When it comes to books and movies I try to keep my own self-created rule in mind: go in with low expectations. Personally, I have found that whenever I expect something to be all fantastical and amazeballs, I am ultimately disappointed because it didn’t live up to all the hype. On the other hand if my expectations are low to begin with they’ll have nowhere to go but up. When it comes to Beautifully Broken I kind of broke my own rule. I really enjoyed the first novella in this series, Finding Destiny, and after reading it I couldn’t wait to just dive right into the next one. Therefore, I feel I have myself to blame more than anyone for being slightly disappointed with this book.
To recap the first book, we were introduced to three women who were stranded along the side of the road due to unforeseen car trouble, but they were magically rescued by some dashing hunks on snow mobiles. Va va vroom! That novel mainly focused on the love story between Destiny and Skylar, but there was also some side action taking place between Skylar’s brother, Matty, and Destiny’s friend, Felicia. Although they just met, they weren’t afraid to immediately jump into bed together and stay there for the majority of the weekend. However, things changed rather quickly and dramatically when, at the end of the book, Matty is almost killed when he’s hit by a car and pinned up against another vehicle. Although touch and go for a while, we discover that Matty is going to recover, but we don’t hear what happened as far as him and Felicia were concerned.
And now we enter book two. I was sooooo excited to start this book, mainly because I absolutely adored Matty’s character in the previous novel. He was so funny and care free that I couldn’t wait to read more about him. Unfortunately, yet understandably, after his accident he has become a bit more serious and downtrodden. The doctors believed he would never walk again, and he spends a lot of time in a wheelchair, but after some extensive therapy he can walk at times with the help of a cane. But whatever happened between him and Felicia? As it turns out, nothing. After that almost tragic weekend they broke off all communication, and aren’t reunited until Skylar and Destiny’s wedding, which is the focus of this book.
Although I still enjoyed this book it paled in comparison to the previous novella, and I think the main reason was because it was kind of confusing to understand at times. Firstly, the descriptions of Matty and his wheelchair were kind of hard to follow. I’d be picturing him sitting in his wheelchair, but then in the next scene he’d be walking around with his cane even though it was never mentioned that he stood up, or that he even had a cane to start with. It might seem like a silly thing to get confused about, but Matty’s handicap is a main feature of this novel which leads to many an argument between him and Felicia, so it was pretty important to understand exactly what was going on as far as his wheelchair was concerned.
Another confusing aspect was the plethora of arguments between Matty and Felicia. Frankly, I couldn’t follow a single one. It seems that they are both upset over the fact that what could have been the beginning of an amazing relationship between them was shockingly interrupted by the accident. When they come together at this wedding, he admits that he likes her, he knows she likes him, he says he’s falling for her, that they are in a relationship, that they are a couple, and yet she argues that he is being confusing and that she doesn’t know how he really feels. What the f*&k?! Is she deaf? She would always say he was speaking hypothetically, and seemed to turn every admission of feelings he had for her into an argument. I simply couldn’t understand why. Eventually it comes out that she’s afraid of commitment, and he’s afraid of marriage, but their fights were so difficult to follow that it made it difficult to sympathize with either character.
As I mentioned earlier, Matty’s accident is a prominent feature in Beautifully Broken, but I wish we could have delved a bit deeper into both Matty and Felicia’s reactions to the incident. We learn that although Felicia went to the hospital following the accident, she never made her presence known to Matty, so when he finally came to he was under the impression that she just abandoned him. Although we sort of learn their own inner views regarding what happened that day, they never really discuss those reactions together, or resolve the issues which came about because of it. For instance, when Matty was pinned up against the car he wanted to give up because of all the pain, but it was only because of Felicia’s presence that he fought to hang on. He even compares her to an angel. As for Felicia, she stayed with him the entire time waiting for help to arrive, and never let go of his hand. Yet they never share these details with each other. Instead Felicia will make some hurtful comment about how Matty can’t help at the wedding because he can’t even walk, and he’ll bring up his handicap in a conversation having nothing to do with the accident, accusing Felicia that she could never stand to be with someone as broken as him. Again, it was confusing to follow at times.
Matty and Felicia were pretty hot and heavy in the first book, and although their lovin’ is extremely delayed in this novel with having to wait over 60% before the deed is done, once they finally get there it is all kinds of steamy. Holy snorkelblat do they both like their dirty talk. I almost wish we could have gotten a closer glimpse as to what went down between them in the cabin during the first book. Flashback please! After his accident Matty was always concerned about his ability to perform in the bedroom, but let’s just say that Felicia helps make sure that isn’t an issue. He’s still got it!
*An ARC of this book was provided by Black Widow Publishing for an honest review*
Series: Destiny series, book 2. Despite the fact that this book didn’t meet my extremely high expectations, I am still excited to read the next one! The third female friend from book one is finally going to get her love story with Matty’s other troubled brother. Hopefully between now and it’s release I can lower my expectations so I don’t end up with the same issue again.
Should you read it? Definitely read Finding Destiny first. It sets up the entire back story between Matty and Felicia which is a definite necessity. It is still a good read, but my biggest piece of advice would be to take your time when reading one of their arguments so you can try and understand the reason behind their quarreling.
Get it on Amazon: It just came out today, so click here to get your own copy!!
Romance Novels for the Beach 