Wednesday, May 7, 2014

REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY: BREAKABLE by TAMMARA WEBBER

 
 
I'm so excited to be bringing you a review and giveaway for Breakable by Tammara Webber. Thanks for stopping by! 
 
 
Breakable (Contours of the Heart, #2)Series: Contours of the Heart #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Penguin Berkley
Publication Date: 5/6/14
Format: ARC
Pages: 368
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5 stars

GoodReads  |  Amazon  |  B&N  |  iBooks

He was lost and alone. Then he found her.
And the future seemed more fragile than ever.


As a child, Landon Lucas Maxfield believed his life was perfect and looked forward to a future filled with promise — until tragedy tore his family apart and made him doubt everything he ever believed.

All he wanted was to leave the past behind. When he met Jacqueline Wallace, his desire to be everything she needed came so easy…

As easy as it could be for a man who learned that the soul is breakable and that everything you hoped for could be ripped away in a heartbeat.

 


Review

There's a reason Landon Maxfield has such a devoted fan-base of readers. He's one of the good guys, the best guys. He's respectful and brave and so strong in heart. Do you have any idea how amazing and refreshing it is to find a young man like this? He's the kind of guy you want your daughter to find. The kind of man you want your son to be. The book world I know has been anxiously awaiting Lucas's story, Breakable. Nearly crazed, really. And how could a book so highly anticipated possibly live up to expectations? I feel that anyone who's read Tammara Webber's work knows that this is not only probable, it's a given.

Obviously Breakable covers the story of Lucas and Jacqueline. And though I love that story, I also mostly knew it. Would I want to see it again from Lucas's point of view? But it's not exactly the same story told through his eyes. Landon's story is the one we're familiar with. We know the pivotal moments between him and Jacqueline, from the rescue in a frightening moment, to the emails exchanged with a tutor, the sketches, the reassurances in pride during self-defense classes, the revelations. Yes, we get Lucas's take on those pivotal moments, but this is different. Webber didn't just rehash the story from a different angle. We get to see how at first, Jacqueline intrigued Lucas, and that over time, she owned him. He didn't want to want her, but he couldn't stop. I never realized the mysterious guy with the lip ring and tattoos was protecting his heart. Because I didn't know what that heart had been through. I think what makes Breakable so different is learning what Lucas has been through, from his perspective, and how those experiences shaped his thinking, his very existence. The loss that has marked him in every way.

But.

Breakable employs a shifting point-of-view, between Lucas and Landon. And as much as it is Lucas's Breakable is also Landon's story, in the time before. We get the experiences that transformed Landon into Lucas. From the moments following tragedy, and into his teens years. The speculation, isolation, crushing guilt, the unbearable pain that is locked down so tightly. We also get fleeting moments of good times, with Landon's gruff yet loving grandfather, his unlikely best friend, the faith and love from a family that never let him go. We see Landon's slide to the bottom, giving up everything and resigning himself to a half-lived life. We get the choice to turn things around and the redemption.

Breakable was beautiful. Not that anyone had doubts about Webber's ability to bring her talent to the table and create a great story that would make readers fall in love with Lucas all over again. I was very hesitant to open myself to that, and I admit that it did hurt to read Landon's story. But it also made me happy. I knew how it was going to end, but I still felt anxiety, and elation. Breakable was gorgeous, so utterly heartbreaking and in the end, triumphant.
 

Favorite Quotes


  This was what you got, when you became too cocky about how principled you were, walking that straight and narrow. You slammed right into the one thing you couldn't have, just because it crossed your path while you were focused on your almighty integrity. Jacqueline Wallace wasn't mine to take, and her needs weren't mine to uncover and fulfill.

  I had the truck I'd wanted, a thousand-year-old symbol of my heritage, a secret recipe for brownies, a pocketknife, and memories of my grandfather I'd never have without the loss of my mother. I couldn't make sense of these things or their value to me, when every one of them was linked to the loss of something I didn't want to lose.

Contours of the Heart Series
 
Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1) Breakable (Contours of the Heart, #2)
(covers lead to GoodReads page)





Giveaway
I have one copy of Breakable to give away, courtesy of the publisher. Must be 18+ years of age; open to US only.
 a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
About the author
Tammara WebberAuthor of Breakable, Easy, and the Between the Lines series.

I'm a former undergraduate academic advisor, married to my high school sweetheart, mother to three adult children and four very immature cats.


Website  |  Twitter Facebook GoodReads





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20 comments:

  1. Wow! Well said Andrea! I agree! It is so refreshing to have a main male character like Lucas, and we need more like him! This story was beautiful. Landon's story, the before, was so heartbreaking, but I loved the insight into what shaped him to become the person he was. I had no idea how much he was trying to protect his heart from Jaqueline, and his vulnerability made me fall even more in love with him! Gorgeous Review Andrea!

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  2. Okay, I just read Easy and discovered what all the hoopla was about. I didn't think I'd read this because I thought it would be same stuff from his POV, but now I see that it isn't. I will most certainly be reading this in the future.

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  3. I'm such a huge fan of Easy and I cannot wait to read this one. I love Lucas and I'm a huge fan of his. You have no idea how happy this makes me. I'm still really scared of reading this one but then again I cannot wait to read it :) Great review, Andrea :)

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  4. Wow, Andrea - fantastic review. I was very hesitant to read this book because of how much I loved Easy and how much I don't love rehashings in the male POV. But I'm convinced this book is a lot more than that and I'm excited to read it!

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  5. Andrea, I was just talking to Siiri the other day about how afraid I was to read this book in case it didn['t live up to my expectations, but your review just changed that. I'm definitely going to be reading this asap. Also, I love that we get to know Lucas on a deeper level and it seems like I'm going to have to emotionally prepare myself for his story!
    Lovely review! :)

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  6. This book is so perfect. I totally agree with Lucas being refreshing and wonderful. I'm completely in love with him. I was surprised and delighted at the way Tammara made this book unique and yet still told the story. I picked up the audio so I could listen to it over and over again AND the narrators voice is PERFECT! Yum. Great review, pal.

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  7. This book was simply gorgeous and will probably be my favorite book this year. It was just everything I wanted and then things I didn't know I wanted as well. Lucas is the best and this story was amazing. Beautiful review Andrea.

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  8. Landon is pretty awesome, and I am super excited to read this one and happy to hear that it was beautiful.

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  9. her writing sounds stunning, I can't believe I never ever read Easy yet. I own it, but bah never got to it. Landon does sound wonderful, now I want to know his story.

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  10. I've had Easy for awhile now but have yet to read it! I know! I'm so late to the game! Everyone is loving this one though, too so I need to check out her writing style soon.

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  11. " I never realized the mysterious guy with the lip ring and tattoos was protecting his heart."

    Had no plan to read this until I read this quote from you. That one sentence! I didn't even read your review any further because I plan to read it soon. Thank you my friend.

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  12. Wow you guys waiting a long time for this sequel but at least all the wait was so worth it

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  13. Yall are maybe tempting me with this one. I'm not 100% on the set up but yall are making me really think about it. Specially with how Landon sounds. Holy cow he sounds amazing!

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  14. I can't wait to read this, but I might do the audiobook because I'm so swamped right now. I actually went to the author event with Tammara & Abbi Glines this last Tuesday. I LOVED Easy soooo much. It's still one of my all time favorite reads. I also saw Tammara's son who narrates this, he was pretty cute in a young sort of way. He sounds much older. He was a narrator in Red Hill as well, and his voice is low and sexy! I sort of feel wrong lusting after his sexy voice/him because I'm probably not much younger than his mother! Cougar alert! ;) Great review, Andrea! Off to Audible!

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  15. What a beautiful review, Andrea. Breakable sounds incredible and I'm scratching my head over why I haven't gotten to Easy yet...I need to meet Lucas asap and then meet Landon/Lucas.

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  16. I absolutely loved Easy! It's one of my favorite NAs and I have no doubt I would love it as much as you did. I can't wait to get to know Lucas more. :) Great review!

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  17. aw, I could really use one of those good guys. I haven't read Easy yet, but i need too!

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  18. I'm not big on the 'same story, different POV' kinds of books. I loved Beautiful Disaster but hated Walking Disaster. I couldn't even finish the book. It was so repetitive. As much as I loved Hopeless, I can't bring myself to read Losing Hope. But, I was hoping and I had a feeling this one would be different.
    I'm about 60% in the book right now and loving it. I love how it's not just Easy from his POV. I'm loving the Landon parts too. I'm listening to the audiobook for this one. Zachary Webber + Beats headphones = eargasm :)

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  19. I am starting this tonight. Can't wait. Great review!!

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  20. I loved this so much. I fell for Lucas even more than I already had. So great.

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