Once upon a time, there was a girl who dreamed that her
first love would realize what a fool he’d been to break her heart and he’d come
back, begging for another chance; so, she went looking for him on Facebook,
only to find a picture of him, dressed in head-to-toe camo with a group of men
(all dressed the same), standing around a pick-up truck full of dead
swans. Yes. You read that right. Dead swans.
Suddenly, the girl could hear Garth Brooks singing about unanswered
prayers, and she said a quick thank you to sweet baby Jesus in the manger for
whatever force had come between she and her first love. It would not have worked. Looking at that photo of dead swans, all our
heroine could think of was Louis, from The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B.
White, with his little chalkboard tablet around his neck; and she knew, beyond
any doubt, that Hunter Boy was not the boy for her, and finally, she moved on
with her life.
If this was your story, wouldn’t you be looking for an
alternative, too? Luckily for me,
there’s Unbroken by Melody Grace to give me back the dream of that boy,
still as lovely as he was all those years ago (maybe even more so), without a
dead swan in sight. Unbroken
tells the story of Juliet, heading back to Cedar Cove, the place of childhood
summers, her first love, and her mother’s death. She’s heading back to clean out the house
that’s been in her family for generations so it can be sold, and she’s both
dreading and hoping to see Emerson, her first love and the boy she never really
got over.
She’s got the life she’s been telling herself she wanted: a
loyal, steady boyfriend, a college degree (almost!), and plans for the future;
but what will happen if she sees Emerson again?
Will he remember, will he care, and even more important, will Juliet be
able to stay away from him?
Well, I have to ask: Would you? In Juliet’s position, I’d have to say, hell
no; and let me tell you, you’ll be glad she takes the chance to find out if
anything is still there between she and Emerson. Emerson is tough. He’s hot, of course, and he
lives on an island, so he’s got two strong points from me right away. Then, he’s the first love, a summer love, no
less, which we all know are the BEST, and he’s kind of broody and hot. Did I say hot yet? No girl in her right mind would walk away
from this guy without giving it some serious thought, especially with the very
careful and secure life Juliet has waiting for her back in Charlotte. I’m sure Daniel, Juliet’s boyfriend of 2
years, is nice enough, but I wanted to kick him. Any boy who thinks a girl has exaggerated the
extent of her family’s dysfunction gets an automatic fail. So, goodbye to you Daniel! Nice knowing you!
Juliet’s a believable girl in all of her confusion and
angst. If I’d lived through the summer
she had, I’d be a freaking wreck heading back to Cedar Cove; and yet, she still
ponies up, rips those wounds open and tries again. I admire her moxy. Sure, she falters once or twice, but who
wouldn’t; she asks herself the right questions and she acts! God bless her, she acts! She doesn’t spend too much time standing
around being indecisive and wishy-washy.
She makes a decision and she goes for it! My kind of book girl! Once or twice, I wanted to step into the book
and throw myself in front of Juliet’s car when she tried to drive away from
Cedar Cove with unfinished business, but in the end, she came through.
There was also a point when I thought, “Melody Grace has
pulled a fast one on me! Emerson is not
the book boyfriend I believed him to be!
Damn it!” But I kept reading and
so should you. All will be made clear in
due time, my pretty.;)
My only complaint: I
liked the advice from her mother at the beginning re: a hurricane vs. a steady
breeze (not that I agree with it, but I liked it as a story element), but I did
not need the two by four to the head that I got with the actual hurricane scene
at the end. I get it, I get it already,
Ms. Grace! And I would argue that
Emerson may make Juliet feel like there’s a hurricane coming every time he’s
near, and maybe he’s a little impulsive, but he’s as steady and sure as they
get.
This is a tough one to put down, and there’s a lot to make
you turn those pages (and some great smut!).
Crawl into bed and enjoy (so long as you don’t have to get up too
early!)!
Melody Grace is a small-town girl turned SoCal beach lover. After spending her life with her nose in a book, she decided it was time she wrote one herself. She loves steamy romance novels, happily-ever-afters, and lusting after fictional menfolk.
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