REVIEW: Breaking Him by R.K. Lilley

Breaking Him by R.K. Lilley
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

To sum it up:

SCARLETT

It was the kind of relationship where I invested more than I had to spare.

I gave it everything.

And so when it failed, I lost myself.

It changed me. He changed me.

I went down with the ship.

My soul, burnt embers in the aftermath.

The fire of him ravaged it all.

He burned me.

Broke me.

—

Scarlett had always dreamed big. She was headed straight for Hollywood. Destined for silver screen greatness.

But in her wildest dreams she never imagined she’d be broke and single at twenty-eight, doling drinks at thirty-five thousand feet.

She was a glorified waitress in the skies.

It had been years since she’d seen him.

But one day, there he sat, gazing intently at her, ready to set everything ablaze once more.

Dante wanted her. Again.

Sure, she’d play along… But this time, it was his turn.

She was breaking him.

After all, love is war.

For starters, I need to applause the shit out of R.K. Lilley for writing a story where I actually loved a bitchy heroine.

With that being said, this book was good... Really fucking good, actually. However, there are two reasons why I didn't give it a full five star rating. For one: It ended on the biggest freaking cliffhanger ever which royally pissed me off. And for two: If you know me at all, then you know I despise bitchy heroines... Hence, the reason why it initially took me a bit to warm up to this one.

The heroine Scarlett could definitely be one royal, snarky, viscous bitch there's no doubt about that. But the more you get a glimpse of her past and the shitty card that life had dealt her, the more you were able to see why she was the way she was. For as long as she could remember, there wasn't a day that went by where she wasn't constantly teased and ridiculed by either her peers at school or her vicious grandmother. She had to learn to defend herself in the only way she knew how... That is, until our hero Dante showed up. Since the fourth grade he was the one and only person in her life that actually seemed like they gave a damn about her. He was her knight in shining armor; Her best friend and the only person in her life who made sure no one messed with her without going through him first.

However, the story doesn't start there- Forget all of the hearts and rainbows initially when it comes to these two, because we're thrown right into the middle of a complete war between these two from page one. Scarlett and Dante may have used to feel nothing but love and devotion for one another, but it's obvious now that Scarlett hates to love her once beloved Dante... And as the story unfolds, we start to catch a few glimpses of why. It was obvious that their feelings for one another quickly went from love to hate over the years, but Scarlett loathes Dante far beyond the imagination. Of course, circumstances happen years later that bring these two back together... And it's more than just blood that's shed this time around...

I refuse to go into anymore detail in regards to what all went down in this book, but let's just say it was one hell of a ride. I will say that you'll constantly be trying to figure out what the hell happened between these two that caused so much animosity and hate towards one another... And while we VERY slowly get some answers from events that happened in both the past and the present, it simply just isn't enough. So I'll just go ahead and say it now: Be warned. You won't find the answers in this installment unfortunately, so if cliffhangers or unanswered questions aren't your thing you better run far far far away from this one until the next book is released. Because that ending... It fucking hurt. I needed answers damn it.

So I tried to hate the hero Dante, because I just knew in my heart that he hurt Scarlett something fierce. But I just couldn't find it in me to feel nothing but love and swooning for the man. (It probably helped that I also have a mad love for asshole heroes.) It was obvious that he was one hundred percent completely head-over-heels in love with Scarlett, despite us knowing that he did something that damaged her badly. He was also extremely protective of her...

Be still my fucking heart.


The man also had one hell of a temper... A temper I couldn't get enough of and one that Scarlett loved to provoke just to see him in action. As for our heroine Scarlett... Lets just say it took me some time to warm up to her. Like I said, I despise bitchy heroines but she had her reasonings for her actions and the way that she was. Dante also definitely brought out the softer side in her, which was a nice change occasionally. Scarlett grew on me though- I ended up truly loving her character, flaws and all. Hell, even I found myself feeling protective of her after knowing what kind of shit she was put through.

My God, and the sexual tension between these two... There are no words. Seriously, R.K. Lilley did one hell of a job when it came to the angst this story embodied and all of the emotional feels these characters possessed for one another. I also have to say, I appreciated the hell out of the fact that the author didn't throw in Dante's POV- I've never been a fan of the hero's POV in any of the books I read, only because it almost always takes away from the mystery of the man for me- And this story is a prime example of why it isn't always needed. Over-all, cliffhanger aside this book is so worth the read. If you're looking for angst, hella good writing and characters you just can't get enough of, then this book is definitely the one for you.


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