Addicted 2 Romance: A Broken Soul by Jessica Prince

He’s terrified of loving her.

Quinn Mallick already had his happily-ever-after, and in the blink of an eye it was ripped away from him. Now he’s content to walk through the rest of his life carrying the weight of that guilt on his shoulders. He’s convinced he doesn’t deserve a second chance. But when the town’s beautiful dance teacher turns her sights on him he finds himself questioning everything.

She’s terrified of losing him.

Lilly Mathewson’s once quiet, predictable life has been turned on its head. Feeling alone and adrift, she finds her comfort in the most unexpected of places. Falling for the town widower was never part of the plan, but there is just something about the temperamental man she can’t seem to let go of.

What started as two grieving people leaning on each other has quickly turned into something neither of them expected. Lilly is ready to take the next step, but how do you move forward when the man you love refuses to let go of the past?

He has a broken soul. She has a broken heart. And the only way for them to heal is if they do it together.

***This is Book 3 in the Pembrooke series, a spin-off of Wildflower. They are interconnected standalones.***

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Addicted 2 Romance Review:

**I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.**

I am a big fan of the authors and this series. I have read the sub series and the Pembrooke series and I have loved all of them. Requesting to review this book- well I was very excited because I LOVED both Lilly and Quinn as they are both featured a lot in the 2nd book.

Lilly I beyond loved. Maybe I loved her too much because I really felt her pain. Lilly is very broken up about losing her father in this story. It is what makes her attractive to Quinn, that she is in this pain and can't figure out how to deal with it.

Quinn is the broken one in this story and he really doesn't believe anyone else can understand, until one night he sees Lilly dancing as tears drip down her face. At that point he gets interested in her. They start out as friends and then get more involved with each other. And I really loved Lilly and Quinn together. And Quinn's daughter Sophie, well she was adorable. This author is very talented in creating kids and making them adorable.

I really enjoyed the writing and I really felt both Lilly and Quinn's pain. It was very real and I could really symphathize with how they both felt. But at about 70% Lilly gets fed up with Quinn and to be honest I did too.

What I did not understand is why he could not let himself be happy and why he kept hurting Lilly. Yes he felt alot of guilt for driving the car and then his wife dieing. And I am sure that kind of guilt never goes away, but why he could not commit that I did not understand and I kind of felt Lilly deserved much better. Luckily as I was feeling that way, so was Lilly.

I loved when she dumped him and kept turning away from him. BEST part of the story. Then finally Quinn sees the light and decides to fight for Lilly and thats when the book got really good again.

Did I enjoy this story? Yes. I LOVED Lilly. She put up with a lot. A LOT!! But in the end Quinn proved that he wanted her and loved her and he worked for it. So while he is not my favorite hero in this series, and at times he was a total jerk, he does come around and in a big way.

“So what about you? Have you always wanted to dance?”
Her voice went soft, her expression wistful. “Yeah. I’ve been dancing since I was about eight. I started a little later than most, but once my mom put me in classes, I was hooked.”
“You’re amazing,” I found myself admitting. “Why didn’t you go to New York or something like that?”
Her face flushed, and something told me it wasn’t from the wine this time. “You’ve seen me dance?”
“Yeah. Last week. I was getting in my truck after grabbing a coffee. The blinds to the studio were open and you were in there by yourself.” I stopped, thinking back to the sadness on her face that morning. “You were…”

“Crying,” she whispered, and although she still wore a smile, I could see the sadness had returned. “Yeah. You kind of caught me on a bad day.”
Suddenly I was aware of what I must have been putting my loved ones through, because even though I knew it wasn’t fair, I wanted to push her to talk about whatever was bothering her. Instead, I ignored that curious niggling in my gut and said, “You know, I might not be as good a listener as you are, but if you ever need to talk…”
“Thanks,” she smiled. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I just got some bad news the day before.” She stopped long enough to inhale deeply before she continued. “My dad’s sick. Cancer. I found out about it the day before.”
“Christ,” I hissed. “Lilly, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right. I was struggling with how to cope, you know? I couldn’t imagine…” Her voice cracked and her throat moved as she swallowed. “I still can’t imagine not having him, and knowing he’s going to die… it really fucking sucks.” When she let out a self-deprecating laugh, it took everything I had not to jump across the table and wrap my arms around her. I’d never felt more out of my element with a person before, yet, at the same time, I could relate to her better than most.
“I went down to the studio before it opened and put on the music and just… escaped for a little while. I’ve always used dancing as a way to escape. When I was little, I had trouble in school. I’m dyslexic and it took a while for the doctors to be able to diagnose it. I know it’s not really a big deal, but when you’re in elementary school and have trouble reading, well, let’s just say the kids can be real assholes.
“My mom enrolled me in dance classes and I discovered that when I was moving, when the music was playing, all the mean things those kids said about me just… disappeared. It was my escape, to this day it still is. So, to answer your question, that’s why I never wanted to pursue something like New York. It might sound weird, but what I do now, when I dance, even when I teach my kids, it’s all for me. If I tried to join a company, everything I did would be for them. Doing what I do now, I don’t have to answer to anybody. I don’t have to worry about the routines becoming monotonous. I get to leave my head for a while and not worry about the outcome. Does that make any sense?”

I hardly recognized my voice, the sound rougher, almost jagged as I said, “It makes perfect sense.” I had no clue what was coming over me, why I was reacting the way I was, but I couldn’t stand to see that heartache in her eyes any longer. Standing from my place on the floor, I held my hand out to her. “Come on. I want to watch you dance.”
“What? Now?” she asked incredulously. “You want to watch me dance right now?”
I gave a casual shrug and let my lips curl up in a grin. “Why not? You got other plans at the moment?”
“Well… no, but—”
“Perfect, so nothing’s stopping you.” She didn’t seem convinced, and for reasons beyond my comprehension, I wanted nothing more than to see this gorgeous woman dance. So, I pushed.
“Come escape with me for a little while.”

Born and raised around Houston Texas, Jessica spent most of her life complaining about the heat, humidity, and all around pain in the ass weather. It was only as an adult that she quickly realized the cost of living in Houston made up for not being able to breathe when she stepped outside. That’s why God created central air, after all.

Jessica is the mother of a perfect little boy–she refuses to accept that he inherited her attitude and sarcastic nature no matter what her husband says.

In addition to being a wife and mom, she’s also a wino, a coffee addict, and an avid lover of all types of books–romances still being her all time favs. Her husband likes to claim that reading is her obsession but she just says it’s a passion…there’s a difference. Not that she’d expect a boy to understand.

Jessica has been writing since she was a little girl, but thankfully grew out of drawing her own pictures for her stories before ever publishing her first book. Because an artist she is not.