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Book Review-The Broken One by Ruth Cardello

by | Feb 19, 2022 | Book Reviews | 3 comments

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

Single mom Heather Ellis would do anything for her adopted daughter, Ava. Even post an online reward for anyone who found the girl’s lost stuffed animal. Who’d have guessed it’d be returned by a drop-dead-sexy man with such sadness in his eyes that she had to reach out to him? To Ava, he’s a hero. To Heather, he’s a fantasy that puts at risk the happy life she’s made for herself.

It’s been five years since billionaire developer Sebastian Romano lost his wife and unborn child in a tragic accident. Now he’s all business. No room for emotion. Until he stumbles across that damn stuffed wolf and the beautiful single mother looking for it. Is he ready to give love a second chance?

But there’s more to Sebastian, his family, and his past than Heather knows. More than even Sebastian knows. Will the life they’re building together be challenged when the truth is finally revealed?

My Review

First Impressions

The Broken One is the first of the connecting series to the infamous Corisi’s, and in this series “Corisi Billionaires” we get the primary focus of the romance but we also have an overreaching serial plot which was quite interesting and I am eager to see more of what happens in this mystery that is slowly unfolding. This story also has some fun tropes such as ” Opposites Attract, Grumpy Sunshine” and I also loved seeing a unique attraction and the angst which builds between our hero and heroine. They had such a unique connection to each other and I was so intrigued by it all. I didn’t know quite what to make of it all here, because I just wanted them to be together and happy but yeah in this book it just doesn’t work out that way. We are dealing with some serious issues of loss of a loved one and a child (so fair warning before reading this book) It had the charm of seeing children being portrayed in the story and I have come to truly love this world that this author has created with the Corisi Family and the deeper one explores the world you might need a roadmap (Ruth Cardello does have a family map HERE ) If you are like me and love this series and want to make sense of all the connections.

Brave doesn’t mean never being afraid. Brave is being stronger than what scares you.”

Summary

Our story begins with our heroine, Heather, who is a single mother with her daughter who she treats as her own as her friend wasn’t able to care for her. Heather has built her own business and she and her daughter live quite comfortably. But then one day, her daughter loses her stuffed wolf on the road, and Heather is willing to do what it takes to find the lost wolf for her daughter and even puts out an ad for a reward in finding it. Then we get transferred over to our hero, who found the lost stuffed animal at a job site but is mourning the loss of his late fiancee and their unborn child. Sebastian has never been able to get over the grief that consumed him with the loss of the woman he loved. But when his family finds the ad for the lost stuffed animal, they push Sebastian out the door and onto Heather’s doorstep. Their first meeting while it starts with instant attraction, it ends with a door slam in Sebastian’s face. And Sebastian will need to learn to overcome his emotional struggles and learn to live again and adapt to adjusting to two new people in his life. He is drawn to Heather, who doesn’t stand for poor treatment and sets healthy boundaries, and while their relationship is rocky at times, they also find a beautiful healing love worth all the struggle to find something worth fighting for.

What I Loved

What an amazing story that just won my heart so quickly. I couldn’t seem to get enough of this one here, there is something about Ruth Cardello’s writing that just speaks to me in such a beautiful way and works so well. She is so easy to get into and I love the way in which she writes billionaire romance, for some reason, in the way that she writes it, is just my catnip. I really appreciated what we get with this story. And even though angst romance isn’t always my mood, it so worked in this one. I think because we are seeing a character that is struggling with the grief of his girl that passed and I so connected with that (personal experience) And I just related so well with our heroine. I was hooked in the way that his family stands by him, and supports him no matter what. Seeing the romance built between Sebastian and Heather was so endearing in some moments. His connection to Heather and her daughter was adorable and the way he bonds with them and learns to deal with his grief and letting go of the past and embracing the present was quite satisfying. There were so many quiet intense moments that bond Sebastian and Heather and it’s these types of moments that just build so beautifully in this author’s writing.

Happiness doesn’t just happen. It’s a decision. Like anything else, it needs to be tended and protected. Negative people had no place in the new life I’d built for myself.

What I Struggled With

Not much. The angst was a bit drawn out on this one, and felt too short and could have used more length to delve into the more challenging aspects

Overall View

I found The Broken One to be a tender, poignant romance that feeds the romantic heart digs into the human aspects of loss, and transforms the reader with such delectable sexy goodness you won’t be able to put this one down.

Title: The Broken One

Author: Ruth Cardello

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: eBook

Source: Kindle Unlimited

Length: 246

Amazon| Goodreads| LibraryThing| StoryGraph| Literal Club

Book Evaluation

Storytelling Quality: 4.25

Story Itself: 4

Character Development: 4.5

Writing Style: 4.25

World Building 4

Feels + The Romantic Heart 4

Pacing 4.5

Plot 4

Cover Art 5

Ending 4.25

Book Ratings

Overall Rating of the Book

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Steam Level

Simmering—soft warm touches and light intimacy

Warm- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.

Steamin’ up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.

Series Order

Corisi Billionaires

The Broken One-Pub 2019 #1 in the Series

The Wild One-Pub 2020 #2 in the Series

The Secret One-Pub 2020 #3 in the Series

About The Author

Ruth Cardello hit the NYTs and USA Today for the first time back in 2012. Millions of sales are evidence that her books are akin to potato chips, addictive from the first one. She has created a multi-series billionaire world with a combination of escapism and realism that has gained her a faithful following of readers.

Ruth Cardello was born the youngest of 11 children in a small city in northern Rhode Island. She spent her young adult years moving as far away as she could from her large extended family. She lived in Boston, Paris, Orlando, New York–then came full circle and moved back to New England. She now happily lives one town over from the one she was born in. For her, family trumped the warmer weather and international scene.

She was an educator for 20 years, the last 11 as a kindergarten teacher. When her school district began cutting jobs, Ruth turned a serious eye toward her second love- writing and has never been happier. When she’s not writing, you can find her chasing her children around her small farm or connecting with her readers online.

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3 Comments

  1. Carole @ Carole's Random Life

    I have read several of Ruth Cardello’s series and enjoyed them. I think that I read most of her Westerly Billionaire series. I have a feeling that I would enjoy this one just as much. Great review!

    Reply
  2. Natalie

    I’ve been missing for awhile and playing catch up and I’m delighted that this was the first review I came across! I love when stories about single parents and loss are well done so this book seems right up my alley. Great review! ?

    Reply

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