Reviewed by Katie.
Having just lost his twin brother during a
special ops mission, Mitch heads to his brother’s source of solace,
Jessie. Observing this special woman
from a distance, he sees another side of the woman his brother revered. The sorrow and anxiety he sees haunting
Jessie as she so obviously waits for his brother’s return brings a plan of
noble intentions - and predictable results - whereby Jessie will have an
opportunity for closure and Mitch will maybe experience some of that mystical
healing power Jessie possesses.
A story of assumed identity made me afraid of
this book before the end of the first chapter.
When Jessie mistakes Mitch for her lover I laughed out loud. I expected a denouncement; instead she was
enchanted by the differences. When Mitch
later justifies wallowing in her delight with, “honesty didn’t seem nearly as
important as taking her back to bed…” I really wanted to excuse myself from the
remainder of the book. However, lips
twitching, I kept reading and wasn’t disappointed. Jessie wasn’t an idiot and Mitch wasn’t an
emotional vagrant. They were both
broken, just as the title proclaims, by commitment to a man that was larger
than life.
Ms. Reeves gives us a pleasant trail of
suspended reality perfect for the end of a long day. The presence of the brother in the form of
journal entries instead of a magic wand gives it a fairy tale feel. Taking a traditional route of assumed
identity and ‘oh what a tangled web we
weave…” with a few pot holes of conflict along the way make this tale safely
predictable. If you’re looking for a
well paced read to wash away the chill of winter or the bark of the boss,
Broken should do nicely.
