Title: Anything But Broken
Series: Book 1 in the Hurricane Creek Series
Author: Joelle Knox
Publisher: Joelle Knox
Publication Date: August 25, 2015
Format: Ebook
Genre: New Adult Romance, Contemporary Romance
Pages: 237 pages
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis: The first in a New Adult series about small towns, fast cars, bad boys and the girls who keep falling for them.
After five years, tragedy brings Hannah Casey back to Hurricane Creek to bury what’s left of her family. She’s flunking out of college, haunted by scandal, and the only person who cares is Sean Whitlow, an irresistible bad boy with a soft spot for her. The problem? He’s her dead sister’s ex.
Sean doesn’t bleed red, he bleeds motor oil. During the week, he struggles to turn his auto repair shop into a profitable business. But when Saturday night rolls around, he’s the reigning stock-car king of the local race track. He doesn’t know how to lose-or how to walk away and leave Hannah alone with her grief.
Between her grades and her wealthy family’s dark secrets, Hannah’s barely holding her life together. And the last thing Sean needs is to get tangled up with another Casey girl. As the attraction between them spins out of control, they’ll either find a love with no limits-or go up in flames.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review: This is my first Joelle Knox (who is apparently a writing team of Donna Herren and Bree Bridges) book and I’m hooked. Her debut novel in the Hurricane Creek Series (a new adult contemporary romance series) is full of all kinds of feels.
There was so much more to this book than the blurb gives away. There is pain and loss and heartbreak along with love and longing and recovery. Knox’s writing makes all of these emotions realistic and I appreciate that. She tackles some pretty serious subject matters that are the true focus of this book.
I have been harping on the realistic nature of characters. While I don’t mind a larger-than-life secondary character, I prefer my heroes and heroines to be real and Knox does a fantastic job of making you feel and understand Sean and Hannah. The character that surprised me the most, to the point of almost stealing the show, was Gibb. He’s hard not to love.
I highly recommend this fantastically emotional book. Let yourself fall in love with Hurricane Creek.
This is a standalone told from a dual POV with an HEA.
Also, watch for the second book in the series – Anything But Perfect coming in early 2016!!!