NEW ADULT
Broken - Lauren Layne (2014)
Olivia, a 22-year-old New York socialite, is having a going-away party. Her parents say she's taking some time off to do some "charity work". But Olivia really just wants to run away. And there's no better spot to hide and lick her wounds that the back woods of Maine, where she's agreed to be a caregiver to war veteran Paul Langdon. She expects to find a haggard, middle-aged ex-soldier that she can feed soup to. What she isn't expecting is a sexy, tough-as-nails 24-year-old soldier who has more scars on his mind than on his body. Both of them are broken, in their own distinct ways. Can two broken people find healing in one another? I loved this atypical romance. Paul is just... ahh, so dreamy! It often reminded me of Beauty & The Beast, with Olivia being the beautiful young woman and Paul being the once-perfect, now-scarred and angry beast. He called himself a beast or a brute, so I'm sure this theme was present in the author's mind when she wrote it. I devoured this in about a day and look forward to reading more from Lauren Layne. (CK)
