Unbroken by Melody Grace

Unbroken by Melody Grace
Series: Cedar Cove, #1
Source: Bought on Amazon
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: March 11, 2013

"Mom always told me there are two kinds of love in this world: the steady breeze, and the hurricane. Emerson Ray was my hurricane...."

Juliet McKenzie was an innocent eighteen-year old when she spent the summer in Cedar Cove—and fell head over heels in love with Emerson. Complicated, intense Emerson, the local bad boy. His blue eyes hid dark secrets, and just one touch could set Juliet ablaze. Their love was demanding and all-consuming, but when summer ended, tragedy tore them apart. Juliet swore she’d never go back, and she’s kept that promise… Until now.

Four years later, Juliet’s done her best to rebuild the wreckage of her shattered life. She’s got a great boyfriend, and a steady job planned after she graduates. Returning to Cedar Cove to pack up her family’s beach house to prepare it for sale, Juliet is determined that nothing will stand in the way of her future. But one look from Emerson, and all her old desire comes flooding back. He let her go once, but this time, he’s not giving up without a fight. And Emerson fights dirty.

A heartbreaking history. An unstoppable passion. Torn between her past and future, Juliet struggles to separate love from desire. But will they find a way to overcome their tragic secrets—together? And after so much damage has been done, can a love remain unbroken? 

My mom always said, there are two kinds of love in this world: the steady breeze, and the hurricane.

Unbroken is really a hard call. While I enjoyed it a lot, I don't really feel like there was much love connection in it. The smexy scenes were hot, hot! But the rest of it was just kind of meh. They don't ever seem to really talk. It seems like their relationship is built off of sex, to tell you the truth. I was disappointed by that. Even in the novella before, Untouched, it was mostly about the sex.

Jules and Emerson were still the same people as before, which was a bit of a surprise. They were just older, more experienced, and less inclined to believe in happy endings. Juliet is stuck in a dead end "nice guy" type engagement, but she's strong as all get out. The only problem is that she doesn't know it, so she's trying to be exactly what they want her to be. Emerson is just doing his own thing, living a completely angst filled existence, and I guess he spent most of his time wanting her back, because that's all we ever see of him. I wish that there had been more character development for both of them.

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the angst in this one-- I enjoy romantic angst. I just wish that it hadn't been all about the sex. I want a relationship to read about, you know? I also very much enjoyed Melody Grace's writing. She has a whole bunch of epic quotes that I highlighted on my kindle, and I just liked the read in general.

All in all, Unbroken is a good new adult read, but for romance I like it to be more about talking/falling in love than sex all the time.

Cover Talk: I think that this one is cute, and communicates the feel of the book pretty well. I like the double title treatment, and they look cute together, out in front of the ocean.