Unbreak My Heart

Lauren Blakely has written a beautiful, raw, gut-wrenching and heartfelt story that will have you applauding and begging for more like it. This is so different from anything I've read from Lauren before and it's amazing. She needs to do more!

I love a second chance romance, it's my jam. This book hit the spot and then some. It's angsty, which I loved. I swooned in parts. I laughed – the banter was funny and was definitely needed with the theme of this book, it lifted the spirits whilst still being sensitive to the subject. This isn't just a story of lost and found love, it's a story off loss, and grief, and moving on without the people you love most. It's not an easy listen at all.

I loved that Holland was a strong woman that wanted to help Andrew through his grief but wasn't prepared to be his crutch. She fought her own wants and desires so that if and when they were a couple it was going to be for the right reasons. Andrew is such a complex character, he is a slave to his grief and it was making him a person even he wasn't fond of, his character development through this story was fantastic to experience. Seeing how he came to terms with things that happened and how he'd been. It was beautiful. I love when letters are included in stories and I thought these were a wonderful touch to an already brilliant story.

Joe Arden and Erin Mallon were absolutely amazing. The rawness of the performances in this book really makes it stand out. If this audiobook does not win an award, then nothing deserves to. Honest to goodness, if I could give it more than 5 stars I would.

Joe Arden has completely blown me away with his performance. It was gritty, it was raw, it was spectacular. I felt every bit of grief and emotion that he put into the performance. I don't think I've EVER been so mesmerised while listening...and I listen to a heck of a lot. I have never heard Joe like this, saying he nailed the character of Andrew is an understatement, he WAS Andrew. I openly cried whilst I was listening, not just from the words, but the emotion that was conveyed. The heartache and grief shone through. It gave me all the feels. I think it's safe to say Joe gave his all with this book and it shows.

Erin Mallon is always wonderful, this performance is no different, although she only narrates a handful of chapters – her tone, her way of conveying emotion is so spot on. It makes you feel it all. It makes my ears happy whenever I see her name attached to a project.

I adore that the audio had the messages performed in the voice of the sender, this is becoming a regular thing in Lauren's audios and I love it. The production was great with no issues that I noted.

The Start of Us plays at the end of Unbreak My Heart and it's performed by Joe and Erin and is a great little novella. Cute and sexy. It leads into The Thrill of Us which is available everywhere now.