BROKEN OPEN (The Hurley Boys #2) by Lauren Dane-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 25, 2014

Beyond passion. And beyond their control…

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…

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REVIEW: BROKEN OPEN is the second installment in Lauren Dane’s contemporary, adult The Hurley Boys romance series focusing on the members of the rock band Sweet Hollow Ranch. This is eldest brother, guitarist and song writer Ezra Hurley, and Natalie’s (book one) best friend/ jewelry designer Tuesday Eastwood’s storyline. Our couple previously met in book one- The Best Kind of Trouble–and their attraction to one another heats up in Broken Open.

Told from third person point of view, the focus of the storyline follows the building relationship between Ezra and Tuesday-two people whose pasts are riddled with heartbreak and pain. Ezra is a recovering heroin addict, whose addiction all but destroyed Sweet Hollow Ranch and the people that he loved. Heroin is a powerful drug and Ezra’s attraction and need for Tuesday has him believing he is replacing one addiction with another. While Sweet Hollow Ranch is on tour, Ezra works the family ranch back home in Hood River.

Tuesday is a strong woman who refuses to stand down; a young widow whose former in laws continue to tear away at the grief that surrounds her daily existence. Five years have passed and Tuesday is ready to move on with her life and Ezra is the man to bring her out of the past.

The relationship between Ezra and Tuesday is one of immediate attraction. Their connection and desire for one another is palpable. While neither one is expecting a permanent relationship, there is a definite spark that does not go unnoticed. The sex scenes are frequent, seductive and passionate. Ezra is a man who knows what he wants in the bedroom and Tuesday is the woman who is willing to give him what he wants.

The secondary characters include all of the Hurley brothers, both Ezra and Tuesday’s immediate and extended families as well as Tuesday’s former in-laws whose mission is to destroy Tuesday’s new found happiness –at any cost.

The world building reflects on Ezra’s addiction and the heartache that follows for the band. Both Ezra and Tuesday’s families are supportive, nurturing and protective of one another. There are some issues of bigotry and stereotyping. Tuesday is a woman of African-American descent and Hood River is a small town with some small town mentality and beliefs.

My only concern is the actions of Tuesday’s former in-laws. Although we can understand grief and loss, their behavior is unbelievable; their emotional instability is over the top; and their need for revenge is psychotic in action. The delivery felt displaced in the storyline.

BROKEN OPEN is a provocative storyline of family, friendship, learning to love again and letting go of the past. There are moments of humor, pain, romance and drama but in the end, there is a happily ever after for two people who have endured so much loss in their lives.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy