Title: Broken
Author: Nicola Haken
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 29, 2016
Platform: Kindle Unlimited
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20646135-broken
When Theodore Davenport decides to switch his mundane job for a career, he walks into Holden House Publishing with enthusiasm and determination to succeed. As he settles into his new role, makes new friends, and dreams of making it to the top, everything is going to plan.
Until he meets James Holden, CEO of Holden House.
James Holden hasn’t been able to stop thinking about his encounter with the timid man he met in a club bathroom last week, and when he discovers the one haunting his dreams is an employee, he can’t seem to stop himself from pursuing him.
Just a little fun – that’s what James tells himself. He can’t afford to care for someone who can never reciprocate, not once they find out who he really is. James believes nobody deserves the burden of being attached to him. He’s a complicated man. Damaged. Difficult. Demanding.
Broken.
Is Theodore strong enough to confront James’ demons? More importantly, is James?
(M/M romance. Not suitable for readers under 18 years of age due to language and sexual content.
***Please note*** This book contains scenes of self harm, mental illness and suicidal ideation which may pose as a trigger, or be uncomfortable for some readers.)
Broken – there’s no better word to describe James Holden, one of the main characters in Nicola Haken’s newest release, but what James doesn’t seem to grasp, because he can’t quite see through the darkness…through the pain…through his fractured soul, is that his broken pieces can still be put back together, not in a uniformed way because the pieces are jagged and angled, but in a way that allows James to cope, to be happy, to live a “normal” life with a man who loves him with every part of his heart and soul.
“You’ll be okay
You’ll be okay
The sun will rise
To better days”
Better days – that’s what anyone with a mental illness and those who care for them, love them yearn for when the demons take hold and refuse to let them into the light. But it’s those days that also seem out of reach because fighting against a mental illness is exhausting and pretending to be okay when a person is anything but takes a toll so grand that a happy, positive life seems impossible.
On the outside, James Holden has everything that anyone would want, and he has the pompous attitude to go with his lifestyle, but on the inside, beneath his scars, beneath his façade are relentless demons that break James down every day, controlling his thoughts and threatening to destroy everything and everyone in their path. Theodore sees beyond James’ fake persona, and he attempts to understand James’ erratic behavior and be James’ anchor, but Theodore doesn’t truly understand the depths of James’ despair and the bottomless darkness that twists James’ mind and demands an outlet.
Broken takes readers on James and Theodore’s separate journeys in dealing with James’ illness and also delves into how it affects them as a couple – as partners who love each other but don’t know everything about one another and the potential damage that can be done to their hearts because of it. There are a lot of places in the story that are difficult to read because Nicola Haken illustrates the despair, frustration, and loneliness James feels so well that it resonates off of the pages and wraps itself around us as we watch in trepidation for what’s to come.
Nicola Haken does an amazing job of showing the reality that exists for those who suffer with mental illness and those who stand by and try to support them as much as they allow. Because readers are given both James and Theodore’s perspectives, we get a complete picture of the highs and lows as well as the fears and frustrations. Readers can’t help but sympathize with both men because the situation that they find themselves in is neither of their faults but sometimes it’s hard to understand that idea when everything is falling apart and there doesn’t seem to be any light in the darkness.
James and Theodore’s story is one that will impact all of its readers because those two men can be anyone; anyone who suffers and anyone who tries to help overcome the effects of an illness that is cruel, debilitating, and brutal. Nicola Haken doesn’t sugarcoat any aspect of what James and his family and Theodore must deal with when James becomes out of control, which is why I was so caught up in the story, pleading for James to get the help he needed and hoping that Theodore would hold on to James, not to save him but to force James to see that he matters and he deserves to love and experience all of the light and happiness that life can bring.
Broken is a story that will stay with me for quite some time because its lessons, its reality are ideas that I’m sure to face in my own life due to the illnesses that surround my family.
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 Poison Apples
“Broken is truly a remarkable book. I was blown away by it, by the raw and sincere way Ms. Haken took these men through the roller coaster of living with unrelenting demons. And now, as I sit here wondering if I have to courage to post this review, all I can think about is how far into my heart Theo and James have embedded themselves–and how I hope they never leave. I think it might be too hard to say goodbye…although maybe not as hard as it was find the words that I hope compel you to read this breathtaking book.” ~ Beth, Give Me Books
“A stunning but achingly painful read” ~ Author Sloane Kennedy
“This is an amazing book full of so much raw emotion that it gripped me and wouldn’t let up. I felt like I was watching a movie in my head and I wanted to just jump in the book and give James a huge hug. Lots of FEELz in this book.. both good and bad.” ~ Alpha Book Club
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