Stevie‘s review of Best Kind of Broken (Finding Fate, Book 1) by Chelsea Fine
Contemporary New Adult Romance published by Forever 04 Mar 14
This is one of those books where everything would be solved if the hero and heroine were to talk to each other. Except they have a very good reason not to, and it takes us a while to find out exactly what that reason is, because it feels so awful that neither can even think about it themselves. When we get the big reveal, it turns out to have been well worth the wait, especially as acknowledging what happened is only the first step that the pair have to take towards being able to forgive themselves and each other in order to move on with their lives together.
Pixie and Levi used to be best friends, until one disastrous night the previous summer. Now they can hardly bear to be in the same room, much less talk to each other. To add to the problems, they’re both spending the summer living and working in the hotel that belongs to Pixie’s aunt, since neither has anywhere else to go. Pixie has been estranged from her mother for much of her teenage years, and Levi’s parents up and left after the event that no one wants to talk about. Forced to stay in adjoining bedrooms – and share a bathroom – in the part of the hotel Levi is fixing up while Pixie works in the kitchens, the two indulge in a series of pranks to deal with their frustration at being unable to connect the way they once did. Levi uses up all the hot water before Pixie can shower, and she then turns on all her electrical equipment to blow the fuses when Levi is shaving. Since Pixie’s aunt and the guests are staying in the other modernised wing of the hotel, the two are hurting no one other than themselves.
I love the fact that both Pixie and Levi acknowledge the childishness of their behaviour and they understand deep down this can’t go on forever. Equally endearing are the connections they maintain to their friends from their old home town and those they have met since leaving for college. Hopefully those friends and their various eccentricities will show up again in later books.
As the summer progresses, Pixie and Levi start to come to terms with what happened and begin to acknowledge to themselves, if not at first to each other, that they would still like to be together even after the tragedy that closely followed their one near-encounter.
This is a lovely, quirky story about a group of very distinct personalities. I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series, and really hope we get to see all the characters develop and come into their own as each pair gets their own book.
Grade: A
Summary:
SOMETIMES MOVING ON MEANS MOVING IN
Pixie Marshall wishes every day she could turn back time and fix the past. But she can’t. And the damage is done. She’s hoping that a summer of free room and board working with her aunt at the Willow Inn will help her forget. Except there’s a problem: the resident handyman is none other than Levi Andrews. The handsome quarterback was once her friend-and maybe more–until everything changed in a life-shattering instant. She was hoping to avoid him, possibly forever. Now he’s right down the hall and stirring up feelings Pixie thought she’d long buried . . .
Levi can’t believe he’s living with the one person who holds all his painful memories. More than anything he wants to make things right, but a simple “sorry” won’t suffice–not when the tragedy that scarred them was his fault. Levi knows Pixie’s better off without him, but every part of him screams to touch her, protect her, wrap her in his arms, and kiss away the pain. Yet even though she’s so close, Pixie’s heart seems more unreachable than ever. Seeing those stunning green eyes again has made one thing perfectly clear–he can’t live without her.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
