A Book Bar Review: Not Broken: The Happily Ever After By Meka James
NOT BROKEN: THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER BY MEKA JAMES
Stand-Alone: Yes Publisher: Jazen Ink Publication Date: November 23, 2017 Genre: Romance, Multicultural & Interracial, Heat Level: Sensual
Calida Jokobi doesn’t see it that way. Surviving an abusive relationship with a sadistic, manipulative man changed her. She has spent the last two years carefully constructing her new persona with two goals in mind: to keep the remaining pieces of her heart safe and her deepest secrets buried. One man puts it all at risk.
Malcolm has been a part of Calida’s life for as long as she can remember. A friend. Her first teenage crush. Now he’s asking for something she swore she’d never give again: her heart.
Calida must decide if she should risk the fragile façade she’s created and give Malcolm the chance he’s asking for.
They say love can heal all wounds…
Malcolm Frankel wants to prove to Calida it’s true. She survived a hell most people couldn’t fathom. He’s been by her side fulfilling whatever role she needs him to play. All except the one he wants most. It took nearly losing her to make Malcolm realize he couldn’t keep denying his feelings.
He knows no one goes through an ordeal like that and comes out unscathed, but the closer they get, the more he learns just how deep Calida’s wounds go.
She’s the only woman he’s ever loved, and Malcolm is ready to put his own heart at risk for a chance at mending hers.
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A Book Bar Review 🍷🍷🍷🍷
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always persevere. Love never fails.
~~~1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Whoa…talk about an emotional roller coaster, but what I like most about this one was it centered around the heroine’s healing process after being damaged from a previously relationship. We all know the sayings “You can’t help who you love”, but then we should also remember “When someone shows you who they are, believe them”. Physical and emotional violence in a relationship is very dangerous and nothing to toy with.
I enjoyed the interaction with these characters, if you paid attention it was definitely lessons in this one. We start this one with the hard truths of a woman, Calida who after an abusive past, she doesn’t believe herself worthy; of forgiveness, love, happiness, doesn’t feel safe to trust herself or anyone else and she question her ability to be good mother to the child of her abuser.
Calida walks through this journey being a people pleaser, only showing what she felt others wanted to see, while suppressing what her real problems were sinking deeper into her illness. We all know that we can only hold a temporary barrier down for so long before the foundation breaks and things begin to rush forward. A few times I questioned whether those closes to her really knew her at all, didn’t they see signs?
I really like the relationship between Malcolm and Calida. Malcolm is Calida’s childhood friend whom I believe they’ve always carried a torch for each other. For Malcolm, Calida is the one he slept on, but once she begins this healing journey, he’s determined to be front and center making sure she knows he is not going anywhere. He is prepared to love her through her pain and make sure she is whole again. We see through Malcolm’s story it’s not easy loving someone through their mess and it takes a great deal of strength to penetrate the protective barriers she erupted. I also loved his acceptance and relationship he had with her son.
The author did a great job with making these characters feel real, with their flaws and all. I look forward to more of these two.
ABOUT MEKA JAMES Meka James is a writer of adult contemporary and erotic romance. A born and raised Georgia Peach, she still resides in the southern state with her hubby of 16 years and counting. Mom to four kids of the two-legged variety, she also has four fur-babies of the canine variety. Leo the turtle and Spade the snake rounds out her wacky household. When not writing or reading, Meka can be found playing The Sims 3, sometimes Sims 4, and making up fun stories to go with the pixellated people whose world she controls.
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