Three Chicks and Their Books: Blog Tour: Broken Embrace by Dana Mason

SYNOPSIS:

The Past…
As childhood sweethearts, Brian and Melissa's plans were simple: finish school, get married, and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, life didn’t go as planned. Melissa went away to college, and Brian married her best friend.

The Present…
Seventeen years have passed and Brian's stable family life has come crashing down around him. His wife’s a cheater, his teenage daughter is hiding things from him and Melissa is back in town to remind him of what he lost all those years ago.
Melissa's returned home, ready to forgive and focus on her future, but that all changes the day she gets a desperate phone call from Brian’s daughter, Erin. Thrown back into Brian’s tumultuous life, Melissa struggles to move beyond the pain of his broken promise.

The Future…
While working together to save Erin from the evil web she’s caught in, Melissa and Brian fight to fix the past or face losing each other all over again.

Review

3.5 Star Review by Jennifer Hagen

Brian and Melissa had their future all planned out. At the age of 17 they laid under the stars naming their future children, binding themselves with promise rings, and saying a tearful goodbye as Melissa headed east to college. It was going to be a long-distance relationship, but one that they guaranteed would continue. Unfortunately Brian didn’t hold up to that promise and within weeks of Melissa’s departure he marries her best friend, Julie. Brian didn’t even have the decency to tell Melissa they were broken up; Melissa was forced to hear it from her sister.

Seventeen years have passed and Melissa has moved back home to be closer to her sister and nephews, which also means she is living near Julie and Brian. Melissa has made amends with Julie and their friendship has been renewed. Julie is having an affair and Brian bears witness to it. Following their heated discussion and her walking away from their 2 children without saying goodbye, she was involved in a car accident. Julie does not recover from the accident and leaves Brian with many unanswered questions as to why she felt the need to have an affair.

Melissa has tried to move on from her heartbreak but never found the one person that she could love as much as she had loved Brian. She is currently in a relationship with Chase, and Melissa sees this as a chance to finally have her happily ever after and begin a family. But is she just settling because this gives her the life she always dreamed of? Has Brian spent enough time with Melissa to know that Chase isn’t the right man for her and is he brazen enough to tell her that she’s making the wrong decision.

“You can’t stand to see my happy. You can’t stand being the one who’s alone now while I’m the one with the happy ending.”

There is no doubt that both Melissa and Brian still harbor feelings of love towards each other and with Melissa helping Brian get back on his feet and assisting with his children, there are moments where their lines of friendship can become blurred.

“I won’t hurt you, Lissa. I won’t leave you, and I won’t lie to you. I just want us back.”

I had some problems with Brian and that is probably why I couldn’t connect with this story. He bailed on his girlfriend without telling her they were broken up never explaining what happened, and allowing Melissa to lose both her boyfriend and best friend at the same time with no explanation. He should have known that this would devastate her and expect Melissa would struggle with her life following this. The other thing I struggled with was Brian going back and forth with his declaration of love for Julie while still thinking of Melissa throughout his marriage…even on the day of Julie’s funeral!! I felt like I was a ping pong ball with Brian’s statements. In one moment he was saying he loved Julie the day he married her, while in a flashback the first time he told Julie he loved her was when she gave birth to their daughter. Inconsistency is the best way I can describe Brian’s thoughts.

Along with this being a story of a second chance at love, there was also an element of suspense which heightened any lull in the plot.

How does one go from number one detective, to suspended detective, to attempted murder suspect in such a short period of time?

AUTHOR BIO:

Dana Mason is happily settled in a small valley amongst the California grapevines with her husband and three children. Author of the romantic suspense, Embrace Series, she's written about a group of friends from Northern California who learn just how short life can be when you don't hold on to what's important. Second chances don't come easy...but sometimes love is worth the risk.

When not writing, Dana specializes in professional development and training. She's also a board member on the local Art's Council and does what she can to support the art community.

Dana Mason Media Links:

@danamason06

DanaMasonRomance.com

www.facebook.com/danamasonromance