Shattered Beginnings by Lilly Wilde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Shattered Beginnings was my first book by Lilly Wilde and I was blown away by the intensity and depth of emotion that I undertook as the story unfolded. I won’t bore you by attempting to rewrite the synopsis for the book, I am not an author and couldn’t even dream of writing a better one than she provides. It’s important to note though that three sentences sold me on the desire to read Shattered Beginnings initially:

Will a small town hero be my only chance at survival?

Will my broken soul mend his?

Can our Shattered Beginnings become the fragile pieces from which love is made?

After reading this outstanding story, I was left completely flabbergasted by so much, I literally struggled for words to write a review that would do Shattered Beginnings justice. In the end, there is truly no way my review could. Lilly Wilde is a skilled craftsman at building the story brick by brick. She showed me remarkable dexterity by layering her characters POV’s and pasts to add emphasis to the angst of her tale and the characters progressions. Truly, I was stunned! Ragan is one of the strongest heroines I have read in a while, her perseverance remarkable. She is a survivor who I was literally in tears as I read her past. At first, Branch was a hero who I actually greatly disliked… to the point that I wasn’t sure I could finish the story if he continued as he began. But the story had me wound tight and I couldn’t put it down so I kept reading and found that he was actually very much a hero after my heart… Lilly Wilde unraveled these characters… she took apart their layers and they became unfathomably real. And the fact that she accomplished this without revealing key plot details and twists quite literally left me shocked! These characters were every bit as shattered by their pasts as the title portrayed and I have no doubt that you will feel an intense connection with them by the conclusion of this first book, much as I did. You will laugh, cry, shake your head and your heart will ache tremendously at the repeated beatings Branch and Ragan took as they became the characters the story defined as broken…

As a reader, I often go into stories knowing very little about the book intentionally so I don’t cloud my judgement. Therefore, when I started reading Shattered Beginnings, I wasn’t aware that this story was actually book one of a duet. I was a little unprepared for the story to end as it did… yet, even with the soft cliffhanger – which I would normally hate! – I can give this story no less than 5-stars. I did wonder why the main characters, Branch and Ragan, were taking so long to progress into more than the frenemies that they were… but I have read too many books where the characters are not together until the last few pages to stress over the percentage of the book that they spend building up to that allusive “more than” they began. Shattered Beginnings is a sports romance heavy in angst and backstory of its main characters. How they became shattered was a critical and significant part of this story and I think Lilly Wilde proved that by building a story that spans multiple books instead of wrapping it up in one neat little package and likely not doing her character’s the service their story deserved. I get the impression that Branch and Ragan’s story is really only just beginning, and their HEA will be hard won in the end as you will agree I am sure.

I am anxious to read more of Lilly’s work now that I have read this story as I was so consumed with this first book I’ve read by her. If I hadn’t been living under a rock I’m sure that I would have been stalking this author sooner. Nevertheless, I found that I will be happily consuming a six-book series by her as soon as time permits. I am unsure of the expected release date for the second book, Salvaged Hearts, in the No Longer Broken Duet but I can tell you I am anxiously awaiting the conclusion to Branch and Ragan’s story and plan to up my social stalking of Lilly Wilde to find out as soon as possible!

 

★BUY LINKS★

 

(Shattered Beginnings by Lilly Wilde)

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2GpTfkr 
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2kHeYf9
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2JlJiKe
iBooks: https://apple.co/2k6qrES
Nook: http://bit.ly/2IOoH0N
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2sCbeim

 

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