What a hideous series.
Kept skipping back as I read this one, SURE that I had missed previous mention of things. Nope- just crappy, confusing storytelling. ( )

Must. Protect. Woman. Ew! DNF at 80%. I just could not read another word. This is a depiction of "love" that leads to murder suicide. I have a friend that liked this, and I am glad she did, but for me it was a giant no. It was filled with things I dislike:

* A hero who appears to have some sort of serious intellectual deficit that no one discusses
* Gorgeous virgins nearing 30
* The South written by someone who appears to have never been south of Secaucus
* Ridiculous moustache twirling villain
* Vile vile vile parents everywhere with children who inexplicably protect them
* Hooker with a heart of gold who saves the day and is, to paraphrase the ultimate hooker with a heart of gold played by Julia Roberts, saved right back
* Creepy obsession being called love

The one saving grace is that the writing is so bad I could not get too upset about any of it. I like a lot of later Tessa Bailey, but this is my second in this early series, my second thumbs way way down. ( )

Too Beautiful to Break (Romancing the Clarksons) by Tessa Bailey  
Reading Too Beautiful to Break, is like standing in the eye of a hurricane.  The storm clouds alert to danger, but the thrill of the unknown outweighs the fear of what's to come. Belmont and Sage are a cocktail of danger from their co - dependent relationship, to their individual demons.  Underneath the calm lies precarious revelations that could prove lethal to a friendship that goes beyond the boundaries of the norm.  At times I felt like a voyeur as I traversed the carnage of this disturbingly complicated duet of hearts, but once you step into the maze there's no turning back.  Your heart won't allow you to walk away.
  ( )

Too Beautiful to Break is the story of the last Clarkson sibling, Belmont. Belmont has always been a loner; he feels cut off from his siblings and struggled with addiction in the past. However, he has built a solid business for himself and wants nothing more than to share it with his sister Peggy's best friend, Sage. Sage has her own secrets though, and they will tear these 2 apart.

Belmont and Sage made me feel TOO much. The tears that fell were unavoidable because my heart broke for these two. Neither wanted to speak up about their feelings and they buried it all until it explodes in Sage leaving. Thankfully, even though Belmont doesn't really understand whats happening, he realizes that he has to tell Sage she is his whole world. These two are so stubborn through. Belmont doesn't deal well with change, large groups, and a large list of other triggers. Sage feels like a fraud who abandoned her parents when they needed her. She refuses to abandon them again and feels that her relationship with Belmont is toxic because they are using each other. Belmont has always loved Sage but had no idea how to tell her. It made me so sympathetic with their struggles. Belmont reminded me of so many of my students on the Autism spectrum. Sage reminded me of so many girls from poor towns who want better. These two were so real to me because Bailey has written two damaged, secretive, lonely, stubborn people that tugged at me on such a deep emotional level.

If you want a book that will pull you in so deep you never want to leave, Too Beautiful to Break is that book. I want to follow Sage and Belmont for the rest of their lives because they have come to mean that much to me.

 

• POV: 3rd


• Tears: so many....


• Trope: best friends brother, virgin


• Triggers: none


• Series/Standalone: stand alone within an interconnected series (you get the build up of Belmont and Sage in the stories of the other siblings)


• Cliffhanger: spoiler


• HEA: spoiler

Ok, Disciples, I was lucky enough to get my HERO Tessa Bailey to answer some of my questions! SQUEEEEE! Check out my interview:

Where do you get your ideas for your yummy alpha male characters?

Inspiration comes from everywhere! Men I see on the street or in movies. But a lot of the time, they just come from my imagination. I take a male with a physical appearance that attracts me and then I give him vulnerabilities, flaws and a sense of humor. And tattoos!

I am a proud member of Bailey's Babes and I want the world to know about PMBs. Can you explain to my readers why these pouty man bears are awesome?

Thank you for being a member of the amazing Babes! And yes, I can absolutely explain what a Pouty Man Bear happens to be and why they’re amazing! Think of a husky man with a perpetual frown, chest hair and a protective streak. A man who will carry you to the bedroom in one arm and a six pack in the other. He’s gruff. He likes steak, Sportscenter and making his woman happy. Voila! You have a PMB!

What are some of your writing rituals?

I write in thirty minute stints and I have an hourglass on my desk that I turn over each time. For some reason, a digital clock doesn’t motivate me, but sand filtering through glass does! Another weird ritual of mine is plucking my eyebrows when I get stuck on a particular scene. The solution usually comes to me.

So, Duke is my favorite Tessa Bailey character, and since he married Samantha, and my name is Samantha that makes Duke mine, right?

YES!!! IT IS SO! I HAVE DECREED IT! (you guys see this!? I got it in writing!!!!!!!! #DukeIsMine)

What do you have coming up that I need to preorder now? What hunky alpha men can we anticipate meeting?

I have a couple of exciting things in the pipeline! I’m plotting a book with another author—Eve Dangerfield—for the first time, which I am hugely stoked about. She’s quickly become one of my favorite authors. I’m also planning on self-publishing for the first time at the end of OCTOBER! It’s called FOLLOW and it’s a hot, contemporary standalone with lots of action.

I'm so thankful to Tessa for taking time to answer a few of my questions! She is one of my auto buy authors and you all really need to check out her books! I linked to Bailey's Babes above. Her reader group is, hands down, my favorite place on the internet! So many hot guys pics (including PMBs) and even some flash fiction from Tessa! Also, feel free to check out my review of Worked Up and see why Duke is mine!



Fighting for Flight by JB Salsbury, The Outskirts by TM Frazier, Drumline by Stacy Kestwick...then you will probably like Too Beautiful to Break!

 


Too Beautiful to Break





See full review on The Book Disciple ( )

If you are dying to read a book that has very well written characters that develop through the story this is one you should grab. I have read a few of Tessa Bailey's book now and they are top notch at character development. Seriously, I have found to love the journey of each character in each book. In each of the books that I have read, her characters connections feel real and alive. The characters all feel different in each series. They change and grow within their one book. She is definitely an author writes fantastic characters that deserve attention from everyone.

Tessa talks about where her inspiration for this story came from in the acknowledgments of the book. You absolutely need to read this. The whole time I read this all I could think about was the care and attention to detail that was put into bringing these characters story to paper. I personally have to mention this because at the beginning of my review. I felt like the characters might not have been my style of a read. But after I read that, I had to continue. Once at the end I decided that this book was another top notch amazing read.

Belmont is a determined man who when he says he's going to do something he 100% does it to the fullest extent that it could possibly be done. Belmont would say he wants to fish in the ocean. Then he would end up getting a boat and running a successful group. That's the kind of man he is. If his family gets hurt it would be the exact same thing. He would go out of his way and do anything and everything to make it better. The only thing is he has his own flaws from a traumatic childhood incident. His character was fascinating to read while he was damaged and disturb that he wouldn't be a healthy person to be around. However, the change at the end, Tessa wrote about his smile and it wasn't like reading it. You could feel how his world had been fixed. You could feel the clouds part and you would smile with him knowing that someone so broken had managed to come up clean and refreshed out of the dirt.

Belmont is not the only character in this story though. Sage is a lot like Belmont. She isn't broken I would say. She is a woman who grew up in the mud and fighting the shadows of the judgemental town that she felt was always following her. She was the poor girl that everyone took pity on but at the same time looked down on because of who her family was. What makes Sage an interesting character is the start of the book. Chapter one and she is leaving the man that she loves. He's the man she feels like she actually can not survive without. That is like the opposite of most happily ever after books. They do appear in other characters books in the series and have a connection before the start of this book. So you should read the first four books to understand their relationship. Which I did NOT do since I got this copy from Netgalley. So I would start from the beginning since this is the fourth book in the series. Back to Sage. She is striving for her independence from him. She wants to learn to be strong enough to be here without him. She knows she can not rely on him as her crutch anymore.

I can not say it enough. Tessa writes amazing books that are not only cut and dry happily ever after books. These are people on paper. People who have seen some things, they have experienced things. You as the reader get to watch them. You get to love them. ( )