TEN YEARS AGO, I fell in love with a boy. In the blink of an eye, the boy I loved was ripped from me. TEN YEARS LATER, I ran into the boy I had lost. Yet, he's no longer a boy. He's a man. A deeply wounded man.
Dustin Adams was once known for his down to earth, care free spirit. He was the well rounded kid with a promising future.
Until the girl he loved was yanked from his life.
Now, Dustin is known for his distance and the coldness he radiates. He is simply a shell of the boy he once was.
Living the Army life, the close calls he's surrounded by daily have done nothing but further harden his heart.
Until the girl he once loved reappears in his life.
Can what they shared so long ago be restored? Or is Dustin fated to live a life of brokenness?
Erika Ashby grew up an Army Brat, spending most of her childhood in Oklahoma, where she finally put roots down. She currently lives in Edmond, OK where she faithfully attends North Church with her kids. She's a blessed mom of 4 who loves Jesus and serving others. Her hobbies include attending dirt track races, concerts, reading, DIY, and making red dirt shirts. It wasn’t until the ripe age of 27 when she realized she had a hidden passion for reading. Up until that point in her life, she claimed to have hated it. Shortly after, she was hit with another revelation: the desire to tell stories. Knowing she had failed all writing assignments in school, she set out on this journey mainly to prove to herself she could do it. So, here she is today, proving it. Erika wants to encourage anyone with a dream to go for it.
Just like the first book, this book was really emotional. Thank god I didn't cry as much reading this one. I was so glad Lincoln was mentioned in this book too. I wasn't sure about reading Dustin's book because he was so angry in the first book, but I'm so glad I did! He was such a sweetheart and I am thrilled it worked out for him! Oh and Peterson was hilarious as the wedding officiant!!
*I received a copy in exchange for an honest review* After reading Broken Wings , I just knew that this series was for me. Erika Ashby is a genius at heartfelt romances with an extra side of steam. She had my emotions wrung out by the end of Broken Wings and Brokenness was not any different. It was hard to witness the love that Echo and Dustin have for each other and to watch the devastating heart ache that they both went through at such a young age at the expense of their loved ones. This is a story about a love that endures even after being put through such a hardship and that a love is never right or wrong. Love knows no discrimination, whether you are young or old, you will encounter who you are supposed to. Dustin and Echo will bring you to your knees in this emotionally charged, sensual, love story.
Dustin is everything that you would want in an eighteen year old young man, until unforeseen circumstances leave him with a shattered heart. He becomes a broken, sullen, man who pushes everyone away and leaves a bewildered family in his wake. When he comes face to face ten years later with his first love who is now married, he is left shaken to his very core. How could fate be so cruel to flaunt her in front of his face when he cannot be reconnected with both her body and soul?
Echo who has been surviving for the last ten years and has picked up the pieces of her shredded heart and is now married with a kid, sees Dustin, shocked isn’t even the word for it. She feels her sanity slipping away and all she can think about is her lost love, when she has a family to love and take care of. She is left wondering if her life should’ve been on a different path. What would it be like to be Dustin’s one and only?
Echo and Dustin must deal with their current situation and look inside their heart to see if their love will survive all of the obstacles that began ten years ago. Their love story is poignant, hot, and resonates in the reader’s heart. A long anticipated sequel with beautifully flawed characters in a reignited love story. I highly recommend for lovers of sweet second chance romances that leave both your body and heart melting and a sweet sigh on your lips.
I liked this book a lot but personally, I can't help but feel just a tad bit disappointed too:( I LOVED the first book, I mean hands down one of the best reads for me, ever, and I guess my expectations were set too high with this one..... I don't know, I guess I just didn't have the "feels" that I thought I was going to have... Maybe 10 years was way too long a separation for me, that was a big problem...ughhh, too many minor issues just kept me from fully connecting with this story.
Dustin and echoes story was so sweet and so worth that wait . Fate does have a weird way of working. Even though they was apart for ten years there love never died and it shows true love does exist you just have to fight for it.
Great book full of heartbreak, tears and joy. Tastefully done. Also, I have grown to love all the characters and look forward to possible future books to keep the story going.
"When it comes to being selfish in regards to her, it’s a double-edged sword. It can either slay me, or save me."
THIS BOOK!!!
I have been *patiently* waiting for this book for over a year...it was soooooo worth the wait!!
I could not have been more pleased with how Dustin and Echo's story turned out! After reading Broken Wings, you get a sense of their story, but you have NO IDEA!
"Dustin is one of the strongest men I’ve ever known, but when it comes to me, he’s fragile. And I’m supposed to be helping rebuild the brokenness, not fracture it even further."
This book is broken into two parts-the past and the present. I loved that aspect!
You find out how their story started as teenagers in love. But because of Echo's controlling father, they couldn't be the couple they truly wanted to be. I don't know who I felt more sorry for. The girl that couldn't break free from her father's hold, or the boy who didn't know how to fight for the love of his life.
My heart was broken when they were ripped apart!! Like I physically wished I could reach into the book and pull them back together by the heartstrings that stayed tied for a decade.
"The love of my life, and the holder of my future, was yanked from my life...and I was forever changed."
Ten years went by before they saw each other again. They weren't the same kids that fell in love over chocolate shakes and French fries or baseball. They each were hit with difficult circumstances and the only cure was each other. To watch them fight their emotions was acually beautiful. You find yourself immersed into this world of Dustin and Echo.
"In this moment, I know the world has it out for me. I’m hated by the stars that are supposed to align for us. Freaking stars, and universes, and constellations. Freaking astrology. It was all freaking bullshit... But here’s the thing…she was mine. Always would be. I just couldn’t have her."
You feel the pain they feel, the tears they cry, and you want to fight for them just as hard!
They each have their own story to tell. Echo has a huge secret that she has kept from Dustin, but it's what has kept her going all these years. She has a strength like no other! Dustin has come back from overseas with a serious injury and it flips his world upside down. His story is a very powerful one. Stories about soldiers speak on a different level than most--it impacts you to the core.
I honestly can't tell you how many times I got a little misty-eyed throughout this book! The little details that slowly bring them back together are truly wonderful. Erika nailed it with the little tid bits along the way.
"Just like the meaning of her name, a repetition of sound, everything about her ripples through my soul. But unlike her name, the vibrations never cease. To this very day, they’re still very much moving throughout my mind, my heart and every fiber within me."
I could honestly talk about this book all day long!!
Dustin and Echo's story has made my heart so happy. There's something about those Adams men! Oh! Also, you get caught up with all things Dax and Lynsie!! I couldn't stop smiling every time those brothers were together! I promise...you'll love their banter!
I want to applaude Erika Ashby on a phenomenal story that left me soooo happy, and yet, I wish there was more!! Thank you for these wonderful characters that will always have a place in my heart<3 D+E 4ever
"My injury wasn’t a death wish like I had thought. It was fate. It didn’t take my life away. It brought me back to my life.”
There's this famous quote that goes along the lines of "The opposite of Love is not Hate, but indifference".
There is certainly anything but indifference on the part of either Dustin or Echo when we first witness them meet in the closing chapters of Broken Wings. The tension sizzles around the two of them like electricity, and on Dustin's part, anger rolls off of him in waves. We're left with absolutely no doubt that there's more to their story than either of them are prepared to let on. The explanation Echo gives that they were high school sweethearts up until she had to move away suddenly without even the opportunity to say goodbye, might be truthful as far as it goes, but that's clearly not the whole story.
It doesn't fully explain her visceral reaction upon seeing him again ten years later, nor does it explain Dustin's ten year long retreat from his family, and from life in general, into existing for his role in the Army alone.
Brokenness, Author Erika Ashby, gives us the whole story.
It starts by going back to the beginning where we're finally given a clear understanding of what happened between the two of them and why the way the two young lovers were torn apart was enough to leave them both emotionally damaged for years on end.
Then the story jumps back to the present where both are left wondering what, if anything, to do about finally reconnecting with their lost love. After all, Echo is married with a child to consider.
The rest of the novel follows the two of them as they struggle to make sense of their pasts. What's happened to each since they parted ways and how its impacted their relationships with others, particularly their families.
Brokenness is a deeply moving story of healing old wounds and coming to terms with those that simply can't be healed. Learning to let go, move on, and finally start living again. A tale of sacrifice and hope, sadness and joy.
(and it give us another window on to what's been happening with Dax and Lynsie grin emoticon )
I thoroughly enjoyed Brokenness, perhaps even more than its predecessor, but while there were more than a few scenes that caused me to hold by breath or caused my eyes to well up, I didn't shed a single tear ... until the epilogue, and that just was too poignant to hold them in any longer.
This one was a difficult one to rate, which is why I sat on it for a couple of weeks.
On the one hand, the story was written beautifully. The day Dustin doesn't want to go to church is the day he goes and meets the girl who will steal his heart forever. She's the pastor's daughter, though, and her family wants different for her than him. That doesn't stop these two from falling in love -- but like any Romeo and Juliet story, they were thrown apart.
Dustin proves from the beginning of the story what a gentleman he could be, but Echo, too, proves early on that she has a strong sense of loyalty. Even though she didn't know the outcome, she didn't know how life would play out, she had things in her life she could have kept hidden but allowed the truth to be out there, whether as a rebellion to her parents or as an endowment to her heart.
So... on the other hand...
The time frame of the story is grand -- but I think that actually works for these two. Both have their own battles they have to go through and both had some growing up to do -- and their lives forced them to grow up likely faster than others their ages. However, my biggest disappointment with this story would be the emotion.
There were times the emotion was huge and greatly written. And then there were others that the emotion would build and buildandbuildandBUILD and then? Plummet. It went nowhere. I felt that there could have been more, a little bit more reached for and just a little bit more achieved.
Regardless...
I enjoyed the side characters here, too! And I'm not a side character type gal. I loved the playfulness that is Dustin's brother, Dax, and his lady, Lynsie -- their Magic Mike moment made me laugh, no doubt. Their book is definitely on my to-read pile for when I have a spare 5 hours!
Brokenness is the second book in the Broken series and focuses on Echo and Dustin (Dax's brother). I have been waiting for this book since I read Broken Wings.
The first part of the book is a look back at where Dustin and Echo began. We get to see the beginning to their love story and the tragedy that rips them apart. I loved watching them fall in love, even if it was young love, love is love. You felt the heartbreak that these two went through at the hands of someone else. All the feels where definitely there!
Echo has had to move on from the angry, heart broken girl she left behind. She has no choice but to make the best life possible for her son. She is married and has a good, successful life. What happens when the past meets the present?
Dustin threw himself into his military career, anything to try to forget Echo and the heart break that he suffered and the anger that he feels. A chance encounter can change the course of the future. What happens when Dustin finds out he's been closer to Echo than he realized the entire time?
An injury ends the career that Dustin has worked so hard for but will it end his life? Echo is married now - he won't be that man. Is the love they shared as teenagers still there? Will Echo choose to live for love or live for stability?
I loved this book but I wish there was a little more to it. My only complaints is that I felt like things were a little rushed once we were brought up to the future. I would definitely recommend this series!
I waited so long for this book Dustin was a character that truly intrigued me. In the first book you get a look at him and he demands respect. But for me he didn't have that in this book. It doesn't mean I didn't like the book but I just loved the first book more. Echo was a confusing character I did love her personality though especially when she brought the flirty side out that had confidence. She was completely different from the first book also which I totally understand because each has their own pov. But I think I just missed what they were like. Anyways I did like the story it shows a side to a man who is literally built like steel but can be broken. Nobody knows this pain Dustin has felt ever. He kept that side of him hidden the only part you seen was a hard texture to a once beautiful man. Echo really had her whole world ripped apart with no say in the matter you can't help but feel for her she tried I will give her that so I can't blame her for what happened. The heart knows if it belongs to someone and you can't do anything about it. Another thing I loved was catching up with the characters from the first book giving you a glimpse of there life now it's kinda like we had a novella so please make sure you read the first book before diving in. I received this arc for an honest review from the author. Reviewing the night and day book blog http://ndbbr2014.com Stephanie Powell
I've waited for this book for right at a year. I first read broken wings a year ago and it became one of my favorite books so I went into Brokenness knowing I'd like it. I knew I'd like the story and the characters but what I didn't know was how much I'd fall in love with everything. Echo was the funny, sweet, go getter who knew exactly what she wanted out of life and never gave up no matter how tough it became. Dustin, sweet, hot, strong, Dustin. He just grabbed onto my heart from the beginning and never let go. I didn't think I'd love him as much as Dax but it must be something about those Adams men! Echo always had a place in his heart but after coming back from war and fighting a war within himself, he just really never thought he'd be able to have her there again. "I will show him that it’s okay to love again—to love me again." She showed and helped him turn back into the man he was keeping hidden, the man he knew deep down he really was. "All I can say is sometimes there’s something bigger in the works." I loved everything about this book, the characters, the messages. I loved how the author worked Dax and Lynsie back into this story as well. The only thing I didn't like were the words "The End"! I could read about the broken gang forever.
I got this ARC from the author for an honest opinion.
WOW! JUST FREAKING WOW! I loved this series. I loved how it took them a while to come together. Explained everything that I had been wondering about the two individuals as well. I loved Echo when I met her in Lynsie's story. She was the best friend and of course you wanted to see more of her son. Since it had been mentioned so many times. Dylan was such a wonderful character added this story.
Seeing Lynsie and Dax in this story was wonderful, seeing their dynamics as well. Seeing them move back home to live a life.
In book 1 you see the awkward exchange between Dustin and Echo, in front of Echo's husband, Ben. You wanted to see more and so glad that Erika gave us more. Dustin and Echo at a young age were beautiful. They loved each other so much. You could just tell. When her father and mother forced her to move she lost a huge piece of her in return he did too. Dustin's lost of Echo explains how he turned out. Cold towards his family and so on.
I'm not going to give away any more because it would ruin it all. But I love this story so much. I wonder what else would get me addicted. I found Erika by chance when reading Caught and so glad that I kept "stalking" her to find more books. Keep it up Erika your words are beautiful.
I have been in love with this series since book 1!
Echo left Dustin 10 years ago with a simple note. What he didn't know was that she also left with a part of him that would later cone in 9 months.
Dustin lost the love of his life. Not in the same sense as someone dies but the pain was still unbearable. He enlisted in the army and did tour after tour. He figured with traveling the states he would see echo or hear about her but he never did. Until one night at his brothers ceremony fats smacks both of them square in the face.
Echo never thought she'd see Dustin again. She had Dylan and Brian, her new husband who saved her from the bus stop, now. But the love she held for Brian was not the same. She decides to leave base and head back to Florida. After seeing Dustin months ago fate works her way back in when Dustin is injured and sent back to his hometown. Feelings are reharvested and it's only a matter of time before its D+E=4eva
This is a definite must read series that hooks you from the beginning. It's raw, real, and emotional! I can't wait to read more!!!!
This is the first time reading anything from this author ,but what a great story this it .This is Dustin and Echo's story you will fine out how their love started when their were teenagers. And that because of Echo's father was so controlling and she wouldn't broke free it didn't work out. When 10 years went by before their aw each other again the feels were still there for the both. They not the same kids that there were but the heart still had the love. The author put so much emotions in this story that you felt like crying some of the time with them and laughing at other time, but it was these emotions that bough this story together for me. But it didn't matter how long Echo was gone Dustin still knew she was his .But how would this couples life together turn out will they have a happy ever after or what? This story is so powerful and emotional and is truly wonderful. I highly recommend you to read it you won't be disappointed
I loved being able to finally see Dustin and Echo's full story. I appreciated having a backstory to how the future came about. These two first met in church and after that they were stuck together like glue. Their young love was something that you could believe and when they were broken apart, I was really cheering for them to find each other again. 10 years later, they find each other, but there is someone in the way. When something ends up happening to Dustin, he has to move home to readjust to his new life. What he doesn't expect is to find Echo in the same town with a ring on her finger. Will they be able to move past what has happened in the last 10 years, or will Dustin not be able to get over why Echo suddenly disappeared.
I loved this story. I will definitely be reading more from Erika and cannot wait to see what else she has in store!
Brokenness follows Lynsie's best friend Echo and Dax's brother Dustin. The background between these two characters were introduced in the first book. And honestly I expected a really nice book, considering Broken Wings was a delight. But unfortunately, Erika failed to deliver. Brokenness struggles from the first chapter, and spirals into a group I despise with everything I have - books where a character is ruined just for the sake of making another character look better and/or to justify the main pairing. And to put it bluntly that is not good writing, sorry Erika. That is just uncreative baloney writing which showcases the fact that the author ran out of idea. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone. 1.5/5.
OVERALL WORTH THE WAIT... There were a lot of proofreading mistakes and I would have changed a few things in the book that bothered me but was really good & it ended awesomely. I'm sure there will be a lot of haters of the fact that she was married for most of the time sometimes that's the reality of life, folks. Every book doesn't have a HEA, thank God (though this one does) & every romance novel can't be a perfect fairytail. There are so many different kinds of love stories out there, we just have to have an open mind even if it's not something we'd go for.
Let me start by saying Broken Wings came out shortly after I lost my mom. Not knowing what to expect from the book, I read it. I sobbed as I read it. And then couldn't get passed that book for awhile. I have been waiting ever since for Brokenness! It was nothing short of amazing! If anyone asks about your books, the only thing I will tell them is you just have to go read them!
Ok well not to what I should say I had I hopes for this book I hate writing a review Not my job to judge books But it's started out great and then in the middle flat as can be now the end that was great but some how the story fell short missing parts and really no rhyme or reason....
OMG that was amazing it was worth the wait. Love D + E 4eva Can't wait to see what's next. I think I'll be re reading broken wings and brokenness again. I LOVED IT so many emotions.
Loved it! D+E 4ever! Beautiful second chance love, great companion to Broken Wing's. It was nice to read about Dax & Lynsie as well. Hope Peterson gets a book.