BREAK by New York Times Bestselling Author Cassia Leo is out now and #FREE in Kindle Unlimted! Read it now!
Read now on Kindle Unlimited
Amazon
A humorous and heartbreaking second-chance stand-alone romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the Shattered Hearts Series.
For six years, she was the only one. My best friend. My kitten. My world. Then, I broke us by getting caught in a web of lies.
Hard to believe, after everything we’d been through, I could do what I did to her… in front of 600,000 people. I doubt she’ll ever believe I did it because I love her.
Three years later, my music career is booming. I have a movie deal in the next comic book reboot. And now the only parent I have left has been given a death sentence. I have to go home, but going home means facing what I did to her.
Ok so this is my first book by Cassia Leo and I was really interested in reading it after the blurb, and believe me when I say I REALLY wanted to like this book!!! But I had so many problems with it. This is a review but more sort of in me explaining the ways the book didn’t work for me…
Let’s start off with Charley our main heroine gets dumped by Ben on Instagram after 6 YEARS TOGETHER!!! Its’s done in a very humiliating way on a very important day of her life, all the while she has the flu. Like could her day get any worse?
But this I was prepared for because of the blurb.
What I wasn’t prepared for is when they go 3 years into the present Ben Just waltzes back into Charley’s life and totally acts like he didn’t ruin her!! I hated him the entire book. Even though I understood his reasons for doing what he did to Charley & the way he did them, the fact that he was so arrogant and cocky even after he ruined her image not only of herself, but she lost out on her degree, had to move in with her parents and her business started to go down the drain because of his actions. It seriously pissed me off how nonchalant he was about the whole situation.
Another thing was that Charley was so heartbroken for 3 years that she didn’t even give another guy a chance, had to shut down all her social media so she wouldn’t stalk Ben, and her nutty family went back to acting like he was their other son all within 24 hours of Ben being back in the story. Sorry but what family does that after ruining someone’s life basically?? As well as that Charley literally jumped at Ben every chance she got. I know that you never forget your first love especially in her situation where it ended bad and with no closure but she could have made him beg or something.
All in all I felt like the book had too many issues with my own personal morals. Such as the fact that she mentions drug and alcohol issues with Ben then forward the end it just “goes away”, and that she wrote about how Charley uses Plan B like it’s a normal method of birth control, which it’s not at all and it shouldn’t be portrayed that way.
Even though I disliked the book I was able to read the whole thing because I was dying to know what would end up between Ben & Charley. While Cassia Leo is a great writer and does a good job at story telling, my rating comes from the fact that I just hated Ben to much that there was no chemistry for me between the characters and it felt like everyone in the book was riding the Ben train on anything he said Just because he was famous and good looking. I might have liked him better if he truly acted like what he had to do to Charley was the worst thing ever and acted like that in front of her. Instead he was just cocky wanted to screw her, and kept telling her il tell you the truth soon. Im disappointed with not enjoying it but I would still read her other books. I just think this one wasn’t the one for me.
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Enter the Instagram Giveaway
EXCERPT:
Chapter 3:
I’m about to turn around and head back to the Uber, when Charley stands up from the chair and begins making her way toward the entrance. It’s like watching an angel coming at me, but from the stony expression on her face, I can’t decide if she looks more like a guardian angel or an angel of death. Either way, she’s gorgeous: tall and slender, with hips that would make a grown man cry; her dark hair cascades over her shoulders in luscious waves; round, hazel eyes and full lips framed by soft cheekbones and a perfect oval face.
She always complained about the tiny bump on her nose, or that her top lip wasn’t as full as her bottom lip. I used to tell her that complaining about those things is like looking at a gorgeous sunset and complaining that the sun is too bright.
Michelle glares at Charley and says something that looks like, “What are you doing?”
Charley says something to her that I can’t make out, but Michelle shakes her head adamantly. Charley glares at her, then says something that looks like, “Do it.”
Michelle rolls her eyes and they both continue toward me as Michelle pulls a ring of keys out of her apron. My heart soars as I realize Charley is forcing her friend to open the door. Maybe she’s not as angry with me as I anticipated.
The whole time Michelle is unlocking the door, I keep my gaze focused on Charley, willing her to look at me and give me some kind of smile or nod or something to let me know I’m right. But her eyes are trained on Michelle’s hands. Finally, the door pushes out toward me and Charley emerges with an expression on her face I’ve never seen before. I can’t explain it any other way except a stone-cold lack of emotion.
“Charley, I just want to talk to you. Just give me five minutes.”
Her expression doesn’t change. “I don’t want to talk to you, Ben. You should leave before Mason gets here.”
“It’s probably better that he’s here. I owe him an apology, too,” I say, taking a step toward her.
Michelle steps sideways, half her body shielding Charley now. “That’s close enough.”
Charley puts her hand on Michelle’s arm. “You can go inside. I can handle this.”
“Are you sure?”
Charley nods and we both watch in silence as Michelle shoots me one last burning glare before she heads back inside. “Look, Ben, I’m sure you’ve probably made up some kind of excuse that justifies what you did to me. But there’s nothing you could say that will make me understand or forgive what you did. So, once again, I’m asking you to leave. I really don’t want to see what Mason will do to you when he gets here.”
The cool expression on her face and the even tone in her voice chills my blood. What have I done to her?
“You know damn well Mason’s never been able to take me.”
“He’s been rage-lifting,” she replies coolly, using the phrase I made up for when I would take my aggression out at the gym. “I don’t want him to get in trouble with the cops when he kicks your ass.”
I suppress my laughter, so I don’t further piss her off. “Baby, I’m not here to get in fights or make excuses. And—”
“Don’t call me baby.”
I pause for a moment and take a deep breath. “Look, I don’t expect you to forgive me. Not tonight, anyway.”
She clenches her jaw and lets out a puff of laughter through her nose. “You really are just as cocky as always if you think I’d ever forgive you.”
I close my eyes for a second to collect myself as anger roars inside me. “You…have no fucking idea why I did what I did.”
“I don’t care why you did it!” she shouts, her stony expression crumbling. “You broke us! I don’t want to see you ever again. Go back to L.A., Ben.”
I step forward and grab her elbows. “This isn’t over, Char.”
“Don’t touch me!” she yells, wrestling her arms from my grip.
I’m close enough to smell her now, that sugared-strawberry scent I remember so fucking well it makes my arms ache to hold her. “You have no fucking idea how sorry I am.”
“Are you drunk? I can smell alcohol.”
I blink at her question, standing my ground as I see the headlights of a car approaching.
She glances toward the lights and her eyes widen with panic. “Go home, Ben. Please. As much as I hate you, I don’t want to see you hurt.”
I shake my head. “It’s too late for that.”
PLAYLISTS:
https://open.spotify.com/embed/user/cassialeo/playlist/0QhMgkKQHDt7dFPNlnJYge
About Cassia Leo
New York Times bestselling author Cassia Leo loves her coffee, chocolate, and margaritas with salt. When she’s not writing, she spends way too much time re-watching Game of Thrones and Sex and the City. When she’s not binge-watching, she’s usually enjoying the Oregon rain with a hot cup of coffee and a book.
Find her on…
Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Sea Reads 