Well-written with good character development, but the story just didn't grab my attention as much as I'd hoped. I think I'm also ready for a break from reading about people with such difficult issues to overcome. I read enough to know I can recommend it to some of my customers who I think would enjoy it.

This was such a moving story. I couldn't get enough of it! The characters were fully flushed and grabbed straight onto my heart. Lovely read!

Well written. Well paced. Very beautiful and powerful. I’ll be recommending it to readers of contemporary romance.

Wow. Five stars isn’t enough for this amazing read! My words won’t do it any justice, so I won’t even try. LJ is what book boyfriends are made of—kind, beautiful, and swoony! The way he was with Andra was everything. I enjoyed watching the two fall in love. The romance was sweet and genuine. I want to go back and read all over again!

City mouse meets country mouse in a clash of cultures in this lovely romance. A shared love of horses brings Andra and LJ together when LJ is hired to train the foals at the Montana family ranch. Andra is a survivor of sexual assault who has lived isolated and LJ challenges her status quo by baking cakes and offering cooking lessons. As they get closer, issues arise that drives a wedge between them. When LJ needs to go home to New Orleans, Andra decides to follow and see what the future holds for them. Confronting LJ's reality of daily discrimination and his and the city's scars from Hurricane Katrina throws more obstacles in their path. Their story is moving and captivating and I want to reread it to experience it again.

As survivor of a sexual assault, Andra was working through the past events and trying to overcome panic attacks. L.J. had been through his own traumatic event in the Lower Ninth ward of New Orleans during Katrina. This is a story of overcoming difficult events and moving forward. I did enjoy the humor and teasing throughout but felt that the sexual encounters needed to leave more to the reader's imagination. Less is more.

I liked this one, but did not love it. I am drawn to books set around the stables, and as an equestrian myself, I really appreciated the parts of this novel that surrounded the horses. Unfortunately, the connection between Andra and LJ fell flat for me, and I wasn't invested in their romance. I want to read more from Michelle Hazen, because I really enjoyed the writing and the humor. I also really enjoyed the side characters, who were charismatic and very three dimensional. A solid 3/5 stars from me!

4.5 stars Unbreak Me is a beautifully written love story between two wonderful characters with the backdrop of rural Montana and urban New Orleans. It is a story of healing and hope and it puts you through all of the feels. Andra is a small town girl who suffered something terrible, leaving her with crippling anxiety. LJ finds himself as a horse trainer on her ranch after surviving the horrors of Hurricane Katrina. Both characters are survivors and they find friendship, healing, and love together. I adored LJ - he is strong, sexy, insightful, humorous, and caring. I loved how he was always trying to put a smile on Andra’s face and I also loved seeing how much he cared for her, his mama, his friends, and the horses. Essentially LJ is the perfect book boyfriend. This engaging love story is multilayered with rich culture, likable characters, and incorporates important issues that are both real and present today with honesty and respect - racism, sexual assault, mental health, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina years later. I received this book for free from Netgalley.

Michelle Hazen delivers an authentic and engaging love story between two unlikely people trapped in the mire of their past. Artfully written, this story will take you on the most romantic highs and lead you through the heartbreak that is exactly what real life responsibility is all about. I've never wanted a leading male character to be real more than I wish I could find Lj on a ranch in Montana.

I LOVED this book.

There are serious issues at the core of it. Racism, sexual assault, debilitating anxiety, even the recovery of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. These are all handled with such obvious tenderness for LJ and Andra, and such hope and power ... and somehow it still manages to be funny and sexy. And did I mention funny? And sexy?

I fell in love with these characters, and their friends and parents ... I miss being in this world. Definitely going on the "to be reread" shelf.

This started off so strong for me and I was eager to learn more about the characters and their back stories. Less 20% in though it started falling. So many details without much depth made the book flat and bit dull for me. I was neither invested nor excited. The story had potential with the heavy topics introduced such as racism, sexual assault, and biracial romance. But the more the story progressed the more those topics just lingered there without much digging. The culminating conflict and resolution spurred from those things. There were some really excellent, sweet moments between the two characters during their courtship that really stood out. Further the understanding and patience from both of them regarding their plights was great too. Scattered moments of vulnerability and a true kinship kept me going in this contemporary romance book.

Unbreak Me broke me. This book grabs hold from the first pages and doesn't let go until the end. I loved sweet, sweet LJ and tough, but soft Andra from the start, but as more and more of their layers were revealed, I fell more in love. They both seemed so different from each other from the outside, but their interest in horses brought them together, and their backgrounds, though so different they might drive them apart, were arguably so similar they allowed them to know each other unlike anyone else in their lives. It's an absolute delight to see how LJ approaches Andra through his experience of training horses, drawing her out with patience and good humor. And though he seems easy-going and at peace, Andra is able to reach that place in him that he tries to keep hidden. Together they are perfection, but of course, nothing's ever so easy, and society, history, and family complications threaten to make different choices for them unless they can figure out how to put together all the puzzle pieces of their lives. The chemistry between them is palpable from the start, and the eventual heat is worth the slow burn tension. The details about Andra's personal history and LJ's experience in New Orleans add even more emotional depth to an already fraught story. I had tears by 20% and I'm not a crier. Really satisfying read.

Andra is recovering from a traumatic event a few years ago and LJ is looking for a new life in Montana after surviving the horrors of Katrina in New Orleans. They find joy in each other and in training the horses on Andra's father's ranch.

I wanted to enjoy this book and there are many things to like -- the stories are slowly revealed as Andra & LJ's friendship grows, and their stories are compelling and heart-breaking making their characters even more endearing. There's humor throughout that serves to create realism and break the tension. Although the ending is somewhat predictable, there are plenty of small surprises to keep the reader interested and engaged.

But.....SPOILER ALERT -- there are 3 very detailed and unnecessarily long sex scenes that felt excessive and gratuitous. Yes, the encounters are purposefully slow and tender and told with much detail to indicate LJ's care and concern for Andra, and later to show Andra's recovery and feeling for LJ, but the extreme detail seems out of place and over the top to me. Perhaps I'm reacting because I thought this might be a great book for young adults who want to read a book about overcoming adversity and finding joy in life (the interracial storyline is a plus!), but this is just too "adult" for a high school audience.

I literally haven't stopped gushing about Unbreak Me since I cracked the first page. I give it all the stars. ALL THE STARS. I loved it so much I went back to the beginning and started it again.

See gushing below...but if you just want the quick summary: Read this book for the feels, for the warm laughter, for the horses, for real glimpses of racism and trauma, for the healing, for the kindness and love, and of course, for the HOT sex.

My #1 reason - LJ. He's perfection, actual perfection, on the page. There's the obvious stuff, like he's tall, dark, handsome, and he has a great sense of humor. But he's so much more than a dreamy hunk of man meat. He's strong and he's vulnerable in all the right ways. He's patient and kind, letting Andra tell him what she wants and needs. He brings his hometown of New Orleans to life on the page. And he loves his mama!

My other #1 reason (hey, it's my review and I can have as many #1's as I want) is ALL THE HEALING. Suffice to say both LJ and Andra have dealt with trauma in their past. Assault, racism, natural disasters, near-death experiences, and poverty have all left their mark on these two. Together, they build enough trust and love to bare these parts of themselves, finding love and acceptance along the way.

My final #1 - Is that Andra takes her own power back. LJ reminds her of other ways to live, of who she used to be, and that she can decide who she wants to be now. But it's Andra herself who chooses to step outside her comfort zone. Andra who decides to make peace with her body. Andra who stands up for what she wants. LJ is primed to be her knight in shining armor, but it's Andra who does the work. <3

Honorable mentions - As a white woman married to a Puerto Rican man, I related so much to Andra's experience of feeling too small, too quiet, and too bland around LJ's family and friends. It's amazing how we can simply laugh about our differences when it's the two of us, but when you add in others to the mix, those differences stand out so much more.

Ok, now that I've written an entire essay, I'm going to get back to my reread!

Stars: 2.5

Reading this book felt like being locked in somebody else's fantasy. Despite the serious subject matter in the two characters' backstories, there was surprising little substance to the storyline. Pretty much anything worthy of note about the characters is described in the book's synopsis, and both characters were just too...perfect. Any perceived "flaws" in their personalities were a direct result of their trauma, and were therefore not really flaws at all. And of course both were tall, beautiful people with bangin' bods. By the end of the book I still knew very little about the characters other than they had both lived through a traumatic experience and loved working with horses. The sex scenes also seemed wildly unrealistic (this is one of those books where the woman is achieving orgasms almost instantaneously, and of course a double climax at the end!). *insert eye roll here* I'm sure some people can enjoy this type of romance novel, but alas it just wasn't for me.

Unbreak Me is a powerful book, one that takes on racism and sexual assault, but also the beautiful love story between two unlikely people.

It was easy to fall in love with Michelle Hazen's characters. LJ Delisle and Andra Lawler couldn't be any different, but both equally touched my heart. LJ is charming and easy going, not a simple thing for a man who has faced the devastation of Katrina and racism as he builds a career as a horse trainer. Andra, on the other hand, is closed off emotionally after a horrific kidnapping and rape. They share a love of horses and it's what brings them together under the big Montana sky.

Andra hasn't let anyone close since her assault. She trains her horses and attends occasional family meals, but she's haunted by her experience. LJ arrives in Montana not knowing Andra needs to be handled like the wild horses he's been hired to break. Instead, he barges into her life, teaching her to cook and smile, and eventually open herself back up to intimacy. I couldn't have loved him more as he broke down Andra's walls and brought her back to life.

LJ's easy going personality hides the things he's gone through. He left his mother behind in New Orleans, having to choose between family and his need to live out his dream. Even as far north as Montana, he finds himself facing closed off attitudes from just about everyone as they take in the color of his skin. He's heroic as he takes this in stride, especially as he and Andra fall in love.

When LJ leaves suddenly, Andra really shines. She has to take chances to prove to herself just how strong she is. And, while LJ was the catalyst that started the process, it was Andra that finds the strength to fight through her PTSD to be whole again.

Both Montana and New Orleans shine as honorary characters in Unbreak Me. With family in New Orleans I've spent a lot of time there and Hazen captures the magic of the city perfectly, from the sights and smells, to the lonely sound of the saxophone.

5 stars for Unbreak Me. Heat level: 3.5

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for honest feedback.

Do opposites really attract especially after they have repelled a number of times as Michelle Hazen's stars Andra and LJ in Unbreak Me?
An unusual twist to a novel bearing on ghosts of the past that continue to haunt in the present until they are faced and gradually outlived.
You won't want to stop reading until the end.

I got sent invite - sounded intriguing
I started reading

A woman who feels alone, eve though on her ranch with family (dad and brother) and workers
A man shows up for job to work with colts on ranch
As he works with her horses, training them like no one else,
then they begin cooking lessons (him and her)
Family emergency calls him home to New Orleans

Descriptions of Hurricane Katrina had me rereading them
I could see it and I wanted to have it sink in- what it was like, how it was through their eyes
We need to remember this area

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Michelle tackles many tough subjects with grace and honesty. The characters are real in all aspects, making the plot drive forward with a satisfying climax and conclusion.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.