Unbroken by Jay Crownover

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Title: Unbroken
Author: Jay Crownover
Series: Loveless Texas #0.5
Published by: Forever Yours
Release Date: May 14, 2019
Format: eARC
Pages: 160
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Monthly Motif Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 New Release Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men series comes a captivating novella about a rugged rodeo star who will do anything to protect the people he loves.

When rodeo star Crew Lawton loses everything in a bad bet, he has no choice but to take a new job to pay off his debts – even if it means becoming the face of an expensive male skincare line. Crew is used to getting sweaty and rustling in the dirt, not posing for photo shoots. And he’s certainly not used to being bossed around by a woman who doesn’t even know the difference between bulls and broncs. But Crew owes money to dangerous criminals, and he’ll do anything Della says in order to pay them back and keep them far away from his family in Loveless, Texas…

The launch of her new men’s line for her family’s company means everything to Della Deveaux, and she’s not willing to let some rugged, arrogant cowboy ruin her campaign. Crew Lawton is the last man she would have chosen to represent her chic, sophisticated brand. Unfortunately, her father already invested millions in Crew’s stupidly handsome face. Yet the more time they spend together, Della and Crew realize that opposites do attract. But when the time comes for Crew to face his past mistakes, will he be able to protect his family…and the woman he’s come to love?

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — This was just a fun, solid series prequel.  Novellas can be tricky sometimes, in that so often I don’t get enough to feel satisfied.  But I was satisfied with this one.  Both characters had a lot going on with them, they were flawed but redeemable.

I felt for Della’s struggle for her father’s approval, and I could understand how that resulted in her drive.  I enjoyed watching her struggle with what she thought she wanted for her campaign, and realizing what would actually work.  I loved the way her personal story wrapped up.

Crew had a lot of serious issues going on with him, I didn’t quite expect it.  And I feel like while Ms. Crownover didn’t dive deep into the addiction, she didn’t gloss over it either.  He actually really got to my feelz with how he saw himself and his worth…

It took me a bit to get into their chemistry with one another.  I’m not sure what was stalling me, but it wasn’t an immediate grab.  But I thought their steamy scenes were on point eventually, and I enjoyed their relationship once it got more established.

Obviously the action/suspense was both a little over the top, and kinda perfect for the book.

I honestly have very little to say.  It was fun, entertaining, enjoyable.  I wasn’t blown away, but I was certainly pulled in enough to want to read more in the series.