FRACTURED by Leanne Pearson -- RELEASE BLITZ & REVIEW

   

Fractured by Leanne Pearson Publication Date: June 1, 2014 Genres: Contemporary, Romance

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Synopsis: For twenty three year old Katrina Smith, the events of one day irrevocably changed her life. Life in Christchurch, New Zealand, couldn't have been better. She was in love with a wonderful man, had a job she enjoyed, and had her life mapped out before her... What dawned as a typical summer’s day, changed into a day of devastation and overwhelming loss. An insidious danger lay beneath the benign land surface, seismic tension, like a ticking time-bomb, was counting down to a catastrophe. And Kate and her boyfriend, Daniel, were in its path. It took mere seconds for the world to be ripped out from under her. Suddenly, Kate was deluged by a vortex of Post Traumatic Stress, guilt and crippling anguish. Dominic Dell’Antonio, an American marine working in New Zealand, was a man hiding from his own demons which lurked behind depth-less blue eyes that read so much, yet yielded so little. He kept himself aloof and isolated. Nightmares regularly plagued him. As Kate slipped under a suffocating wave of heartache, she blocks out the world behind self imposed walls, drowning in the torrents of grief. Quiet, yet commanding, Dominic connects with Kate on some inexplicably deeper level. He wants to protect her. He wants to make her his. Two damaged and guarded souls drawn together through tragic circumstances. Two lonely hearts drawn to one another to find comfort.

About the Author: Leanne Pearson grew up in Durban, South Africa. She later immigrated to New Zealand, where she now lives with her husband, and two children. During her down time, if she's not reading, she can be found relaxing outside, sipping on an apple cider, soaking up the sights and sounds of rural New Zealand. Leanne has had a few feature articles published in the newspaper over the years and has had a flair for creative writing from a very young age.

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MY REVIEW

 

3.75 *WINK* READ

 

Let me tell you that the way this book opens up your emotions are on high alert, tears will sting your eyes and you will feel heart broken, but the problem with starting a book with such a heart tug means that the rest of the book needs to compare and keep those emotions going. Unfortunately, I am not sure they did for me.

 

I was crying my eyes out for Katrina, Kate, and what 24 seconds took from her. I have made no secret that loosing my husband and love is a great fear of mine, so this tapped into some raw emotions for me. I think it made me even more excited for what was to come but instead I felt like I was thrown into a pit of bipolar awkwardness. At one moment she feels like she can move on and the next moment she is screaming. Then she has an epiphany within the next few hours of the one thing she was throwing a HUGE fit over Whether it was a song or a few words from a friend that has brought such realization, only to have it start over again a couple chapters later. I felt more connected to Dell, aka Dominic, aka Dell'Antonio (YES he is referred to as all). His mysterious past and his whole calmness brought relief to the situations, a role model in a way that Kate should wake the hell up and listen to.

Then the "twist" really was thrown very abruptly and was completely random. In a way I know there has to be drama, but things were going fine and within three pages (if that) a complete 180 degree turn that had to do with something SOO little and led Kate to a freaking split second decision that made no freaking sense. I get having to do things on your own but really? Was that really the thing that Kate thought she would "find herself" while doing it? Plus it was completely out of character. Her off the wall behavior would not have resulted in her running, she would of screamed and got in the faces of those who were hurting her. Either that or not give a crap or a complete paralyzing anxiety attack cause that was her attitude leading up to it. So I felt a disconnection to the character's personality at that point.

For a break out book to strike on such emotions and make a reader feel so much in the first couple of chapters is amazing. Pearson did a great job in the descriptions of the emotions Kate was feeling, the people around her and the events that took place. But from there on it was almost like a drawn out drag of Kate's despair leading to some drama that I am not sure really needed to be added. I think if this book was shortened and if you cut out that whole situation that led Kate to her rash disappearance and fix the end drama scene into a random night out, the book would have been much better.

~Jessi