Shattered Lives Box Set #1

by Rissa Blakeley

Shattered Lives Box Set 1:
Broken Dreams (Book 1)
Awakened Desires (Book 2)
Fractured Hearts (Book 3)
A Little Taste of Naughty (Shattered Lives Short)

*Warning: For mature (18+) audiences only due to strong language, sexual situations, and violence.*

Broken Dreams (Shattered Lives, Book 1):
-What if a virus-borne apocalypse was released on your wedding day?
-What if you discovered the man of your dreams was nothing but a liar, full of secrets edging on betrayal?
-With all the death surrounding you, would you stand strong beside him? Or would you walk away and hope you could survive?

Follow Henry Daniels and Elaina Cooper on a journey of a lifetime. Through their relationship, built on an unsteady foundation, they would discover both wonderful and horrific things, all while hunting down the sworn enemy.
…
Awakened Desires (Shattered Lives, Book 2):
-Would you follow a man who was mysterious and tempting?
-Would you allow your walls to crumble, knowing you were facing an ugly death?
-What if the monster was in the next room, doing everything possible to get into your heart, mind, and bed?

Everything you believed to be true could change in an instant. Follow Gunther Erikkson on his harrowing journey as he hunts down Henry, finding himself in the process, only to discover his heart wasn’t as icy as he had originally thought.
…
Fractured Hearts (Shattered Lives, Book 3):
-Having to prepare for an epic showdown with a common foe, will Henry and Gunther learn to get along?
-Who will live and who will die?
-Would you survive?

With more secrets exposed and lives lost, a little joy and relief would somehow be found. Follow Henry and Gunther as they do whatever it takes to save others and through it all, learn to save themselves.

Read the first three books in the Shattered Lives series and discover why readers are saying they are “full of intrigue and emotion”.
…
A Little Taste of Naughty (A Shattered Lives Short):
Get a small glimpse into Henry and Elaina’s life before the apocalypse. It’s time to fall in love with Henry all over again.

This short story was originally published in the best-selling anthology, Just Desserts, and was added to the set as a bonus. A Little Taste of Naughty is a supplemental short story for Broken Dreams.

1647 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 31, 2015

About the author

Rissa Blakeley is the author of a fantasy paranormal series, Corvidae Guard, and a post-apocalyptic saga, Shattered Lives, which features a paranormal twist and has been adapted into graphic novel form.

As a native New Yorker, Rissa is now a Georgia transplant who is completely addicted to black coffee and La Croix, obsessively listening to songs on repeat. Her days are packed with characters screaming for more scenes, cats living up to their Harry Potter namesakes, lazy dogs, a teenage daughter, who’s bringing Emo back, and a Viking husband, who finds her puns less than funny. When Rissa isn’t writing, she can be found procrastinating on social media.

For more information regarding Rissa's books, go to www.rissablakeley.com

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Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best series around and located conveniently in one set. A post-apocalyptic series of awesomeness based on the survival of a rag tag crew. Ms. Blakeley has managed to paint raw human emotions in words. It follows the lives of Henry, Elaina, Gunther, Quinn, Josie and a host of other believable every day characters after a man-made virus is released on Henry and Elaina’s wedding day. (And you thought you have bad days!) She has managed to push all your reader buttons along the way: beautifully written, peaks and valleys and steamy scenes all while making you FEEL everything. Be ready to fall in love, fall in hate and fall in grief in one fell swoop and then pick yourself up and cheer for these character’s survival. 5 out of 5 stars. If I could give it more, I would - a ten for sure!

BOOK 1: This book was original. It explores so many human emotions in the face of danger. It has hints of popular post-apocalyptic and paranormal stories – think Divergent, Hunger Games, and Chronicles of Nick on an adult level playing field and mix in some of TV’s 24 and Jack Bauer take-charge-against-terroristic-actions and government conspiracies.
Elaina’s life is completely altered on her wedding day to the amazing and broken, Henry. So many lives were lost that day and many secrets were revealed. Her wedding day starts a new life she never imagined. It is laced with action and adrenaline in their quest for survival and their journey to find the elusive Gunther.
Henry was born of love and his life took a traumatic turn at a young age. He was continually broken and rebuilt. His saving grace is Elaina and their love. But it is their love and his training enough to get them through? Along the way bonds are formed, secrets are shared and more are buried.
Rissa Blakeley has done a tremendous job in setting up this post-apocalyptic world. I cannot wait for book two and what Henry and Elaina battle next. Ms. Blakeley has written a beautifully flawed and believable cast of character that stay with you and make you root for their continued survival. As to her villains, they are well crafted and she has managed to make you really hate them.

BOOK 2: So I read the first book in this series, Broken Dreams, and seriously had a major-hate-on for Gunther. Awakened Desires is Gunther’s story. What an amazing, wild, roller coaster ride of emotions! I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to throw my kindle or wrap my arms around Gunther. He is the ultimate bad assed bastard that you love to hate and then hate yourself for loving him. Women want to be with him and men want to be him. It is a story of redemption like none other than I have read and full of powerful human emotion – you laugh, cry, rage and melt down during this book. This is his point of view on the impending apocalypse and his story of survival where he meets Quinn and Josie along the way. This rag tag bunch shows him the errors of his ways, teaches him to love and be loved to form a family. And in the process what is like to forgive and be forgiven, especially when they eventually meet up with Henry and his family. Powerful story, well written, I cannot wait to read the third book in this series!

BOOK 3: WOW. What a brilliant book about life, love, loss and community. Ms. Blakeley has a unique talent for making her characters real. They are full of dimension and emotion from awesomely sarcastic to devastating grief and loss.
This installment will solidify your hate for Roger and the “program” like no other. The events he has put into motion come to a head finally drawing Henry and Gunther to him. More is revealed about the lives these men had led prior to the events and during the “program”.
Each individual in this book is brilliantly woven with such detail to emotions, survival and real life problems in a post-apocalyptic world. A roller coaster of emotions – highs and lows. I am surprised my Kindle has survived this series! It is sure to leave you gutted with a book hang-over, sobbing and wanting for more! Book 4 in this series cannot get here fast enough!

NOVELLA: This novella, A Little Taste of Naughty, brings you back in time when Elaina and Henry first stared to date and were unsure of themselves and their relationship. It gives us a sweet glance into Henry and what he sees in a woman. It also gives us a dose of the insecurities we as women face in our self-image and how shopping is truly an evil art form in helping to develop those insecurities we harbor about ourselves. Claire and Marc make a brief appearance and you really get a great view of how prim and proper Claire was prior to the zombie virus attack. As always, Henry and Elaina steam things up at her cousins wedding - scorching office desk sex that makes you look at frosting and work a bit differently!

[Brea Behn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wild ride!

I'm not a romance reader normally, but I really liked this series because of the dystopian aspect. The author spins an original, intense post apocalyptic scenario that I couldn't put down waiting to see what happened next. I really liked the many characters and their unique personalities and reactions to the almost constant action. The editing is not perfect and the constant switch in perspectives threw me at times, but neither kept me from reading. I was satisfied with the ending yet sad to put these characters away. If you like hot romance and tons of action, this series is for you!

[Sheila Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Live fir today tomorrow isn’t promised

Henry lived a life of hell sent to the USA to do a job then....he met Elainer and his life became a meaning then following Gunther who was born into the programme and also lived a life in hell until he met Quinn his life saver. The two couples meet and create a bond there is so much more to this story how they survived how the world came to an end yet they lived on, the Author looked beyond the story and came up with a solution the only thing is what did Elainer have a boy or a girl and I’m sure Cora and Gunther make it together. Highly recommend set of books

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite series!!!
Broken Dreams:Freaking awesome. It sucks you in and eats at your brain, not letting go until you are emotionally spent and brain dead.
I was blown away at how much I enjoyed it. I'm working on book 2 now. Don't be turned away by the post-apocalyptic or zombie tags, this is more about the romance and the survival story. Henry is so attractive. You feel for him because of the torture that he goes through. His decision to leave the organization is what is the catalyst for the virus being released, but his love for Elaina is his reason for living, so you can understand his motives. At times, I thought he spent too much time crying, but if people were eating each other and you didn't think you were going to survive, you might spend some time crying. His love and unending devotion toward her is so swoon-worthy. Elaina is strong and takes everything in stride. Claire and Nick are great supporting characters. The story is awesome and will be hard to put down, which means leave a day or two to get through all 600+ pages. The story is smart, sassy, snarky, intriguing, and will make you ugly-cry more often than you will want to admit. These books should come with tissues, wine, and a few chocolate bars to help you get through.
Awakened Desires:
Wow times two

I am blown away. This is an intense ride that keeps you gripping the handlebar. You never know what will happen with each curve, and when the ride comes to a stop, your heart is pounding out of your chest.
You'll notice my lack of summary, because aside from the book blurb, I don't wish to give away any of the plot. It is so full of surprises at every twist and turn. It's hard not to say anything additional that won't ruin the fun of reading this series.

At first I was a little disappointed that the book didn't pick up right where book 1 left off. I wanted to know what happened, not about Gunther. Who wants to know the bad guy's story? But I forged on with the hopes I would get what I was looking for. The way Gunther's story unfolds shows you that he's not as ruthless as he's painted in book 1. When you discover his background, you start to feel sympathy for him. There were moments that made me laugh, like when he feels something in his heart and thinks he's having a heart attack. (this happens early, it's not a spoiler, I promise). But it makes you realize what a sad environment he was raised in that he doesn't understand emotions. I remained enthralled with his story, despite wanting to know what was going on with the other characters. We do finally get the continuation of the story from book 1. So many parts of this story will have you wanting to throw your book (or kindle, I don't recommend actually throwing either, though. The kindle might break, and the book is huge & would break something). You'll have quite the book hangover after all the crying. The ending will have you grabbing for book 3. Don't let the Zombie word turn you off from this series. I don't read much in the post-apocalyptic genre, but this series is full of sex, love, and happens to have some undead people roaming around in the background. The gore isn't described in such detail that you will be squeamish and your mind can make as much or as little of it as you wish. It's the relationships and the survival that drive these stories. Paranormal Romance lovers will enjoy reading something a bit different that is gripping, well written, and emotionally jarring. The series title Shattered Lives just may be referring to the reader, not just the characters.
Fractured Hearts:
This is a fantastic series full of high emotions, steaminess, more secrets than you can count, and ugly crying (you and the characters). The survival of these characters will consume you. This story goes back to Henry and Elaina's points of view (for the most part). It had the potential for everything to become complacent, but the story just keeps throwing twists and turns at you. By the end of the book, you have been with their story for about two years, and you are very connected with their lives and survival. I thought nothing would affect me quite like the deaths in book 2, but the ones in this story really haunted me for days after. Don't read this book in public unless you're okay with strangers seeing you cry. It's bound to happen. Even with warnings, you won't be able to prepare yourself or stop the tears. With where the book stops, it will be interesting to see what happens in the future installments. It's hard to categorize this series. It's got a well developed story with interesting twists and turns, more sex than most people have in their lifetimes, humor, snark, and tears. There happens to be a virus making people undead and an apocalypse situation. If you're not afraid to try something different that mixes a few genres, this is a Must Read.
A Little Taste of Naughty
This is one great addition to the series, and gives you a "deleted scene" feel to the overall story. I've read the other books in the series. What makes me like Henry is his absolute devotion to his Elaina. Their bedroom chemistry is off the charts. This actually added even more to the back story of the series and gave you a glimpse of life before the virus was released. It was refreshing to get a story about the couple that didn’t revolve around the virus, undead people and death. It helps remind you why you liked Henry at first (before he was quite so whiny and crying all the time). If you enjoyed this story, you HAVE to read the rest of the series.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Love these books....They made me cry so hard. Such an amazing love story...Rissa Blakeley has dug deep and touched my heart deeply