly shows up in Chicago and begins stalking her.I liked Bailey, and felt bad for what happened to her, but she did seem to me to be very immature. She was seeing Kyle regularly for weeks, but still did not consider herself to be his girlfriend because he had not asked her to be. Kyle finally took her to a nice restaurant and formally asked her to be his girlfriend, almost like a marriage proposal. It just felt weird to me, as if it was not official until he asked her.Later they do a pinky swear about something, which seemed more than a bit juvenile to me. Although they kiss and cuddle, they do not get seriously intimate until the very end of the book. I felt bad for Kyle. He must have had a very bad case of blue balls by then.When they finally do decide to get it on, they plan it out two weeks in advance. It was not spontaneous in any way and felt very sterile because of that. I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think it has a great premise, but unfortunately it was just unable to live up to it.
May 22, 2014
ARC generously provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
1.5 Unconnected stars
Bailey has not had the best childhood. Her mother left her when she was young and her dad is an alcoholic and never really invested in her life. Tired of living in a small down and feeling like her life is going no where she decides to up and move to Chicago. She has a friend who lives there and she can sleep on her couch until she decides if she can make it there.
Once there Bailey attends an underground MMA match with her roomate. There she meets Kyle aka Lotus. She thinks he is gorgeous but then he disappears as soon as the fight is over. It is fate when a few days later she runs into him where he works at a coffee shop. Soon Kyle and Bailey are hitting it off. She has found a job and getting along with Kyle, looks like her life is going in the right direction. Until, someone from her past starts to harass her and threaten the life she has obtained. Can she and Kyle make it through her past?
I have to say I felt this way through most of this book. I just didn't connect with the characters at all and the story line was pretty weak. I also have to say that Bailey tended to drive me nuts with well just her. I swear if I had to hear her tell Kyle how their first time had to be "special" one more time I was going to throw my kindle across the room. And as much as I wanted to like Kyle, he was also just, okay. Really I felt no attachment or feelings for any of them. There were also several things that drove me nuts like how the ex all of a sudden tracks Bailey down in Chicago but when she lived in the same small town as him he never bothered her, What!?! I don't want to say too much in case you decide to read this book, but I have to say that there was just nothing in this book that was for me, but I will say that I am proud of myself for finishing it, hence the 1.5 stars.
1.5 Unconnected stars
Bailey has not had the best childhood. Her mother left her when she was young and her dad is an alcoholic and never really invested in her life. Tired of living in a small down and feeling like her life is going no where she decides to up and move to Chicago. She has a friend who lives there and she can sleep on her couch until she decides if she can make it there.
Once there Bailey attends an underground MMA match with her roomate. There she meets Kyle aka Lotus. She thinks he is gorgeous but then he disappears as soon as the fight is over. It is fate when a few days later she runs into him where he works at a coffee shop. Soon Kyle and Bailey are hitting it off. She has found a job and getting along with Kyle, looks like her life is going in the right direction. Until, someone from her past starts to harass her and threaten the life she has obtained. Can she and Kyle make it through her past?
I have to say I felt this way through most of this book. I just didn't connect with the characters at all and the story line was pretty weak. I also have to say that Bailey tended to drive me nuts with well just her. I swear if I had to hear her tell Kyle how their first time had to be "special" one more time I was going to throw my kindle across the room. And as much as I wanted to like Kyle, he was also just, okay. Really I felt no attachment or feelings for any of them. There were also several things that drove me nuts like how the ex all of a sudden tracks Bailey down in Chicago but when she lived in the same small town as him he never bothered her, What!?! I don't want to say too much in case you decide to read this book, but I have to say that there was just nothing in this book that was for me, but I will say that I am proud of myself for finishing it, hence the 1.5 stars.
September 2, 2016
First off, I received this book from the author for an honest review so this is straight out what I feel about this book. Broken follows the story of Bailey, a girl who was abandoned by her mother, raised herself because her drunken father was, well, drunk, and how she leaves behind her small town full of bad memories and broken promises to the big city of Chicago, where she ultimately finds love and the chance to start anew. Overall, I thought the love/romance aspect of the story. It was pretty sweet and the interactions between Kyle and Bailey were really adorable. I have to admit that I felt their relationship was a bit deeper than I expected. I read a ton of reviews of Goodreads that all trashed their relationship, but I felt like it wasn't as terrible as everyone made it out to be. True, there wasn't much growth, but Kyle still respected Bailey and he essentially helped her get over her brokenness to become "whole" again. On the top of being broken, the "old boyfriend" in the story did not live up to my expectations at all. Bailey painted him as a psychopath and his personality screamed stalker and creepy. However, when he actually appeared face to face with her, it was not as thrilling as I expected. To put it mildly, I wish that there was a kidnapping and near murder. It all just fell flat on my expectations since Mr. Ex was portrayed as a scary stalker. Last thing to mention, the healing process. Admist all that's going on, there was a pretty strong feeling of healing. Kyle, like I said before, helped Bailey to get over her past and move on with her future. Along with that, Bailey manages to find an even ground with her father and we begin to see the beginning of a healing relationship that was broken. I definitely think that this was a nice read, some things fell a bit flat to my expectations, but overall it was pretty good. :)
Read my reviews at:
http://extreemeobsessed.blogspot.com/
Read my reviews at:
http://extreemeobsessed.blogspot.com/
June 18, 2014
First up I have to say how much I like the cover, and the blurb sells the story well. I had seen a lot of reviews criticising Broken but I like to form my own opinion and try my hardest not to let other reviews sway my view of a book. However, like so many other reviewers out there I'm going to class Broken as being a book full of potential.
The story focuses on nineteen year old Bailey as she struggles to build a life for herself. Bailey has a lot of issues and problems but the uber patient fighter Kyle is there to help her. Bailey isn't instantly likeable and I found it difficult to form a connection to her. I think one of the reasons for this was because she had so many problems that they seemed a bit glossed over and not developed. I didn't feel as sympathetic towards Bailey as I had expected to but I did want her to resolve her issues and find her HEA!
I liked Kyle and felt he was extremely patient with Bailey in terms of both the everyday and physical aspects of their relationship. She was often distant and immature, where he seemed to be supportive and caring. She's disconnected from people and society in general. I do think a lot of this was down to her troubled upbringing and isolated childhood.
The sex is kept to a minimal up until near the end (there is some detail here so younger readers you've been warned). The dialogue is a little awkward at times, but I appreciated what M.L. Young was trying to do. I have to admit I was expecting more of a Travis/Remy, alpha-like MMA fighter. However, sometimes it's good to be taken away from the norm and this toned down version of an MMA fighter was more fitting to Bailey and her story, which was sweet.
3 Stars in my Sky!
I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review!
Also reviewed on my blog Zili in the Sky
May 22, 2014
I can't actually be bothered to go into detail about how terrible this novel is. The writing was bad, the characterisation was bad, the story itself was cliched and overdone and I didn't think the author handled the subject very well. It was basically a compilation of everything that is wrong with NA novels.
Instead, I'm just going to give you a couple of quotes from the novel, to show you just how bad it was, so you know I'm not exaggerating.
So here we go (I'm going to put it as a spoiler because you don't really want to read it:
There were also a couple of typos and it really is a miracle I managed to finish this novel. It was kind of like watching a car crash. I was disappointed, too, because the synopsis sounded good. Too bad this novel just didn't live up to it, at all.
Instead, I'm just going to give you a couple of quotes from the novel, to show you just how bad it was, so you know I'm not exaggerating.
So here we go (I'm going to put it as a spoiler because you don't really want to read it:
There were also a couple of typos and it really is a miracle I managed to finish this novel. It was kind of like watching a car crash. I was disappointed, too, because the synopsis sounded good. Too bad this novel just didn't live up to it, at all.
June 7, 2014
I had actually been pretty excited to read this book and then I started reading it and yeah.... nothing really comes together. It's certainly not the worst book I've read. I will say there are a lot of areas this book could have some improvements to make it a better book. The dialogue is not great, it comes off of very... teenager angsty, which doesn't make sense since it's not geared towards teenagers persay, it does have violence and other things I wouldn't want my teenager to read.
Bailey basically has a pretty crappy life. Her mom is missing in action, her father is a drunk who has checked out on being a parent, and she basically has zero guidance. So she leaves and heads to Chicago where she meets Kyle (well, she mostly sees him at first and later meets him) and things are kind of fun between them. Then we start learning more about Bailey's back story and her ex-boyfriend who's just a complete ass, and he essentially starts stalking her, which is ruining her life change in Chicago. But on top of all of this, she's trying to develop a relationship with Kyle and it's just really awkward to me and very.... vanilla. Not that I expected this to be a blazing romance, but to plan out a passionate evening weeks in advance? That's kind of weird, right? I mean, do people do that? I know I've never done that.
Overall? Lots of improvements to be made on this book. I think the potential of a good story is 3 stars, the execution of it is 1, maybe 2 stars. It's just not what I had hoped it to be.
Bailey basically has a pretty crappy life. Her mom is missing in action, her father is a drunk who has checked out on being a parent, and she basically has zero guidance. So she leaves and heads to Chicago where she meets Kyle (well, she mostly sees him at first and later meets him) and things are kind of fun between them. Then we start learning more about Bailey's back story and her ex-boyfriend who's just a complete ass, and he essentially starts stalking her, which is ruining her life change in Chicago. But on top of all of this, she's trying to develop a relationship with Kyle and it's just really awkward to me and very.... vanilla. Not that I expected this to be a blazing romance, but to plan out a passionate evening weeks in advance? That's kind of weird, right? I mean, do people do that? I know I've never done that.
Overall? Lots of improvements to be made on this book. I think the potential of a good story is 3 stars, the execution of it is 1, maybe 2 stars. It's just not what I had hoped it to be.
May 26, 2014
Don’t you just love the cover? Because I thought it was really beautiful, and the blurb intrigued me as well. So when it was up for review, I was excited to read it…
My shoulders slumped, my brows furrowed, and I was making the tsk-tsk sound. I don’t know what went wrong, but I honestly didn’t feel a thing – except for that single phone call she made with her dad – that was really a nice scene. . I was so surprise with her demanding him of what to do with their first time together. OMG. I think Kyle has the initiative to make it more special since he knew where she was coming from.
It is rare for me to put out a not-so-stellar review for a book. But I honestly found this book bland, the chemistry and the intensity of emotions I was looking forward for wasn’t just there. I was waiting for a full-blown firework, and I was given some sparks from a matchstick. I don’t need a book to make me cry, or to make me laugh out loud, but I need a book to at least make me ‘feel’. It took me a while to finish this book, I was just glad I did, because until the end I was hoping there was more to Bailey and Kyle.
There is some potential with the storyline, but the author might need to work on the dialogues, the pacing of the story and put some emotion in the book.
✪Complimentary Copy was given in exchange for an honest review.✪
More of my reviews at http://reviewsofabookmaniac.blogspot.com
My shoulders slumped, my brows furrowed, and I was making the tsk-tsk sound. I don’t know what went wrong, but I honestly didn’t feel a thing – except for that single phone call she made with her dad – that was really a nice scene. . I was so surprise with her demanding him of what to do with their first time together. OMG. I think Kyle has the initiative to make it more special since he knew where she was coming from.
It is rare for me to put out a not-so-stellar review for a book. But I honestly found this book bland, the chemistry and the intensity of emotions I was looking forward for wasn’t just there. I was waiting for a full-blown firework, and I was given some sparks from a matchstick. I don’t need a book to make me cry, or to make me laugh out loud, but I need a book to at least make me ‘feel’. It took me a while to finish this book, I was just glad I did, because until the end I was hoping there was more to Bailey and Kyle.
There is some potential with the storyline, but the author might need to work on the dialogues, the pacing of the story and put some emotion in the book.
✪Complimentary Copy was given in exchange for an honest review.✪
More of my reviews at http://reviewsofabookmaniac.blogspot.com
June 4, 2014
***I received a copy of this book fron NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
Bailey is a small town girl wanting more for herself. Her mother left when she was a young a girl and her father is just there. With a beer.
She finally decides she needs to get out of the small town and goes to stay with her friend Julie in Chicago. There she experiences her first cage fight. After getting a glimpse at the fighter Lotus, she can'get seem to get him off her mind.
While out applying for jobs, she finally finds him. Kyle is his real name. They exchange numbers and start to see more of each other.
Bailey past follows her to Chicago and when she's had enough, she goes to the police. That just makes things worse. As does having a boyfriend.
I liked this book. It was a sweet, innocent read. Lost little Bailey and tough guy Kyle are the cutest couple. I know this is a fiction book, but at times, I shook my head saying "Really? Who says that?" Of course, that would be said by the elusive perfect man. *sigh*
The drama didn't last long and came in spurts. A few paragraphs at best until her past problem was the focus of the scene. And there wasn't too many of those. Once I learned about her past, I guess I just expected more drama throughout the book.
All in all, this was cute book focusing on moving forward and dealing with the past.
Bailey is a small town girl wanting more for herself. Her mother left when she was a young a girl and her father is just there. With a beer.
She finally decides she needs to get out of the small town and goes to stay with her friend Julie in Chicago. There she experiences her first cage fight. After getting a glimpse at the fighter Lotus, she can'get seem to get him off her mind.
While out applying for jobs, she finally finds him. Kyle is his real name. They exchange numbers and start to see more of each other.
Bailey past follows her to Chicago and when she's had enough, she goes to the police. That just makes things worse. As does having a boyfriend.
I liked this book. It was a sweet, innocent read. Lost little Bailey and tough guy Kyle are the cutest couple. I know this is a fiction book, but at times, I shook my head saying "Really? Who says that?" Of course, that would be said by the elusive perfect man. *sigh*
The drama didn't last long and came in spurts. A few paragraphs at best until her past problem was the focus of the scene. And there wasn't too many of those. Once I learned about her past, I guess I just expected more drama throughout the book.
All in all, this was cute book focusing on moving forward and dealing with the past.
June 8, 2014
Broken is the love story between Bailey and Kyle. Bailey considers herself broken because of her past. Kyle is a fighter, but also a Buddhist (yeah, I didn’t buy that either). The author includes entirely too much detail and description in the story. It weighs the story down to such a point that I was tempted to skim over most of the book. The story goes very slow due to the excess detail and description. The author even describes Bailey’s job as a mail clerk to the nth detail.
The characters were not believable. Bailey seems very immature considering her past. After only one counseling session, Bailey’s nightmares disappear. Wow! I need to meet this counselor. Kyle is a bit too good to be true. The entire scene in which Kyle asks Bailey to be his girlfriend felt immature and high schoolish. The dialogue between the characters is not realistic. The counseling session (which again was described in detail) is a good example of how people do not talk to each other.
There were a few moments in the book when the author’s witticism showed through. Perhaps the author should try a more light-headed story for her next book. A really good editor would help with the sheer monotony of the book as well. I’m sure there is a good story in there somewhere, it’s just bogged down by details and way too much description.
The characters were not believable. Bailey seems very immature considering her past. After only one counseling session, Bailey’s nightmares disappear. Wow! I need to meet this counselor. Kyle is a bit too good to be true. The entire scene in which Kyle asks Bailey to be his girlfriend felt immature and high schoolish. The dialogue between the characters is not realistic. The counseling session (which again was described in detail) is a good example of how people do not talk to each other.
There were a few moments in the book when the author’s witticism showed through. Perhaps the author should try a more light-headed story for her next book. A really good editor would help with the sheer monotony of the book as well. I’m sure there is a good story in there somewhere, it’s just bogged down by details and way too much description.
July 31, 2014
I received this book through Net Galley in turn for an honest review..
I was very generous to give this book a three star rating. The only reason it got a three was because it kept me interested to read it quickly.
Kyle and Bailey were boring! There was no chemistry. No passion. They never argued..no problems. Too storybook unbelievable perfect. I didn't believe it. I didn't buy their love.
There was quite a lengthy memory sequence where Bailey remembers her mother leaving and we never really got any answers as far as where her mom went and why. That bugged me. It also irked my nerves that her dad was a pretty serious alcoholic, then all of the sudden got his life together when she left. Bull (cough cough) crap. If you're going to paint us the dark picture of her father failing as a parent due alcoholism and scaring her enough to run...maybe she should be human in it taking a little more than a phone call to mend a broken relationship. She was too quick to forgive in my personal opinion.
I didn't really care for Bailey. I found her to be whiny and poor pitiful me throughout the read. It was always about her. It just wasn't my kind of read all around. I won't read it again and I wouldn't refer it to others. Just my opinion...
For more of my reviews..check out my blog:
thelatenightlamp.blogspot.com
I was very generous to give this book a three star rating. The only reason it got a three was because it kept me interested to read it quickly.
Kyle and Bailey were boring! There was no chemistry. No passion. They never argued..no problems. Too storybook unbelievable perfect. I didn't believe it. I didn't buy their love.
There was quite a lengthy memory sequence where Bailey remembers her mother leaving and we never really got any answers as far as where her mom went and why. That bugged me. It also irked my nerves that her dad was a pretty serious alcoholic, then all of the sudden got his life together when she left. Bull (cough cough) crap. If you're going to paint us the dark picture of her father failing as a parent due alcoholism and scaring her enough to run...maybe she should be human in it taking a little more than a phone call to mend a broken relationship. She was too quick to forgive in my personal opinion.
I didn't really care for Bailey. I found her to be whiny and poor pitiful me throughout the read. It was always about her. It just wasn't my kind of read all around. I won't read it again and I wouldn't refer it to others. Just my opinion...
For more of my reviews..check out my blog:
thelatenightlamp.blogspot.com
June 2, 2014
There were so many things wrong with this book. I can't remember the last time I rolled my eyes so much and wanted to chuck my iPad across the room while reading a book. First of all there was no real connection between the characters. The dialogue was so robotic, if that makes sense. The story starts out with Bailey in her small hometown and her memory of her mother walking out on her and her father when she was very young. It started out pretty good, jumps right into her back-story and it grabbed my attention. She moves to Chicago and crashes with her friend Julie, who is also from the same town. I'm thinking these girls are best friends or something. But as the story progresses there's just no character development.
The author gets too descriptive and this made me skim through the story. Especially the parts where she's describing her day at her job as a mail clerk. Mail clerk. Do we really need the details of this job position? There's also the part where she's getting ready for a date. She goes into full detail; going as far as the application of mascara and how girls open their mouths as they're applying it. Wow.... [full review on my blog: Silly Socks n' Things]
The author gets too descriptive and this made me skim through the story. Especially the parts where she's describing her day at her job as a mail clerk. Mail clerk. Do we really need the details of this job position? There's also the part where she's getting ready for a date. She goes into full detail; going as far as the application of mascara and how girls open their mouths as they're applying it. Wow.... [full review on my blog: Silly Socks n' Things]
July 9, 2014
A copy of this book was graciously provided to me through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This is probably my least favorable review I have written. I dislike writing them because I know others will have a totally different opinion and someone took time and poured themselves into this piece. With that said, here we go.
I want to say this book had potential but I found it to be very surface deep. The hurdles that Bailey went through were either so expected or so out of the blue that they seemed as though Young had spur of the moment decided to add them. If there had been some foreshadowing into the events it would have made a bit more sense. It all seemed reactionary instead of planned.
Even the dialect between our two leads read off. They tended to speak very old proper English or very generic with no characterization. In fact, through most of the story it read as Mary Sue-ish. I love strong developed characters and this book did not have those. If you are going to have heavier content I feel like that characters should be able to carry the weight of the burdens. And that the heavier content should be dealt with properly.
I wanted more out of this book and wish we had gotten more.
This is probably my least favorable review I have written. I dislike writing them because I know others will have a totally different opinion and someone took time and poured themselves into this piece. With that said, here we go.
I want to say this book had potential but I found it to be very surface deep. The hurdles that Bailey went through were either so expected or so out of the blue that they seemed as though Young had spur of the moment decided to add them. If there had been some foreshadowing into the events it would have made a bit more sense. It all seemed reactionary instead of planned.
Even the dialect between our two leads read off. They tended to speak very old proper English or very generic with no characterization. In fact, through most of the story it read as Mary Sue-ish. I love strong developed characters and this book did not have those. If you are going to have heavier content I feel like that characters should be able to carry the weight of the burdens. And that the heavier content should be dealt with properly.
I wanted more out of this book and wish we had gotten more.
May 14, 2014
Bailey Wrenn is a young woman with a terrible past. Her mom abandoned her family when Bailey was young. No explanation was given to her then. Her dad then turned to drinking as life sometimes goes. Bailey was in an abusive relationship as a teenager. Now, as a young adult, she's looking to build a new life. So she decides one day to up and move to Chicago. There she lives with her friend,Julie in a one bedroom apartment. She's able to find gainful employment in a mailroom of a prominent office building. Her life is beginning to look promising. Then, one night she and Julie go to a MMA fight. Bailey notices one of the fighters, named Lotus. He's mysterious and handsome. Soon after she runs into the same guy working at a local coffee shop. Then they start dating. It doesn't take long for Bailey's terrible past to surface and to threaten to destroy all of her newfound happiness.
So I didn't love this book. I dunno why, but I couldn't relate well with the characters. The story line was very anticlimactic and lackluster. In the end, it was rushed. This book has potential, but it's just not there yet. On a 1-10 scale, I'm giving this one a 2.
ARC provided by netgalley.
So I didn't love this book. I dunno why, but I couldn't relate well with the characters. The story line was very anticlimactic and lackluster. In the end, it was rushed. This book has potential, but it's just not there yet. On a 1-10 scale, I'm giving this one a 2.
ARC provided by netgalley.
June 14, 2014
*I was gifted a copy of the book by the author in exchange for an honest review*
If you are looking for a sweet moving forward story, this is the book for you. Broken is about Bailey, small town girl who moves to the big city, and Kyle, MMA fighter who keeps to himself. A chance encounter brings these two together and the rest, as they say, is history.
There were times I wasn't sure Bailey was strong enough to make it to the end of the story. She appeared very fragile. Kyle, on the other hand, was well focused and knew what he wanted. Both of them are going through their own personal struggles, Bailey's much worse than Kyle's.
Their relationship evolves slowly, which is expected. Kyle is the perfect gentleman and it never appears that Bailey is stringing him along, the poor girl truly has suffered. That is how I felt overall toward Bailey. My opinion changed a bit toward the end, when she started taking more control of her own life. Kyle, stood by her through everything. The guy is a real gem.
The main theme of the book is move forward, learn from the past but don't let it drive you. I think it accomplished that well.
If you are looking for a sweet moving forward story, this is the book for you. Broken is about Bailey, small town girl who moves to the big city, and Kyle, MMA fighter who keeps to himself. A chance encounter brings these two together and the rest, as they say, is history.
There were times I wasn't sure Bailey was strong enough to make it to the end of the story. She appeared very fragile. Kyle, on the other hand, was well focused and knew what he wanted. Both of them are going through their own personal struggles, Bailey's much worse than Kyle's.
Their relationship evolves slowly, which is expected. Kyle is the perfect gentleman and it never appears that Bailey is stringing him along, the poor girl truly has suffered. That is how I felt overall toward Bailey. My opinion changed a bit toward the end, when she started taking more control of her own life. Kyle, stood by her through everything. The guy is a real gem.
The main theme of the book is move forward, learn from the past but don't let it drive you. I think it accomplished that well.
June 17, 2014
Erin's Review
*I was gifted a copy of the book by the author in exchange for an honest review*
If you are looking for a sweet moving forward story, this is the book for you. Broken is about Bailey, small town girl who moves to the big city, and Kyle, MMA fighter who keeps to himself. A chance encounter brings these two together and the rest, as they say, is history.
There were times I wasn't sure Bailey was strong enough to make it to the end of the story. She appeared very fragile. Kyle, on the other hand, was well focused and knew what he wanted. Both of them are going through their own personal struggles, Bailey's much worse than Kyle's.
Their relationship evolves slowly, which is expected. Kyle is the perfect gentleman and it never appears that Bailey is stringing him along, the poor girl truly has suffered. That is how I felt overall toward Bailey. My opinion changed a bit toward the end, when she started taking more control of her own life. Kyle, stood by her through everything. The guy is a real gem.
The main theme of the book is move forward, learn from the past but don't let it drive you. I think it accomplished that well.
*I was gifted a copy of the book by the author in exchange for an honest review*
If you are looking for a sweet moving forward story, this is the book for you. Broken is about Bailey, small town girl who moves to the big city, and Kyle, MMA fighter who keeps to himself. A chance encounter brings these two together and the rest, as they say, is history.
There were times I wasn't sure Bailey was strong enough to make it to the end of the story. She appeared very fragile. Kyle, on the other hand, was well focused and knew what he wanted. Both of them are going through their own personal struggles, Bailey's much worse than Kyle's.
Their relationship evolves slowly, which is expected. Kyle is the perfect gentleman and it never appears that Bailey is stringing him along, the poor girl truly has suffered. That is how I felt overall toward Bailey. My opinion changed a bit toward the end, when she started taking more control of her own life. Kyle, stood by her through everything. The guy is a real gem.
The main theme of the book is move forward, learn from the past but don't let it drive you. I think it accomplished that well.
May 28, 2014
I read the blurb for this book and couldn't wait to read it. I started it the day I got it and initially stopped reading it at 12%. I was confused as to how the book and the blurb came from the same person.
I read a few other books by a couple different authors and then decided to give this another try. I picked up at the place I left off and hoped things would get better.
I'm not 100% sure what it was for me mostly...the story lines that seemed to be incomplete? At 70% and even 90% I thought to myself, guess this one is going to be a series, and then it wasn't which means things were left unfinished.
I had a hard time with the chemistry between the main characters. I thought Kyle was written very sweet...but I just didn't feel anything when I read their scenes.
In some ways this book reminded me of others, and then in those scenes it would somehow fall flat in comparison - which probably didn't help how I was feeling about it.
Broken was just that for me...awesome cover though!
**ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley**
I read a few other books by a couple different authors and then decided to give this another try. I picked up at the place I left off and hoped things would get better.
I'm not 100% sure what it was for me mostly...the story lines that seemed to be incomplete? At 70% and even 90% I thought to myself, guess this one is going to be a series, and then it wasn't which means things were left unfinished.
I had a hard time with the chemistry between the main characters. I thought Kyle was written very sweet...but I just didn't feel anything when I read their scenes.
In some ways this book reminded me of others, and then in those scenes it would somehow fall flat in comparison - which probably didn't help how I was feeling about it.
Broken was just that for me...awesome cover though!
**ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley**
August 13, 2014
Full Review at: What's Beyond Forks?
Broken by M.L. Young is a love story with a good premise. Bailey has had a rough life. Not just at home, but last and only relationship was very traumatic. I expected Kyle to be this rough and tough fighter guy, but he was a big ole teddy bear. He was cute, and not what I expected at all. Sometimes it felt like Bailey and Kyle were a lot younger than what they were. They're conversations and behavior was more like a teenager rather than people in their 20's. It always didn't feel natural. I felt like there were a few things that didn't make sense within the details and history of the characters. There were areas that were fleshed out pretty well within the plot, while others? Not so much. I think with some tweaking, this could be a pretty great story. All in all, it was cute.
Broken by M.L. Young was kindly provided to me by the author for review. The opinions are my own.
June 15, 2014
Pretty great book, really enjoyed it, and yeah, just a good book to read!
*Full Review from Blog*
This was a pretty good book! I enjoyed it, it was dark, but not over the top dark, but dark that fit in with the situation, and there was a reason for everything, and yeah, that was highly enjoyable! And the romance was so good, too!
There's the mystery of her mom, and why she left, and then there's Bailey's past, including an ex-boyfriend who, well, is part of the reason why she's "broken." But then there's Kyle, who has his own problems, and as the novel progresses, they start to face them, by choice or not.
Yeah, I really enjoyed the romance! It was nice, sweet, and hot, and enjoyable to read, and believable, if the ending statements of love were a bit different, because it's said, but not with that kind of language, the kind of flowery stuff.
Yeah, this was a pretty good book, and I enjoyed it!
*Full Review from Blog*
This was a pretty good book! I enjoyed it, it was dark, but not over the top dark, but dark that fit in with the situation, and there was a reason for everything, and yeah, that was highly enjoyable! And the romance was so good, too!
There's the mystery of her mom, and why she left, and then there's Bailey's past, including an ex-boyfriend who, well, is part of the reason why she's "broken." But then there's Kyle, who has his own problems, and as the novel progresses, they start to face them, by choice or not.
Yeah, I really enjoyed the romance! It was nice, sweet, and hot, and enjoyable to read, and believable, if the ending statements of love were a bit different, because it's said, but not with that kind of language, the kind of flowery stuff.
Yeah, this was a pretty good book, and I enjoyed it!
June 26, 2014
I really didn't think this book was THAT bad...so it wasn't a perfect book. That doesn't mean it was really bad. Still, if I'm going to be honest...it wasn't great either. I have to agree with a lot of other reviewers, this book was a bit boring. I found myself at times just skimming the book towards the end there. Although Kyle and Bailey were a sweet couple, they were plain. Their realtionship was plain. They didn't fight or argue and they really didn't have anything exciting happen between them. Sure they had sex...but that didn't really give them any dynamic. The author described more of the sex than any of the kisses. Frankly, it just wasn't my kind of book. I don't think it earns a one or two star because it did make me laugh (once) and the characters were okay. They didn't really have a lot of personality. Still overall, not bad. So I give it a three. Read it or not...
May 15, 2014
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was just okay. Not great but not awful. I really wanted to like this book but one chapter in and I knew it wasn't for me. The storyline itself wasn't bad but there was never a connection with the characters for me. Bailey and Kyle both spoke like they were in middle school rather than college. Bailey's roommate wasn't much better except for her horrible attitude about guys only wanting one thing and the fact that was all she seemed to want. All the conversations in the book just came across as fake with no real emotion or feeling in them. I finished the book out of curiosity and so I could give an honest review. Not likely I would have finished it otherwise.
This book was just okay. Not great but not awful. I really wanted to like this book but one chapter in and I knew it wasn't for me. The storyline itself wasn't bad but there was never a connection with the characters for me. Bailey and Kyle both spoke like they were in middle school rather than college. Bailey's roommate wasn't much better except for her horrible attitude about guys only wanting one thing and the fact that was all she seemed to want. All the conversations in the book just came across as fake with no real emotion or feeling in them. I finished the book out of curiosity and so I could give an honest review. Not likely I would have finished it otherwise.
May 21, 2014
One, I hate giving bad reviews but seriously there isn't any other way to put it with this book. I requested an ARC copy because the plot had so much potential but sad to say, the book did not deliver.
The dialogue was so awkward and seemed to me to be too scripted/forced. The scenarios in the book were so unreal that most of the time it was just exasperating to read. Especially how Bailey divulges or deals with what happened to her. I would like to read it after it goes through a very very good editor because as I mentioned earlier, the storyline does have potential. But overall, it just didn't do it for me. So no, I would NOT recommend it.
For more reviews please go to Carriejo's Book Blog
The dialogue was so awkward and seemed to me to be too scripted/forced. The scenarios in the book were so unreal that most of the time it was just exasperating to read. Especially how Bailey divulges or deals with what happened to her. I would like to read it after it goes through a very very good editor because as I mentioned earlier, the storyline does have potential. But overall, it just didn't do it for me. So no, I would NOT recommend it.
For more reviews please go to Carriejo's Book Blog
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews