I reviewed the book, "The Breakup" by Erin McCarthy. I rated this book a four out five stars.
Once again, I was resigned to reading a book starting with a bachelorette party. Women do meet men outside of these events, though with the plethora of these beginning chapters, I'm wondering if authors realize that.
Christian, the city bad boy, and Bella Bigelow, the soon-to-be-married fiance of a financier run into each other at her party.
Drunk beyond belief, Bella doesn't make a great impression on him. What he doesn't realize is that Bella is dealing with her own challenges regarding her upcoming nuptials. Not only does her fiance not find her all that desirable, he in no uncertain terms tells Bella it's her fault sexually. So what does this woman do? Bella makes a bee-line for Christian to teach her the ways of the world.
However, Christian has issues of his own dealing with his ex who comes back into town to cause trouble and attempt to take back her son from Christian.
Bella and Christian find their ways through both of their situations in a way that adds to Bella for her gumption about what she wants for her life while Christian finds out that sometimes what is underneath the packaging, is someone just waiting to be loved.
I enjoyed reading this and was given an uncorrected proof by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Bella is a "princess" indulged by her parents and making plans to marry the man her parents expect her to wed. One week prior to the wedding of the century, Bella is appalled to discover that her fiance has been cheating on her the entire time they've been a couple!! Not wishing to face her parents' upset, Bella does the unthinkable...pull the runaway bride act... but where can she escape to????

Enter Christian, bartender and twin brother of the man her sister Sophie is dating. Bella made a fool of herself at his bar during her bachelorette party but something about Christian compels her. And he DID say to call him if she needed anything...sooooo...

Now they're a couple in hiding from a two-timing fiance and and even more frantic family. But the one thing neither Bella nor Christian can hide from is their rapidly growing feelings for each other.

I thought the premise was pretty cool with a runaway bride but I wasn't sold on Christian as a dream boyfriend for the troubled Bella. I liked Bella learning and discovering herself but Christian still continued to have sex with another girl so he's not head over heels but just failing "book boyfriend" 101.

Still, I'd read the first in series and enjoyed both in the series.

In the last book you saw hints of what was going to happen in this one, so I wasn't surprised at all. I am however a bit torn. I liked that Bella didn't turn a blind eye to what she found on Bradley's phone, it was iffy for a while there. I even sort of liked that she wanted to the last minute to become a runaway bride, if only because then Bradley looked bad.

What has me torn is Bella, often she comes off as TSTL or as a Disney Princess in the happy phase. Neither I bought. I also had a hard time buying that Christian would be so enchanted by Bella, even when Bella did stupid things he seemed to have hearts in his eyes. Now with all of that being said, I did like these two together, the seemed to understand each other. I wasn't surprised by what Bella learned towards the end, even as I rolled my eyes when reading it and could have done without the drama. The ending made me smile, liked how both sisters got what they wanted.

This is the first book I’ve read by Erin McCarthy. The Breakup is book #2 of the Jordan brothers. Christian Jordan is a bartender in Maine and lusts after Bella Bigelow, who is in town for her wedding. Bella finds out her fiancé is cheating on her and she leaves him just before the wedding. Christian helps her discover herself and they end up falling in love. I’m giving this book 4 stars because, while the writing was good, the story felt really rushed. I look forward to going back and reading the first book in the series ‘The Hookup’ which is about Christian’s twin brother Cain and Bella’s sister Sophie.
(I received an ARC for my honest opinion)

I like this book but I didn't love it. It was a decent read burning just felt something was missing.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I didn’t like Bella in the first book of the series and it took me a few chapters to decide if I wanted to finish this book. It was a good story, but it wasn’t for me this time.

This is a follow-up on McCarthy’s earlier novel, “The Hook-up,” about a wealthy, brilliant, borderline OCD heroine hooks up with a troubled, lower-class, alcoholic, hunky guy in a Maine summer resort town. In this novel, the heroine is the sister of the other novel’s heroine and the hero is the identical twin of the other novel’s hero. Got that? Bella is not the brainiac that her sister is. She’s a beautiful, sweet, and naive woman who just wants to get married and have a family. We meet her right before her wedding in this small Maine town to a wealthy lawyer and she has just found out that he’s been cheating on her throughout their engagement. She is sick (literally and figuratively) about this and has to decide whether or not to call of the wedding.

Meanwhile, she asks the sexy bartender, Christian, to help her become better at lovemaking since she thinks her fiance cheated on her because she’s boring in bed. You can guess where this is going. And it goes there. She runs away from her wedding and spends some sexy and fun time with Christian. He figures out that she’s not the stereotypical rich bimbo that he might have thought she was and she realizes that there is much more to him than being a sexy guy with a bad-boy vibe.

Their learning about each other and finding what they have in common for two people from such different backgrounds is what makes this an enjoyable read.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

At first I thought I was having Deja Vu, but no. If you have read, The Hookup, then know that these two books story line is taking place simultaneously. I am glad to see that Christian and Bella get their happy ever after. Although Christian almost ruins it a time or two.

Bella Bigelow is beautiful, sweet and kind, with a side helping of grit she didn’t know she had until she met Christian. While her sister Sophie was almost her opposite, and one of my favorites in her story, The Hookup, Bella was delightful in a different way. While her character was not as unique as that of her sister, her evolution and discovery of her inner resources made this book fresh and interesting.
Christian is as interesting and complex as his brother. He’s a nice guy at heart, but in trying to sort out his life and keep priorities straight, can’t seem to keep from messing up in his relationships. The way his connection with Bella develops is unexpected and ultimately lovely. The story has some drama, but it is not over the top and is consistent with what you would expect from what you learn about the personalities of the characters. One thing that was especially refreshing was the fact that Bella’s wealthy parents were not portrayed one dimensionally as self-centered evil rich, who are only interested in their status and not in their daughters' well being. This is a minor point in the story, but it seems to be a cliche in so many books.
This book was wonderful in a different way from the Hookup, but both should be at the top of your summer reading list if you want an original plot line and unique, awesome characters.

I did not know that this was the second book in the series, but the author did an excellent job of explaining some of the backstory from the first novel in the Jordan Brothers series that readers were not confused. I thought the chemistry between Bella and Christian from there very first look across the bar. Bella is engaged to be married but finds out her fiancee is cheating on her days before her wedding. She asks Christian, local bad boy, to teach her how to be sexy. The two strike up a friendship while battling their feelings for one another. When Bella decides to be a runaway bride, Christian is the one she turns to, and the heat gets turned up from there.

Bella and Christian are instantly attracted to each other when they meet at the bar but she's engaged. But, when she discovers that her fiancee is a cheating scuzzbucket, she's free to act on her attraction to Christian.

I felt the pacing was off in this book. The first 60% was sort of drawn out and then the ending was rushed, with a huge suspension of disbelief to resolve the story (trying to stay spoiler free but you'll know it when you read it, I think).

Bella was a bit of a whiny heroine, especially before she finds out about her cheating fiancee. I just didn't warm to her. But Christian is a great hero, smart and caring, so I still enjoyed the book overall.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. This book follows Bella, a girl ready to be married, who finds out her groom to be is cheating on her. She enlists (the local bartender) Christian's help in disappearing and in the process, he helps her find herself. Their relationship goes from rebound to friends to lovers. Each part of their story is developed and believable. Christian and Bella's personalities shine through the pages and I found myself cheering them on from the first page to the last. I have never read this author's work but I will definitely be seeking it out in the future.

I really liked this one. I wasn’t too sure on Bella at first, but she totally grew on me right away. I do think she had one of the coolest jobs ever in a fictional book that I’ve ever read. She was a birth-mother advocate at an adoption agency. What an amazing job for a fake character to have! Then there’s single dad, Christian. I liked him in the last book and I was still digging him in this one. I liked watching those two fall for each other. The epilogue was all kinds of sweet. I’m sold on these Jordan brothers!

This is the second book in this series and can be read as a standalone ( side note ….happy to catch up with Cain and Sophie) It was a very layered, funny, sad and joyful story. I thought that Bella was a well developed character and an independent one even though it would seem at first that she is just going along with what her parents and fiancée want; Christian was a little difficult to figure out however he is a solid person trying to do the right thing. Great story and looking forward to more ( is Camden next)

This was a fun, summer read. I enjoyed it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet, revengeful romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

I’ve read several Erin McCarthy novels and seems to never fail to entertain me. I loved the banter between some of the characters, you can never have enough of that. Combine that with humor and tempers, and you’ve got almost perfect book.

I recommend Erin as an author to keep on watch.

I relieved this ARC for an honest review.

The Breakup by Erin McCarthy follows Bella and Christian. They first meet at a bar and are instantly attracted to each other, but Bella is getting married. In two weeks. However, Bella discovers her fiance is a disgusting cheat, so when she finally wises up and dumps his lying ass, Christian is there to pick up the pieces (and the runaway bride!).

When reading this book, I was really pulled into the characters despite that fact I hadn't read the first novel in this series (when I asked for this one, I hadn't realized at the time it was second in a series) and the dual POV was perfect. However, I felt it was kind of rushed after about the first half. Everything was going great, nothing was too slowly paced and then I felt like so much time passed so quickly! There was even this point towards the end that something happened and then it was just glossed over and everything was peachy again! 

Also, I didn't really care for Bella as a character, especially in the beginning. She just felt whiny and nitpicky. Maybe she was more likeable when she decided to grow a backbone. Maybe. I mean the characters seem like a good match for each other, but she was overall "meh" for me. 

Now here t's my turn to be nitpicky - during the epilogue when Sophie and Cain were visiting them at their house it really irked me the way Christian and Cain conversed with each other. Yes, I fully understand there are issues there that still need to be worked through, but it felt like they were strangers, not brothers with a sorted past. But, maybe it's just me.

Overall this book was went from a 4 rating to a 3/5 rating because of one major point in the story towards the end that felt so rushed, insincere and completely glossed over that I couldn't let it go. Honestly. It made me roll my eyes and shake my head. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so if you choose to read this book, I hope you'll understand which part I'm referring to.

Fun and quirky read. Enjoyed the ups and downs and the banter. There were some moments that I laughed out loud but also some really swoon worthy ones as well! Would highly recommend it :)