Three Broken Promises (Drew and Fable #3) by Monica Murphy-a review

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THREE BROKEN PROMISES (Drew and Fable #3) by Monica Murphy

About the book: Release Date December 31, 2013

Commitment. That’s what I really want from Colin. Ever since my brother, Danny, died in Iraq, Colin’s done so much to help me, including giving me a job at his popular restaurant so I can leave my crappy waitressing job at the strip joint. But lying in bed with him every night to comfort him from his horrible nightmares isn’t enough anymore. I know he feels guilty about Danny’s death, about not going to Iraq, but I can’t keep living this double life.

I love him desperately, but he’s got so many demons, and if he can’t open up to me now, then he’ll never be the real partner I need him to be. I gave him a month, and now I’m out of here. If he truly loves me like he says, he knows where to find me.

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REVIEW: THREE BROKEN PROMISES is the third storyline in Monica Murphy’s contemporary, new adult series Drew and Fable. Although this is not the continuing adventures of Drew and Fable it is Jen and Colin’s story-Jen is Fable’s BFF and Colin is their boss. The story is told from first person POV –alternating between Colin and Jen.

The storyline focuses on two twenty-something people who have more than a difficult time expressing their feelings to one another. Colin is a man possessed by the demons of war where his best friend Danny died leaving Colin the sole protector of Danny’s sister Jen. Jen and Colin’s relationship has always been more like brother and sister although neither want to address the proverbial elephant in the room-their mutual attraction for one another and the sexual tension and heat whenever they are together. Now that Jen lives under the same roof with Colin, she finds herself becoming Colin’s protector whenever the nightmares overpower his ability to sleep and think.

Jen has a backstory that is slowly revealed throughout the storyline and one that is both heartbreaking and shocking to her friends and Colin. Knowing that Colin would never accept her past, Jen gives her notice and prepares to leave the security of her friends, her job and the man with whom she has fallen in love. The secrets they keep from one another weigh heavily with each waking day.

The storyline is rife with angst and anxiety as Jen and Colin push each other at every step of the way. Jen needs and wants Colin to admit he has feelings for her but Colin believes it is his duty to protect Jen from others and men like himself. He wants Jen; he needs Jen; but in the end, his inability to express his love for Jen will push her away one final time. And in this, she walks into another situation even more dangerous than the one she left behind.

The world building and sexual tension continue throughout the storyline but much of the time was spent in ruminations and thoughts about what ifs and whys; Fable’s brother Owen is but a blip on the radar although his storyline is the next to be told; and Drew and Fable play minor secondary roles throughout the story.

But I did have an issue with the quick resolution to the build up of the story. The plot and premise of the final confrontation felt disjointed and disconnected to the storyline; it came out of left field and I was thinking-WTH just happened and where did that come from?

THREE BROKEN PROMISES is a well written storyline but I didn’t feel the connection to the leading couple as I did with Drew and Fable’s story. Although there is plenty of angst and anxiety there was none of the heartbreaking revelations that pulled me into the story where I felt for the characters as I did with Drew and Fable. Perhaps it was Colin and Jen’s personalities or their lack of communication with one another-for two people in their twenties they still had plenty of growing up to do.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

Reading Order
1. One Week Girlfriend
2. Second Chance Boyfriend
3. Three Broken Promises
3.5 Drew and Fable Forever Novella (Jan 2014)
4. Four Years Later (Feb 2014)