Review: 3.25 stars
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 16, 2013
HOPELESSLY BROKEN is the first part of Tawny Taylor's contemporary New Adult  paranormal duet featuring Jenn Reynolds-a barely eighteen year old who must grow up fast after her parents died leaving she and her younger brother alone. Hoping to prevent Children's Services from separating the pair, Jenn devises a plan to get the gorgeous, hot new neighborhood guy Aeron (who befriended her younger brother) to play guardian and older cousin.Aeron is not what he appears to be.  Aeron has secrets and his `job' places him in a position that if found out, everyone he knows and loves, including himself, will suffer.  Aeron is already `chained' to his job and his latest assignment is Jenn's younger brother.  When Aeron realizes he and Jenn are getting too close, Aeron forces himself to walk away but in doing so, allows a former flame back into Jenn's life.HOPELESSLY BROKEN is basically half of a novel.  Tawny Taylor introduces the reader to the main heroine and the two men vying for her love and attention.  The relationship with Aeron is hot and steamy and one that has yet to cross over completely into sexual territory although they have come close many times.  The heat and spark are obvious but Aeron knows that when this assignment is complete, Jenn will no longer be in his life.The relationship between Jenn and her former boyfriend Bobby begins to rekindle when Bobby must sit in for the `elder cousin' when Aeron walks away.  But Bobby and Jenn did not originally part amicably and Bobby is hoping Jenn will forgive him for past discretions.The writing style is simple and at time tends to be quite jumpy.  Perhaps it is an issue with editing or trying to keep `secret' the big surprise.  The character development is slow to reveal-because in fact- Aeron's job and his reason for contacting Jenn and her brother will become readily apparent in part two.  The world building and premise of the storyline is slow to reveal as well but in this, the mystery and suspense builds for the next installment. After all, the storyline will delve into the paranormal although part one barely scratches the surface of this particular facet of the story.Tawny Taylor has blended a contemporary new adult storyline with a little bit of the paranormal.  With the building of the potential love triangle, the story delves a little closer to young adult especially knowing the heroine is under the age of eighteen but she does have many adult issues to tackle.see all of my reviews at : thereadingcafe(dot)com