Breaking by Barbara Elsborg

Keeping secrets is easy. Until love tempts him to break his cover. Archer Hart, former SIS assassin, has just completed a freelance hit job when he finds himself in a sniper's scope. The bullet whizzing past his ear is a clear message: someone wants him dead. Re-tirement will have to wait, as his only choice is to assume a new identity-and keep running. Conrad Black is a broken man. The injured barrister has come to the beach to recover from a hit-and-run "accident," with plenty of time to wonder who might be wishing he'd been left dead in-stead of partially paralyzed. When he spots a surfer in trouble, he throws his crutches aside to pull the man to safety. One glance at Archer takes Conrad's breath away. And Archer finds himself envying the hands Conrad is using to pet his dog. But as the net tightens, both men can feel the targets on their backs heating up. The only thing that will save them is the truth...before death snatches away their one chance at love.

Okay, so, when I said I want to see Conrad suffer, this is not quite what I was thinking. He paid his dues in full and then some.

Starting to read this book, I thought maybe I was wrong and it had nothing to do with Conrad. How could he even fit with Archer's storyline? But I was game either way. Then Conrad showed up and if the first chapter had my attention, now I was fully in.

The second book of Fall or Break took such a wild turn, it was completely different from the first one, much more intense and more serious, although I did recognise some of Malachi's humour in Conrad, hardly surprising since they spent seven years together.

By the end of Falling I had already started to warm up to Conrad, but here I really liked him. He is this hotshot barrister, he's cold and keeps his walls up, but can also be vulnerable and capable of feeling. I wonder how his and Archer's first, uh, interaction would have gone if Conrad would have been uninjured (although their methods are clearly different—a detail I liked).

I found the plot to be a little too over the top at times, but it worked well. There were a lot of coincidences and insane situations, but Barbara Elsborg managed again to make everything make sense. She's magic.

I liked Archer very much too. I probably shouldn't, but he was so good for Conrad, I can't imagine a better pair for him. They are so similar and while I maybe would have been inclined to believe their strong personalities will clash violently with no chance of recovery, they somehow managed to complete each other. They were surprising.

I probably should take a star off for all of the coincidences, but I enjoyed the book just as much as I did Falling and, to make up for that star, I was more touched by Breaking. All in all, if you are not expecting something super realistic, the book is great.