TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BREAK (Romancing the Clarksons 4)by Tessa Bailey-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 26, 2017

A love of a lifetime . . .

Leaving Belmont Clarkson is the hardest thing Sage Alexander has ever done. From the moment they met, she knew Belmont was the one, and getting up close and personal with him on his family’s epic road trip has taken her desire to a new, even hotter level. But there’s no way she can go there—not without revealing secrets that could devastate them both.

Losing Sage is not an option. Belmont’s heart is hers, has always been hers. He knows she’s hiding something from him, but nothing will stand in his way of telling her just how much she means to him. Finding her is easy—saving her from her past could cost him everything.

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REVIEW: TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BREAK is the fourth installment in Tessa Bailey’s contemporary,adult ROMANCING THE CLARKSONS erotic, romance series focusing on the Clarkson’s siblings. This is eldest sibling Belmont Clarkson, and wedding planner Sage Alexander’s story line. TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BREAK can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from previous story lines is revealed where necessary although I recommend reading the series in order for cohesion and backstory as Sage and Belmont’s story have been developing throughout the series.

SOME BACKGROUND: One year earlier Miriam Clarkson passed away but not before leaving her now four grown adult children (Rita, Aaron, Peggy and Belmont) a journal of her most intimate thoughts and dreams. Miriam’s final wishes were for her children to seek out what is important in their lives and thusly a cross country trek began wherein each sibling will find his or her own happily ever after as they venture their way from California to New York City ending with a New Year’s Eve celebration.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Sage and Belmont) TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BREAK follows the friends to lovers relationship between wedding planner Sage Alexander and salvage boat owner and operator Belmont Clarkson, a co-dependent relationship that places our heroine in a position to walk away claiming her sanity and her sense of self as she struggles with the push and pull of her love for a man so broken he is physically or emotionally unable to let go of his need for Sage Alexander. What ensues is the emotional and heartbreaking revelations about one woman’s past, present and possible future,and man who is willing to sacrifice his freedom and his life for the woman he loves.

Belmont and Sage are kindred spirits; two broken souls whose backstories are heartbreaking; whose memories of the past come with pain, sorrow,loss and the darkness of emotional,physical and mental abuse. Belmont’s siblings are unaware of their big brother’s tortuous past; Sage keeps hidden a past awash in embarrassing secrets and threats against the people she loves.

The relationship between Sage and Belmont is a friends to lovers romance that struggles with the innocence of virginity;memories of the past; and threats that are meant to coerce and control. The $ex scenes are seductive and provocative.

All of the previous story line couples including Belmont’s siblings Peggy and Elliott, Jasper and Grace, Rita and Aaron, play secondary and supporting characters. The Clarkson’s are a tight knit group of siblings, very protective of the people they love. We are also introduced Sage’s parents Peggy and Thomas Anderson.

The world building continues to follow the Clarkson siblings as they search embark on a cross country journey to honor their mother’s final wish. Along the way each sibling will find love,them self, and their purpose in life.

TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BREAK is an emotional and heartbreaking story line.throughout the series Belmont and Sage’s story has been building with hints at the potential breakdown of one man who is unable let go of the past and the woman he loves. The premise is engaging; the characters are broken, colorful and lost; the romance is exploratory and sensitive.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Too Hot to Handle
Too Wild to Tame
Too Hard to Forget
Too Beautiful to Break

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy