Badass Bloggettes: Beautiful Broken Mess by Kimberly Lauren ~ Blog Tour & Sarah's Review

Jace Riley’s close connection with his identical twin brother, Jaxon, is put to the test when he tries to choose between keeping his promises and following his heart. Is this girl that still haunts his dreams, even after four years, really worth it? Jace can’t help but wonder if he made a huge mistake all that time ago when he let her walk into someone else’s arms, especially since that someone was his twin.

Audrey Mills often wonders at what point she should throw her hands up in defeat and allow all of the horrible circumstances of her life to overtake her. Despite the demons she has faced, however, something inside her won’t give in. When she leaves her small town in Texas to attend college in California, Audrey runs into the one guy who could make her or break her. But is the past they share too painful for them to overcome?

This is the second book in the broken series. While each book can stand on its own, it's recommended you read Beautiful Broken Rules before Beautiful Broken Mess.

New Adult/Adult Contemporary Romance - recommended for ages 18 and up.

I was really surprised by this book. Truly. Kimberly took a pretty big risk making an antagonist from the first book the heroine in this one. It was worth taking.

Audrey is Jax's ex-wife (ish) and shows up a the worst possible time in Beautiful Broken Rules announcing that Jax is her hubby. I HATED her. Hate hate hated her. I was sure that this book was going to be a total bust for me for that reason. I was completely wrong. Getting to see what was happening in her head throughout all of things that we saw in BBR was enlightening.

"I was wrong. It doesn't matter the reasons I had at the time, I was wrong. I'm so sorry. I can't seem to get my head on straight around you. From the very beginning, I should have stepped up and put you first. If you give me another chance, you'll always be first to me... I swear. Please forgive me."

Audrey quickly won me over, as she did Em. She was really such a good person, and so perfect for Jace. When they were together they made perfect sense. It was really quite beautiful to see how they were with one another. Jace is SO different from Jax that it is hard to even imagine what the relationship between Audrey and Jax would have been like. It's mind boggling really.

"I want to be here foe you from now o. I want to hold you safe all night and watch you wake up in the mornings. I want your happy forgiving spirit to ease my soul every day."

I was so happy that the entire group was able to actually listen to her story and that she was able to forgive them for the snap judgements that they had made. I loved how they were able to seemlessly incorporate her into the group, even if there were still secrets being kept.

"Audrey, I need you to say it."
"Say what?" she asks slowly.
"Say what's written all over your face. Say what's on your fingers every time you touch me. Say what's in your eyes every morning when we wake up together. Say what your body feels every time I'm inside of you. Please... just say it."

Without giving anything away, there is a pretty huge tragedy in this book. I was shocked by it, but not so much by Jace's actions. I loved that through everything Audrey was able to see that he was in a place where he wasn't thinking clearly and was still supportive of him (for the most part) and was able to forgive him.

"Audrey, you've been in my head since the moment I met you and you never left. Baby, I sure as hell don't deserve you but I can't imagine anyone else being the mother of my children or being the hand I hold at the end of every day. You're my lucky penny, remember?"

I really really liked this book. I gave it 4 stars. It was a beautiful story of forgiveness and hope and love. All kinds of love. I can not wait for Lane's story in book 3, Beautiful Broken Promises, due out next year.

I pull the penny up close and read the words out loud that he's stamped into the metal.

Lucky to have found you.

Blessed to have you.

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/beautiful-broken-mess

AMAZON US: http://bit.ly/1g2NklL
AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/1cWzFr9
BARNES & NOBLE: http://bit.ly/1cjebqs
iBOOKS: http://bit.ly/1g2Rvhu
KOBO: http://bit.ly/1auv6S0
GOODREADS: http://bit.ly/ICfIfI

I'm a wanderer, an adventurer, a traveler.

I want to see it all. I haven't been everywhere but it's on my list.

"She travels the world & home is always in her heart."

Lately if I'm not traveling or chasing a toddler, I'm writing. Which is weird because I hated writing in college. Oh wait, that's because that was boring. Who really wants to sit there and cite all your sources into APA format? Not this girl. Writing for yourself is enjoyable and cathartic. Please try it. Then tell me about because I love indie authors.

When I was 19, I packed up and followed my high school sweetheart from Texas to California. We had a blast living it up in San Diego. Four years later we made a crazy decision and packed up again and moved to Germany. What? Yep, you read that right. Guess what? Best decision ever! We OWNED Europe. For three years we saw as much as we possibly could. We lived an hour outside of France, a couple from Switzerland and Italy. Most amazing time of my life. Please go out there and see the world, you won't regret it. After Europe we moved back to California, and for now we're just debating our next adventure.

I earned a degree in Child Development. And now I write novels. Makes perfect sense! I write because I walk around all day with these stories in my head. It's nice to be able to get them out of my head in an organized fashion. I hope that someone out there enjoys them, because I have enjoyed so many others'.