Welcome to my stop on the Pieces tour, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours! Today I'll be reviewing both The Breakaway and Pieces by Michelle Davidson Argyle.
Title: The Breakaway
Series: The Breakaway #1
Author: Michelle Davidson Argyle
Publisher: Rhemalda Publishing
Pages: 303
Format: eBook
Source: A copy was provided by the author for an honest review. Thank you!
My Review: I was really excited to get the chance to read this book; It sounded so interesting and different! When I read the blurb, a million questions were popping into my head. How did this happen to her? Why wouldn't her parents pay attention to her? Why would she be okay with being kidnapped? But the most prominent was How could someone fall in love with the person who has taken them? I dove into this the moment I got it, hoping to answer some of these. I did get my answers, and a whole lot more.When Naomi Jensen is kidnapped, it takes her parents two days to realize she's missing. Escape isn't high on her list of priorities when all she has to return to is an abusive boyfriend and parents who never paid much attention to her. For the first time in her life she's part of a family-even if it is a family of criminals. But she's still a captive. In a desperate attempt to regain some control in her life, Naomi embarks on a dangerous plan to make one of her kidnappers think she's falling in love with him. The plan works too well, and when faced with the chance to escape, Naomi isn't sure she wants to take it.
We're thrust right into the action from page one. The entire time I was reading, there was a looming sense of danger that kept me on my toes and my heart racing. I felt as if I was in Naomi's place. It was so scary and frustrating and angering. There was a lull in the physical action after the first few chapters but with the situation that Naomi was in, things never were boring or slow paced. There was so many internal struggles and decisions that she had to face, I found myself completely glued to the page. I just couldn't pull myself away (even with an essay due the next morning).
Naomi showed a lot of her strength throughout her journey. She was a very strong character, despite what she thought about herself. She kept a straight face and a calm facade for the most part. I really loved reading and learning about her. She had so many different layers and problems. She was never boring or predictable. And then we have Jesse. I truthfully did not like him at all when we first met him. He just seemed so creepy. I didn't like the way he stared at Naomi or how close he got to her. More than once I just wanted Naomi to hit him where it counts and run. He redeemed himself eventually and I actually began to like him quite a lot, especially toward the very end. The other characters were all very interesting and I found myself enjoying them despite myself. I had to keep reminding myself that these people were criminals. They had kidnapped Naomi and hurt her. But apparently my feels didn't get the memo because I still like them.
The ending gave me very mixed feelings. I still don't know exactly what to think about it. Still, this was a very enjoyable book overall. I was completely hooked from the very beginning. I'm excited to dive back into the world of Naomi in the second book.
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Title: Pieces
Series: The Breakaway #2
Author: Michelle Davidson Argyle
Publisher: Rhemalda Publishing
Pages: 284
Format: eBook
Source: A copy was provided by the author for an honest review. Thank you!
My Review: I was so excited to get back into this book after finishing the first one. I was interested to see how Naomi was doing after what she had experienced in the first book and how her feelings with Jesse had changed, if they had.Staying in love can mean running away...
Two years after watching her kidnappers go to prison, Naomi Jensen is still in love with one of them. Jesse will be released in a few years, and Naomi knows college is the perfect distraction while she waits. But when her new friend Finn makes her question what is right and what is wrong, she begins to wonder if Jesse is the one for her...until she discovers he's out on parole. Naomi must sort through her confusion to figure out where love and freedom truly lie-in Finn, who has no connections to her past, or Jesse, who has just asked her to run away with him.
It was good to be back with Naomi and I was happy to see that she was doing things with her life. She was in school and working to be happy and grow as an individual. She wanted to get past what had happened to her. While she wanted to leave the nightmarish parts behind her, she was more than happy to stay in love with Jesse. A lot of this book was about Naomi growing and getting past what she went through two years ago. Like in the first book, there's a lot of internal struggles that keep you on your toes.
I was just waiting for Jesse to show up while reading this book. I wanted to see him. I was so scared that he would be a completely different person than in the first book. I wanted to know how they would react to seeing each other. Jesse is still himself but he was a bit harder. I found him to be harsher and sort of selfish in this book which made me really sad. He had been so sweet and giving in the first book and it's like he came back a little broken. I was frustrated because Naomi had been holding back all this time to be with him and I had mostly supported her love for Jesse because I knew he was good to her. But he came back and I just wanted to pull Naomi away from him. I did not want him messing with the progress she's made to get better.
Finn was a cool character. I liked that he let Naomi have her space and never pushed her like some of the guys in her past relationships. He was obviously a healthier choice for her as a love interest but something in me kept holding back, hoping that Jesse would get better.
The ending was satisfying and I'm okay with how it ended. While it may not have been exactly what I wanted, I was glad that Naomi had grown so much since the first book. I was just as glued to this book as I was to the first one and I'm really happy I had the chance to read them.
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About the Author: Michelle lives and writes in Utah, surrounded by the
Rocky Mountains. She loves the seasons, but late summer and early fall are her
favorites. She adores chocolate, sushi, and lots of ethnic food, and loves to
read and write books in whatever time she can grab between her sword-wielding
husband and energetic daughter. She believes a simple life is the best life.
Find Michelle Online!
Find The Breakaway and Pieces online!
Squee!!!! The first blog I stop by this morning. *waves*
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating in the PIECES blog tour.
I loved Breakaway. I haven't read Pieces yet but I am very excited too. Great reviews.
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