Shushi ☯'s Reviews > Broken

Rating - ⭐⭐⭐.5
Spice - 🌶🌶🌶🌶 (it's spicing)

Trope - fake dating, marriage of convenience, age gap, arranged marriage, grumpy × sunshine, she falls first he falls harder, lawyer × veterinary nurse, family drama, misunderstanding, grey theme, HEA
TW- death of a family member, miscarriage, physical abuse

Bonus chapter - 1

This book caught my attention from the moment I read the prologue. It had drama, emotions, love, misunderstanding, issues, and lots of spice.

When I first started I expected a lot of bickering and drama, but surprisingly these two mutually decided to be friends before becoming spouses/parents which is different from the usual marriage of convenience books and it's good to have something new in hand. Everything goes fine until one of them(mostly him)reminds the other that this marriage isn't real and they shouldn't get attached. I hated those moments where these two would pull back after sharing so meaningful and beautiful moments - the post-marriage scenario was way more complicated where they would usually fight and have arguments over the tiniest bit of detail which I think is how marriages are irl but I didn't wanna see these characters fight over literally anything.

Pre-marriage Nathan was a good, flirty man. The moment he showed affection to those shelter animals was the moment I was putty. He not only tried to love them as equally as her but he also took care of them just to make her happy. That one chapter where he brought treats and snacks for all the animals in the shelter, omfg. However, the post-marriage Nathan took a 360 turn, he was a douchebag, an arrogant jerk - though he usually instantly corrected himself and his mistakes, those apologies meant/felt nothing to me as a reader.

The couple had great chemistry, but I just hoped everything didn't just rely on their physical relationship, and after a point, it was just too much. They just needed a reason to have sex - angry let's have sex, sad let's have sex, pissed let's have sex. Like bruh, share some real moments, love isn't all about sex.

The drama here was probably the most I've seen in a while. They are initially forced to marry, then they mutually decide to be friends before it, fake date for a while, then have a marriage of convenience, have lots of sex and arguments, misunderstanding, an almost separation, divorce drama, baby drama, brother drama, like omg how many more hurdles do they have before they have a good normal relationship?

The second half was so much more emotional than I expected. The whole pregnancy fiasco especially after the spoiler the author gave us in the trigger warning was pure torture. Throughout this part, I was sitting with an awkward/sad face because everything bad in the world seemed to happen with the H and h. (view spoiler)[The idea of Nate fucking her before serving the divorce paper and then having the audacity to ask her about the father of their unborn child made my blood boil, like ik you're hurt man but don't be cruel  (hide spoiler)] Ugh, I wanted to hit him.

I fucking hated Bryce, he wasn't just a bad brother and man but he also ruined Mel and Nathan's life. He deserved everything he got. Nevertheless, the other characters like Nathan's family are sweet, funny, and nice but Damn Tyler stood out to me - if I want a guy friend I want him to be like Tyler, supportive, loving, caring, and fuckass protective.

If it wasn't for the misunderstanding and drama, this would clearly have been a 4-star read. Regardless, the last 20% was so much better and sweeter - the couple was in love, and happy, and they had beautiful family moments. Both the epilogues were just perfect. I was happy to see them grow and expand their family after so many obstacles and issues.

Overall 3.5, definitely enjoyed it.