Broken

Broken
4 Stars

Although Broken contains many of my favorite tropes - a hunky former Navy SEAL turned private-investigator, a heroine suffering from amnesia, and a serial killer committing horrific crimes - the romance fails to truly resonate.

Gabe and Eve's relationship has all the right elements - enticing backstories, emotional intimacy and physical chemistry. Unfortunately, these simply do not come together in a convincing manner. Perhaps this is due to Gabe's intense possessiveness, which has no real foundation as he doesn't even know Eve's real name, or perhaps it is the slow revelation of Eve's disturbing past. Regardless, their romance just does not feel "right".

In contrast, the serial killer storyline is well-written with show more excellent build up of tension and suspense leading to an exciting climax and resolution. Kudos to Eden for keeping me guessing regarding the killer's identity right up until the end.

The secondary cast comprised of Gabe's LOST team is also very appealing as each member has his or her own unique speciality as well as their own intriguing secrets. It will be interesting to see where Eden takes these characters.

All in all, a very good beginning to the series and I look forward to continuing. show less

Whenever I take up a book written by Cynthia Eden I know I am in for a thrilling ride and Broken did not disappoint. It was what I was expecting and more! She is one of those authors whose book I would read without having prior knowledge of what it’s all about.
Broken is the first book in the Lost series and it’s off to a fantastic start. Lost tells the story of Gabe Spencer and Eve Gray. Gabe is an ex-navy seal and the founder of LOST (Last Option Search Team). The goal of the team is to find missing persons that the authorities had lost any hope of finding. The team was formed because Gabe had experienced a loss of his own and as such he wanted to help families who have suffered under similar circumstances. Eve is a woman who has show more endured torture and near death simply to wake up not being able to remember her past. In a bid to uncover her past, she sought the services of the LOST team.
I enjoyed reading about all the characters, but my favorites are Gabe and Eve. They both suffered pain in the past making them easy to relate to. I found Eve to be strong yet vulnerable. She has grit and determination and is motivated to uncover her past, even if it meant that doing so could be deadly. I thought Gabe was a bit overly protective of Eve to the point of being possessive. I understand that he could not help being attracted to her, but I felt he should have been more careful as he could have been setting up himself for heartbreak in light of the fact that Eve’s past was an enigma. I do believe he allowed his feelings to cloud his judgement at times.
The romance took place very rapidly. The attraction between them was instantaneous and electrifying. They did not have time to get to know each other before falling in love. Well, in light of the fact that Eve had no memory this would have presented a challenge. In my view I believe that more stress was laid on the suspense, even so it was nicely balanced out with the love story.
From the minute I began reading I was pulled into the story. The prologue was so intense that I could not help but to continue reading. I literally could not put the book down. Lost is the kind of story that gives you chills and will have you jumping at the faintest of sounds. There was never a dull moment with this story. It had a lot of twists and turns that will keep you guessing at every page turn. Just when I thought I figured out who the killer was the author threw in a twist that had me second guessing myself. However, when the truth was finally revealed, I thought to myself I knew it.
Lost is an explosive, fast paced, psychological and suspenseful read. It will keep you up at nights and have you talking about it for some time to come.

Disclosure: Received a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. show less

My Review Fangirling
Seems like I’m on a Cynthia Eden kick at the moment. This is the second book of hers (different series) I’ve read in less than two weeks and I’m starting the next book in this series asap and I have another book from another series of hers lined up to read too. Cynthia Eden is a master at writing Romantic Suspense, don’t know how she does it time and time again. (There I go with the fangirling) . And Broken, the first book in the Lost series is just another example of her talent with weaving suspense and romance.

My Review
Broken was great, I can tell I’m going to love following these damaged, but heroic characters of the Last Option Search Team. This first book follows Ex-Seal and Lost founder Gabe show more Spencer’s and Eve Gray’s story. I loved them both.

Eve didn’t know who she is or was and is searching for her identity both real and metaphorically. Eve was found badly wounded and suffering from amnesia and decided to seek out the Lost team to help put the pieces of who she really is together.

Gabe, well I didn’t feel Gabe was searching for anything a that moment he met Eve, I think Eve was a surprise for him. I get the feeling he was just wallowing in his pain and not actively living, he had his own horrific past to contend with and I can see that’s why he might have come across as so detached at first. But as his interactions with Eve became more frequent I can see him showing more emotions, especially when it came to his protectiveness of her.

As for the suspenseful parts of this story, I will say Ms. Eden was definitely trying to mess with my head. I was going back on forth on who I think the serial killer and all around psycho was. Oh, it’s him, no, maybe it’s him, okay, okay, it’s definitely him. Alright fine, I give up, who the heck is it? Well all I can say is I was right it was one of my choices, I knew it! What a sneaky little minx you are Ms. Eden. Also I did get that feeling of anger (in an entertaining what the heck is wrong with people kind of way) I always get when I read books about psychotic people, the things that they have going on in their head makes me so puzzled. Crazy psychos! That’s probably an oxymoron.

One of the things I loved and was also surprised about with this book was how honest both Eve and Gabe was about their feelings for the other, right from the beginning, especially on Eve’s part. Really, they were so amazingly honest with each other, no secrets. Refreshing. Broken was a wonderful start to what I can see will be an explosively fantastic series. show less

Wow, Oh Wow! From THE VERY FIRST CHAPTER I WAS HOOKED and couldn't read faster enough. I felt sorry for Eve as she had no memory of who she was, but she knew a killer was after her as she was the lone survivor. The problem was that she had no idea of his face. I fell in love with Gabe who founded LOST and agreed to help Eve. NOW, I want the rest of the books from this AWESOME author!

Broken is a perfectly fine romantic suspense story - nothing new or unique but solid and readable. Broken is the first story in a series about a company called LOST founded by Gabe Spencer, former SEAL. Its purpose is to find missing people. Each person on Gabe's team has lost someone in a way that has made all of them very passionate about their work. In this story, Gabe has been hired by Eve Gray who woke up in a hospital with knife wounds, bruises, and no memory. She believes that she may have escaped the Lady Killer, the name given to a serial killer who stalks and kills young, wealthy blonde women with green eyes, which fits Eve to a T. Gabe and Eve fight an immediate attraction to each other as they attempt to dig into Eve's past show more in order to protect her from the Lady Killer once he finds out that one of his victims actually survived.
It was pretty obvious who the Lady Killer was early on in the book, but several suspects were successfully put forth in order to add suspense to the story. A very quick read and interesting enough to hold the readers' attention - an overall good story. show less

This was a really good romantic suspense. It was a fast-paced page turner that I finished in a day, and it definitely kept me on my toes. Usually, with suspense books, I have figured out the plot or bad guy in the first half of the book. That didn't happen here. I had inklings and several suspects, but I kept changing my mind as to who the culprit was. I thought I had it figured out... but then when it was revealed, I was still surprised. I love it when that happens!

Eve is a sympathetic and likeable character. Even though she had a really sad story, is was not whiney or pathetic. She is a survivor. I admired that. Gabe was a fantastically yummy alpha male lead. He is a bit of a tortured hero himself, so his protective instincts ran wild show more when it came to Eve. They seem to have some insta-love going on, but it did not overshadow the plot or the suspense. When there is too much sex in a book, I sometimes find myself skimming the intimate scenes so I can get back to the story. That didn't happen here, Broken has just the right amount of heat mixed in with the story.

The secondary characters here were also fabulous. There is a whole team of investigators, who all have a different position from anthropologist to psychiatrist/profiler to former FBI agent. For me, the team was very reminiscent of the Criminal Minds TV show. I think this book set the scene for the secondary characters to become the leads in the rest of the series. And I will definitely keep reading to see how those stories play out.

I was provided a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Creepy prologue had me excited for the rest of the book. Strong cast of characters make up this first in a new series where the main hero doesn’t even bother trying to hide he is king alpha right from the start.

The premise of this new series is LOST – an agency that made up of all kinds of people from an exSeal, to ex-police officers to a psychiatrist. One day a woman walks in with a strange request.. She wants them to find out who she is. After the prologue we the reader know she the only surviving victim of the serial killer known as Lady Killer but when she wakes up in the hospital she has no memory of her life at all or what happened to her. Its not long before the killer finds her and strikes again. To try and figure out who show more the killer is the team goes back to island where it all started.

As I stated the book starts of strong and the killer is defiantly twisted. I liked all the characters and that we got so much face time with them which makes you want to read their stories in upcoming books. My only complaint was I figured out way to early who the killer was.

All in all this was a good start to a new series and I do plan on reading the future books in it. show less