Spotlight Post & Review--- Brokenness by Erika Ashby

Title: Brokenness: A Broken Wings Companion

Series: Broken  #2

Author: Erika Ashby

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Released: September 28, 2015

TEN YEARS AGO, I fell in love with a boy. 

In the blink of an eye, the boy I loved was ripped from me. 

TEN YEARS LATER, I ran into the boy I had lost. 

Yet, he's no longer a boy. 

He's a man. 

A deeply wounded man. 

Dustin Adams was once known for his down to earth, care free spirit. He was the well rounded kid with a promising future. 

Until the girl he loved was yanked from his life. 

Now, Dustin is known for his distance and the coldness he radiates. He is simply a shell of the boy he once was.

Living the Army life, the close calls he's surrounded by daily have done nothing but further harden his heart.

Until the girl he once loved reappears in his life. 

Can what they shared so long ago be restored? Or is Dustin fated to live a life of brokenness?

“I want to applaud Erika Ashby on a phenomenal story that left me soooo happy, and yet, I wish there was more!! Thank you for these wonderful characters that will always have a place in my heart<3” ~ Amazon Reviewer

“This is a definite must read series that hooks you from the beginning. It's raw, real, and emotional! I can't wait to read more!!!!” ~ Amazon Reviewer

“WOW I mean WOW! I think Ms Erika did a fantastic job. Reading some of her FB posts she was worried it might not be long enough and how she struggled to make it happen. Well Ms Erika you did super job!” ~ Amazon Reviewer

Echo

TEN YEARS AGO I fell in love with a boy. All it took was one sideways grin with his perfectly dimpled cheek for me to know I was a goner. My days and nights were consumed by him—if not physically, he was there mentally—and always on my mind. I loved him with everything that I had. The love we shared was the kind I thought would stand the test of time.
Everyone says your first true love isn't in fact your one true love, but more of a fling. That epic love comes from enduring every facet of life with that person. Whether it is happiness, sadness, loss, or gain, you can't truly love someone until it had been tested. 
But I didn’t believe that. The bounds of love shouldn’t need to be tested to be known.
Then one day, in a blink of an eye, the boy I loved was ripped from me. My overly religious parents didn't like their daughter falling in love so young. It was simply unacceptable to them when I was supposed to focus on God, school, my future and nothing else. 
He was my future, and when they ripped my future away, I rebelled. I was barely showing by the time graduation rolled around. Thank God, because I would have surely been an outcast at my new school. Not to mention what would have happened if my parents would have found out. There was no way I was letting them get their hands on the last thing I had of the boy I loved. 
Eighteen, pregnant and sitting at the bus station, I found a friend. One that took me under his wing and who I grew to love. It was then I realized there were different types of love. He was everything I needed when I had nothing. I loved him for the life he had given me when every option I had was filled with uncertainty. I would forever be in his debt. 
TEN YEARS LATER, I ran into the boy I had loved, yet he was no longer a boy. He was a man. A deeply wounded man. His inner wounds far exceeded the outer ones. Nothing compared to the scars and pain he'd carried around on the inside for so long. 
TEN YEARS LATER and I still had the same feelings for him...but they seem so much more intense. Was my first love my one true love? Now that he’s reappeared in my life, my thoughts are consumed by him. But now they are paralleled with guilt. I love two men, but I love them differently. And, as of right now, I only know one for sure loved me back.
I’m caught between what’s wrong and what’s right…what’s fair and what’s unjust. I know what my heart wants, but is what it wants what’s right? Feelings can cloud moral judgment. I don’t want what I feel to take over what I know to be right. But I’m having a hard time sorting out the differences. I’m walking an emotion packed tight rope, and I know I’m going to fall. I’m just unsure who’s going to catch me.

My 5-Star Review

"When it comes to being selfish in regards to her, it’s a double-edged sword. 
It can either slay me, or save me."

THIS BOOK!!!

I have been *patiently* waiting for this book for over a year...it was soooooo worth the wait!!

I could not have been more pleased with how Dustin and Echo's story turned out! After reading Broken Wings, you get a sense of their story, but you have NO IDEA! 

"Dustin is one of the strongest men I’ve ever known, but when it comes to me, he’s fragile. And I’m supposed to be helping rebuild the brokenness, not fracture it even further."

This book is broken into two parts-the past and the present. I loved that aspect! 

You find out how their story started as teenagers in love. But because of Echo's controlling father, they couldn't be the couple they truly wanted to be. I don't know who I felt more sorry for. The girl that couldn't break free from her father's hold, or the boy who didn't know how to fight for the love of his life.

My heart was broken when they were ripped apart!! Like I physically wished I could reach into the book and pull them back together by the heartstrings that stayed tied for a decade. 

"The love of my life, and the holder of my future, was yanked from my life...and I was forever changed." 

Ten years went by before they saw each other again. They weren't the same kids that fell in love over chocolate shakes and French fries or baseball. They each were hit with difficult circumstances and the only cure was each other. To watch them fight their emotions was acually beautiful. You find yourself immersed into this world of Dustin and Echo. 

"In this moment, I know the world has it out for me. I’m hated by the stars that are supposed to align for us. 
Freaking stars, and universes, and constellations. Freaking astrology. It was all freaking bullshit... 
But here’s the thing…she was mine. Always would be. I just couldn’t have her." 

You feel the pain they feel, the tears they cry, and you want to fight for them just as hard! 

They each have their own story to tell. 
Echo has a huge secret that she has kept from Dustin, but it's what has kept her going all these years. She has a strength like no other!
Dustin has come back from overseas with a serious injury and it flips his world upside down. His story is a very powerful one. Stories about soldiers speak on a different level than most--it impacts you to the core.

I honestly can't tell you how many times I got a little misty-eyed throughout this book! The little details that slowly bring them back together are truly wonderful. Erika nailed it with the little tid bits along the way. 

"Just like the meaning of her name, a repetition of sound, everything about her ripples through my soul. But unlike her name, the vibrations never cease. To this very day, they’re still very much moving throughout my mind, my heart and every fiber within me."
I could honestly talk about this book all day long!! 

Dustin and Echo's story has made my heart so happy. There's something about those Adams men! Oh! Also, you get caught up with all things Dax and Lynsie!! I couldn't stop smiling every time those brothers were together! I promise...you'll love their banter!

I want to applaude Erika Ashby on a phenomenal story that left me soooo happy, and yet, I wish there was more!! Thank you for these wonderful characters that will always have a place in my heart<3 D+E 4ever

"My injury wasn’t a death wish like I had thought. It was fate. It didn’t take my life away. It brought me back to my life.” 

Being born an "Army Brat", Erika Ashby has been residing in Oklahoma the last 10 years finally putting an end to the nomad tendencies she had grown accustomed to. She's a happy and slightly crazy mother of four. She has an insane passion for music and embraces her Inner Groupie any chance she has. It wasn't until the age of 29 that she realized she also had a hidden passion for reading; before then she claimed to have hated it. Six months after unlocking that deep desire she never knew she held, she turned the key to another chapter of her life which has become the desire to write. And the rest is still history in the making.

 

 

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