Review: Well written with a great blend of angst and sexiness . . .
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 29, 2014
“Power panties?... I didn’t realize my power was in my underwear.” Of course it is! “Take back your power!”Peyton runs a successful pie shop in New Orleans, lives in her childhood home in the Garden District, and has loving, lifelong friends. Only a couple close friends know the trauma she has suffered and the reason she wears frumpy clothing and doesn’t date. When she was raped four years ago, she figured that a piece of her was broken and could never be fixed. She deals with this knowledge and just hopes to keep the panic attacks away. Reed ends up in her pie shop and he sees her as perfect and goes about trying to prove he can different than the playboy he has always been. He doesn’t know her secret and he has plenty of dark secrets of his own, but their pasts must be acknowledged before they can move on together.“She’d never met anyone like Reed before - sexy, charming, maddening. There was something else that interested her, too - some secret, some insecurity, hidden underneath the hard body and cool facade. He knew when to flirt, look innocent, and work every bit of his charm to misdirect and keep women from looking any deeper. But she wasn’t sure she was the right woman to make the discovery; after all, she wasn’t sure of herself. She knew when she was in way over her head, but Reed didn’t seem to be going anywhere.”Peyton is a sweet, charming young woman with a painful past trauma and ends up being a wonderful heroine. She has her scars, mostly emotional, but still becomes a successful businesswoman and caring friend. Being unable to get close to men and wearing baggy clothes to avoid attention doesn’t seem all that bad despite the assault. So, in short, I love her. The last step to recovering is letting herself become a sexual person again. Of course, it took a man like Reed to get through to her. Before he even knew about the assault, he just thought he had to prove himself to her as someone other than a playboy looking for another item on the buffet and he put in the work to show her she was special. He was willing to be patient and go slow even though those are things he never was good at in the past. His confidence and sweetness after he learns of the assault prove that Peyton was smart to fall for him despite the clear warnings.I do wish the perspective was more clearly defined at times, but it didn’t ruin the flow. Even though it’s a pet peeve of mine, bouncing between perspectives mid paragraph didn’t distract me from the story. I really enjoyed that despite the traumatic experience, Peyton is a strong woman. She had her time of soul-crushing grief and she recovered. Stories with strong heroines are my favorite. I also love a funny sidekick and Peyton has that in spades with Quinn and Dr. Lorraine.PERFECTLY BROKEN is a story that drew me in with a broken, but strong heroine and a broken, but sweet man who help each other mend the pieces back together. It is well written with a great blend of angst and sexiness that kept me interest throughout the entire story.✳✳ Copy provided by the author/publisher for an honest review.✳✳ Reviewed on I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews by Tickled Pink for Book Ink