Review: “Broken Boundaries”
It’s rare that I read a book from beginning to end without a single break, and even more rare that I award a trope-filled book with such a high rating.
That’s just some context so you’ll know I mean it when I say — I LOVED this book. It ticks all the “trope” boxes without anything really “different”… but OOH! It does it so, so well.
The Pros & Cons
Despite the hot millionaire man-whore-seeming boss and quasi-virginal assistant trope that has been done to death in modern romance literature, these characters actually bring something fresh and genuine to the genre. You want to love them, and root for them. You feel their dilemmas. You fall into them so easily, and revel in the slightest flash of fire in their dialogue and interaction.
Yes, this story’s been told before… but usually not quite so well. In this case there’s not TOO MUCH domination from the boss angle, and ENOUGH feistiness and reservations from the assistant angle so that you’re not rolling your eyes in annoyance from chapter to chapter (I admit, I tend to do that a lot — and I didn’t, at all, with this one!).
There’s also JUST the right measure of steamy scenes at JUST the right time with JUST the right pacing so it’s not too tame, too soon, or too needlessly pornographic. For once, for ONCE… there is enough F*%$%#$#%KING STORY amongst the sex scenes, to actually enjoy them when you get there! I’m a picky reader — and an even pickier ROMANCE reader — and for once… for ONCE… I approve!
Oh, and no spoilers, but… the flower thing… EPIC!!!
The friendships on both sides also brought a lot of colour and life and laughter to the tale — Zoey’s best friend is believably proudly slutty and yet fiercely protective, and Easton’s crew is believably a bunch of d%&kheads with good hearts! And in both cases their command of dialogue when they meet each other’s friends made me smile. You feel like you know these people. They’re not overdone or overwhelming, but just the right measure of camaraderie and coercion and cockiness to enjoy their scenes in between focusing on the main squeeze! I can see the other books in the series being fleshed out quite easily, and would love to read more.
I do have to be balanced in my reviews, and I’ve gushed to this point, so let me see… my only real niggle that prevented the full 5 stars was that a “significant event” happened pretty late in the last few chapters… so, in terms of pacing it felt like it should have happened earlier, or there should have been a bit more story before the eventual resolution, because the ending felt a *wee* bit rushed.
Conclusion
I wanted just a little more squirming of “will-they-won’t-they-what’s-going-to-happen” before the eventual sigh of relief as it slid into its happily-ever-after. Maybe I was just enjoying it too much for it to end so soon! Nevertheless, I was thrilled for the entire joyride of this book and highly, highly, highly recommend to anyone… and particularly if you are a picky reader who needs something in the romance genre to rock your world!
