I will pick up your pieces and put you back together. Piece by jagged piece, edge to rugged edge. And no matter how many times you cut me, I’ll love you and make you whole again.
Ariel had a happy life; loving parents who were the alpha and luna of her pack, an annoying brother, and a hope that one day she would find her mate and be unconditionally loved.
But one night, her world went up in flames, not only taking her family but also all happiness she once had. As the fire died down and as the house became nothing but ashes, she made a vow: A vow of silence.
A vow that she held on to despite being relentlessly beaten by the new alpha, Alpha Morgan. A once happy life was now a bloody, pain-filled life with the broken bones she had to endure every day.
Weeks turned to months and months to years as she endured the senseless abuse, but on that one fated day, everything changed.
Alpha Shane Chase was filled with secrets and a fair share of skeletons in his closet. He had been looking for his mate for over a year, but when he finally found Ariel, he was heartbroken at how beaten and terrified she was of the world. Most of all, how scared she was of him.
To make matters worse, when violent unexplainable things started happening in their lives, they were forced to make the ultimate sacrifice or die trying.
Could Ariel learn to trust him even when his skeletons come to light? Could Shane pick up her pieces and put her back together even after secrets were revealed and they were put to the ultimate test? Or would life as they knew it fall apart around them?
Jordan Brown is a student who was born in North Carolina but resides in Missouri. She was inspired to start writing after participating in a creative writing unit in elementary school and instantly fell in love with it which soon led to her putting her works online. Jordan views writing as her therapy and hopes that it not only helps her but others as well. Her dream is to become a well-known author who not only moves people with her words but who also inspires them to work toward their dreams no matter how big or small they may be or how crazy they seem. When she’s not writing, Jordan loves to dance, create films, and spend time with friends and family. Her first novel is “The Broken Vow of Silence” and she hopes to publish many more.
Ariel isn't a mermaid. Her name has nothing to do with flying, either. She lives in a cage, surviving one beating to the next. The alpha that killed her family and pack kept her alive, barely. But surviving isn't really living. One day another alpha shows, stating he's going pack to pack to find his mate. When Shane arrives, he's furious at how Ariel had been treated but at her plea allows him to live. Voice or not, she just wants away from all the pain and bloodshed. But things keep setting off Shane's temper and Ariel is hesitant to trust even her savior, because no matter how kind he is now, who's to say he won't eventually turn that on her. But while she's trying to recover and Shane's trying to prove he's not a monster, the previous alpha has decided he isn't content in the shadows. He will lead all the packs, and using Ariel to secure Shane's compliance is how he's going to do it.
Spoilers ahead. This is a clean romance but trigger warnings for physical abuse, trauma, torture and near rape. Mentions of past abuse as well as active scenes of beatings and drugging. Ariel and Shane deal with a great deal of things in this book, including their strings pulled by an outside source. Not going to mention because if the reader doesn't infer it first, I'm not going to ruin it for them. I will say that this person shows a decided lack of compassion for all that they are supposed to be nothing but compassion for those they look after. Ariel has odd moments of PTSD. I say odd because they aren't consistent. Packs may be social creatures but since these seem to be more territorial vs the usually portrayed "touchy feely" the quick recovery from 5+yrs of abuse seems rushed. Insta-love is full on present, though. Although, it's not actively physically pursued, just cuddles. But seriously, she's been beaten for half a decade or so and she just curls up and sleeps on him? Even as she's questioning his violence? It implies a trust she hasn't actually shown him yet. There's little world building, only a general sense of pack structure, a handful of pleas to a deity and a scant handful of background characters. There are decent bones to a story but some things are rushed, some are never explained and others oddly expounded on that don't really seem to matter. Some editing for errors and some constructive advice from beta readers and this could become an amazing book. Examples of world building: *Why is there a Luna ceremony and a marriage since mating means becoming the pack Luna? Is it a human tradition added in? But why since packs don't care for humans, fearing them and avoiding them? *A priest for the ceremony? *Why is the blood burned? Wouldn't ingesting it provide the link? Even just a swipe across the brow or something would make sense. How does a connection get forged if she isn't somehow in contact with them physically or in essence? A hug, a quick prick of fang to fingers, wolves nuzzle or lick the jaw of dominants, ... Anything would make more sense than fire. That seems more like a witch's spell. *How did he lose her in the woods? He's a wolf. He should have a decent sense of smell and sight, right? *Mating for them sounds more like ferrets than wolves. A female ferret, when she goes into heat, has to have access to a male or the overload of hormones can make them sick and eventually kill them. *Why would a bond be established by biting a female but not the male? *Why would all the pack live in one house but not the alphas? Wouldn't that just be better protection? Why wouldn't the pack all have separate housing, too? *How come mates can heal each other and why would they remove scars vs just taking care of the bruising and broken bones? *Why have healing abilities but no others?
These are questions that a little world building would fix while also adding to the story. It establishes the culture you are trying to immerse your readers in. The story is complete, in that there is a problem and a resolution, to both the romantic and the villain issues. There's a definite HEA. It just left me with some questions about the minute details, and that's probably more because I read so much lol.
I'll be honest here; I am okay with any type of female leads ranging from the shy and naive to the sassy and i-take-no-shit. But Ariel was too much; she feels anger at her brother for not noticing her pain when she was clearly smiling when he had seen her, but she cries and feels guilty at the fact that she hit her abusers in self-defence? What even?
And Alpha Shane, the male lead, is always doing irrelevant stuff throughout the story. For instance, there's a scene at the beginning where he gets a call and is noticeably worried. He says that he has to go and Ariel wants to tag along. So they walk and reach the Pack House where she meets the woman. You know, the one who always hates the female lead and wants to become the Luna instead?
Then they get into a cat-fight while the rest of the pack members just stare and later proceed to 'show respect' to her before getting back to doing whatever it was they were doing.
Then Shane and Ariel leave for their house as Shane is being busy, worrying and fussing over her.
My question, "Why did you even go to the Pack House Mr. Alpha?"
This was just one instance, but many such things keep happening throughout the plot.
Like in one paragraph, Ariel's hair is implied to be long, but soon after her hair is said to be quite short. Huh?!
And another incident which made me mad enough to scream in frustration was when Ariel gets kidnapped.
Not surprising in a typical werewolf novel -_-
She gets tortured by Morgan for like a week and Mr. Alpha here (hint: who is the "baddest" Alpha around) does nothing. Zilch. He's just sitting around in his office, moping and worrying about his mate. Why? Because Morgan mind-links and tells him something like- "If you even think of a plan to save her, she'll be lying in a pool of blood. I'll know as soon as you try."
So that made me think, 'Ah-ha! There must be a mole in his pack who's leaking all the inside info to Morgan."
But Mr. Alpha doesn't even think about that and sits around feeling her pain and 'trying' to come-up with a plan. :/
And guess when does he try to rescue her? When he gets the heat.
'Yes Shane, why don't you go save her only when you need to have s*x with her?' What a douche-bag
At this point, Ariel also gets the heat and hopes that Morgan doesn't try to make any advances on her. But unfortunately, Morgan is a lunatic and wants to make her his Luna.
And this is the only point where the story gets saved by Ariel's wolf. Her wolf attacks Morgan and they escape.
Then there's a scene which implies that her vocal cord is damaged by Morgan and she's very sad that she won't be able to speak anymore. But in the scene where she gets her heat, she starts speaking. Huh?!
Now the story reverts back to its typical mood after this. *eye-roll.
Ariel crying again and running away from Shane into the woods because she attacked her tormentors (Um hellooo, they have been torturing you since like forever Ariel), and douche-bag Shane running over to hug and comfort her. The end.
🤦🏻♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Language: PG (13 swears, 0 "f"); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13 I was reading this book for the sweet-werewolf-mate-love-story-ness that I knew it would include, and it's a good thing because it isn't a well-written novel. Since my purpose was the cute love story, I am satisfied with the book, but the inconsistencies were getting to me. Not only are the characters and events inconsistent with how they are written and explained to the readers but the timing is off -- even when the number of days that passed were at the top of several chapters. Also, while the main couple has cute and cheesy moments, their relationship still isn't very healthy. The mature content rating is for nudity, sex, and sexual abuse; the violence rating is for physical fights, blood, torture, physical abuse, and murder.
When Ariel loses her entire family in a fire she stops speaking. The new Alpha, Morgan, takes her into his custody as a trophy. The members of the pack take the fake smiles at face value not having a clue of the physical and emotional abuse that Morgan and his mistress heap on Ariel behind closed doors.
Alpha Shane visits the pack in search of his mate and knows he has found her when his eyes rest on Ariel.
This story has three layers to it. It's the story of Morgan and Ariel, Shane and Ariel, and then a hidden story in the background that you're only given bits and pieces of until more towards the end. The book is written so that it's very easy to keep the stories straight and not get confused.
The book is mostly in Ariel's POV, but you also get several chapters in Shane's POV and the POV of an unknown person. (Which is the POV for the hidden story.)
The story was amazingly well written. Very engaging. The angst is definitely high level, though I didn't feel extremely emotional throughout the entire book. I loved Shane & Ariel. Though I hated Morgan, Tracey and Ella for all they put Ariel and Shane through. I wish it hadn't been so long, but none of the story included was unnecessary. It was all part of the entire picture.
This book was a little confusing it does all come together at the end but there’s bits and pieces that just don’t fit together like why did it take so long for her brother to find her I did the parents just drop off his two brothers and leave him in control of them for the rest of their lives never coming back again nothing was ever said after that. I think that for Shane to be the alpha that everyone fears and to allow things to happen to Ariel and not go after her for so long and I think some of the trials that they are going through were harsh if it’s supposed to be a moon goddess and then to have all the power and not be able to help the people that they truly wish to help I don’t ever stop reading a book until the end even if I put it down and go back to it later but this one took a little bit more to actually want to finish
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I was looking for a quick and cheesy read when I found this book. At first I thought it would be like every other werewolf book but it was much more. I fell in love with the characters and the authors writing. It was a beautiful story. Although it was sometimes heart breaking and left me wanting to scream, what good book doesn’t make you want to throw it a few times? The plot twists (yes multiple!!) are perfect and did not feel forced. The love shared in this book was so sweet too!!! Good read and I would recommended it to anyone who loves a great werewolf love story.
This book has you by your heartstrings from the first page, to the very last. It is heartbreaking, sad, emotional; yet, at the same time, sweet, loving and beautiful. There were times when all you wanted to do was to be able to breath but were unable to, just because the story stole it from you. There were also times when the story got too longwinded or progressed too swiftly. I’m not sure why I’m not giving this book a higher rating. I just can’t put my finger on it. I’m... conflicted.
I was utterly shocked that some people rated this book less than a 5. I took the chance & bought it. I can honestly say I was not disappointed. The book was a hit with me because it had a different twist. Buy it, read it, rate it, and I'll bet you'll love it!
3.5 stars for The Broken Vow of Silence by Jordan Fox. This is my first book from this author and I will say enjoyed it. To me this was way different than many others in this genre. It was dark and gritty but still full of love at the same time. I loved the concept of the story. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.
At the beginning, the pain and struggle of Ariel touched my heart. I had high expectations for her future and her progress, though it fell short once it began to take a childish tone. Even after everything, it was difficult to connect with the characters. A story that was meant to be involving, intense and moving turned immature as the emotions of the characters were not properly expressed — everything was dealt with quickly and it did not give the reader time to either relate or process it all.
I liked the book but, it is too slow for me. I was expecting passion but it was more angst. I tried for two weeks to finish this book. I couldn't. I like the story but it seemed to last forever.
I literally skimmed the whole book. I read the first two chapters it started out good but then I just couldn’t get into it. I stoped reading it for a few days and came back but still could not get into the story. It just didn’t read good. I was disappointed
This story was so touching. I loved it all. Some violence is written in, but it isn't over the top. Lots of action and drama. Extremely well written with a very loving and romantic couple. And a beautiful hea.
This is a story about 2 people who find each other. They are fated mates. So he takes her away from a bad situation and into his world. This is about the ups and downs to get them to a really good place.
I really liked that it kept moving. There did seem almost too muc h going on at once but several other fantasy books I have read in the past are the same. I would recommend this book for a quick read.
Amazing debut novel! This young author is going places. The character development is wonderful, the mystery is enticing, and the setting is tangible. Bravo!
This was a new author for me and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. A gripping shifter story by a new voice. Looking forward to reading more.
I am so thrilled that even through the horrible things they had to endure they fought to he together and know teue love hope to seenmore about this family and pack