BROKEN OPEN is book two in the Hurley Brothers
series. In
this book, we deal with Ezra Hurley, one of four brothers
in the band Sweet Hollow Ranch. Ezra's initial burst of
fame did not lie easy on his shoulders- he became a heroin
addict and his family had to force him into rehab. Now
completely clean, he's primarily working the family ranch,
but he still writes the bands' songs and is starting to
explore whether he is strong enough to go back on tour
with
his brothers. Ezra is, by his own lyrics, "ferocious.
I'm
dark and broody and broken." Ezra is wracked by guilt for
how he behaved toward his family while he was using drugs.
He's turned his life around, and his family has forgiven
him, but he hasn't forgiven himself. I absolutely loved
Ezra, and I loved how Tuesday got in his face about how he
needed to finish healing.
Tuesday Eastwood has been widowed for five years, after
her
husband died from a rapidly progressive cancer. She's
been
floating through life, keeping herself apart from almost
everyone. She's finally settling down and starting to
come
out of her shell of grief and loss, after she moved to the
small Oregon town of Hood River to live with her best
friend Natalie. Watching Natalie chivvy Tuesday back into
life was beautiful- it was pragmatic yet poignant all at
the same time. We should all be so lucky to have such a
best friend!
I'm a diehard Lauren Dane fan. She's an excellent writer
with a proven product that I love. Her female leads are
strong women who happen to have some personal issues they
have to work through, but they do it with the help of
down-
to-earth and rock-solid friends, the kind of great friends
anyone would cherish. Dane's heroines love sex, and
approach it in such a mature manner, openly enjoying
making
love and all that comes with it. The guys also have their
issues to work through from their own personal traumas,
and
their own awesome support network of friends and family.
Yes, there are problems between characters, both between
our hero and heroine, as well as between the main and
secondary characters. There are fights and
misunderstandings, but they're worked through in a healthy
and positive fashion. If I had a daughter, these are the
erotic romances I would want her to be reading, because
they're such good role models for responsible adult
behavior.
BROKEN OPEN is another solid Lauren Dane winner, full of
incredible sexual chemistry and positively scintillating
bedroom scenes. The personal traumas and struggles ring
true to life and engaged me immediately, and I couldn't
set
out of the park yet again with this book, and I can't wait
this book down until I knew how it ended. Dane knocks it
to see what she has in store for the next Hurley brother.
Five years ago, Tuesday Eastwood's
life
collapsed and left her devastated. After an empty, nomadic
existence, she's finally pieced her life back together in
the small Oregon town of Hood River. Now Tuesday has
everything sorted out. Just so long as men are kept for
sex,
and only sex…
Then she met
him.
Musician and rancher Ezra Hurley isn't
the
man of Tuesday's dreams. He's a verboten fantasy—a man
tortured by past addictions whose dark charisma and long,
lean body promise delicious carnality. But this craving
goes
far beyond chemistry. It's primal. It's insatiable. And it
won't be satisfied until they're both consumed, body and
soul…