Rescuing Broken (The Kane Brothers book 1), by Gina Azzi

Publication: June 4, 2018

rescuing broken About the book:

He thought he protected her future. But she never escaped her past.

Jax:
I enlisted so Evie could have the future she deserved. She was smart and sweet and confident; I knew she would change the world. Until I returned seven years later to discover she’s never left. And she’s not the same girl I kissed good-bye.

Evie:
Heartbroken over Jax, I went to my last high school party for closure. In one instant, my dreams evaporated and everything I thought I knew crumbled. Helpless to move forward, I watched the years pass.

Now he’s back. But I’m too broken for second chances. I’m too broken for him.

My Review:

I’m so happy to bring you my review today of Gina Azzi’s Rescuing Broken! This is the first novel in the Kane Brothers series and although a tear-jerker, this was such a moving and beautiful novel. With plans to attend West Point and carry on with her family’s military tradition, Evie Maywood finished high school bright and hopeful. But then her boyfriend, Jax Kane, alerts her to his change of plans and that he has already enlisted in the Army rather than following their plan of attending college first. Seven years, later, a wounded Jax returns to their hometown to be with his brothers and is shocked to find that Evie never went to West Point or joined the Army, but instead, is working at a physical therapy office on base. Jax immediately realizes that Evie is different, but must slowly get to know her again and regain her trust in order to find out what changed Evie’s life.

I loved this book and loved the characters! For those of you old-school Outsiders fans, Jax’s older brother Denver is very reminiscent of Darry from the Outsiders 🙂 But anyway, Jax is handsome, playful, romantic, loving, and caring. Although battling his own demons when he first returns, Jax quickly becomes a man determined to earn and embrace a second chance with Evie.

Through flashbacks and memories, there are different sides of Evie presented in this novel including her being smart, funny, motivated, and driven. However, the Evie we meet and know over the first 75% of the novel is not that girl, but a girl changed because of a trauma she experienced years before. What’s wonderful about this story though, is watching her almost come back to life. The reader gets to see her being funny, sarcastic, playful, flirty – just like any “normal” young woman living her life.

As challenging and emotional that this novel was at times, it was also bursting with love, hope, and the promise of the future. The closeness between Jax and his siblings – Denver, Carter, and Daisy – was amazing. Moreover, Evie also had a fabulous relationship with her brother Graham – even more so after she really bared her to soul to him. Honestly, I caught myself thinking about the Kane brother several times while reading in the context that, if anyone ever needs to get a secret off of their chest and tell someone, these are the guys to tell. These young men represent a (sadly) unusual breed in this day and age where if it’s not their business to share, then they don’t. This made these already swoon-worthy guys even more irresistible!

Rescuing Broken is very heartfelt and beautiful, and absolutely a story that I will not soon forget. It has a much-deserved happy ending, it made me truly think about a lot of things, and left me very excited over the next in the Kane Brothers series, this time about Carter!

*Very sensitive subjects are addressed in Rescuing Broken from injuries and death during combat, sexual assault, absent parents due to incarceration or death, PTSD, and so on. Again, there are a lot of heavy issues that absolutely will require you have Kleenex handy while reading. However, although there are numerous trigger warnings in the story, author Gina Azzi handled these topics honestly and with amazing sensitivity.

*Thanks to Give Me Books Promotions for providing this novel in exchange for my honest review.