Blog Tour and Giveaway: Beautiful Broken Rules: Kimberly Lauren

by Reviews by Tammy and Kim - Monday, July 22, 2013

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What happens when you create rules to keep others out?

One thing Emerson Moore has come to terms with is that she is the school slut. She knows her way around a frat house and how to get what she wants. She doesn’t make any excuses for her actions and she doesn’t pretend to be anything different. She is who she is and with that she knows how to have a good time. She’s made rules to keep relationships at bay and avoid the demons of her past.

When her best friend, Cole has his two friends from back home move in with him she begins to think she has met her match with Jaxon Riley. Jax is the perfect mixture of tattooed muscle and a sweet-talking mouth. With “hand” written notes, a voice that exudes sex and knowing just how to get under her skin, Jaxon learns how to break all the rules. But will he just end up breaking her heart anyway?

"I've accepted who I am. I am the girl who will never become serious about anyone, who will enjoy life, have fun with guys along the way and never get her heart broken."

Em and Jaxon are either a match made in Heaven or Hell. At first I was not sure which. They both have checkered pasts with the opposite sex, they both have tragedies that have affected their present and neither of them really do relationships.
Jaxon and his brother Jace move in next door with Em's best friend Cole. They become a tight group along with her sister and room mate, Quinn. It is obvious that even when Jaxon and Emerson are just becoming very close friends that there is something more brewing. They have hot chemistry and an undeniable attraction.

Em has rules...3 to be exact...

1. Never sleep with someone that a friend has feelings for
2. Never sleep with someone who is in a known relationship
3. Never sleep with someone more than three times

She does not plan on having any relationship. Sex is just sex. She is not going to get close enough to have feelings other than friendship for any guy. She really does live up to her reputation and has serious trust issues, is guarded, and is a serious flight risk. But at the same time even though she is bold and feisty, there is also a vulnerability and sadness to her. And she is a devoted friend and sister even though she is afraid to love, she already knows how to be committed to her friends. All of their friend group worries what will happen to their tight group if they do get together. Em and Emerson were almost two different people. Jaxon helped her transition into Emerson who begins to see the world a bit differently.

I felt naked around this guy; he sees too much or thinks too highly of me, I couldn't figure out which one.

Jaxon is a hot, sexy, motorcycle riding, football star. But he is also sweet, protective, and romantic. He finds ways to push Emerson's buttons. He just kind of snuck in on her and totally rocked her rules. Jaxon is such a likable character. He has his own issues, but is working them out and is not afraid of going after what he wants. His creative, sweet little notes for her just melted my heart. He takes what she will give him, but soon they are getting out of control. And the thing with Em is, she cannot handle being out of control.

I loved the way he made me feel safe when I was around him, like he would protect me no matter what, even if I didn't need it. Why couldn't I just let him protect my heart?

"Please stop running from me..."

"Please stop trying to catch me..."

It was a roller coaster of angst: coming together, breaking apart, hurting each other and themselves. But there were also times of sweetness, discovery, and joy. There were times I wanted to throttle one or both of them or just lock them in a room together. They break each other down and get down into all of the deep layers. But the deeper they get, the more it can hurt.

“You’re my heart. You don’t walk away from your heart,”

It was sweet, funny, romantic, frustrating, maddening, and beautiful. We saw a lot of growth in the characters as they dealt with pain, love, and the idea of commitment. And it did not involve just Em and Jaxon, but also Cole and Quinn too. They had their own issues and fears to face. But they were a much more functional couple. And they were such great friends to them. And that leaves Jaxon's brother, Jace who is kind, smart, loyal, and swoony. They may be twins but he had his own special personality and I adored him. I am so glad he will get his own story and I cannot wait for more with these engaging characters.

This book just sucked me in. The writing flowed easily and gave us both points of view. The characters were complex, damaged and interesting. They were funny, sassy, and co-dependent in some ways. And you cannot help but fall in love with them. I loved the way they were like a family and support system to offer a shoulder to cry or or to kick someone's ass who needed it(and there was a lot of ass kickin' needed in this one). This was a great debut by Kimberly Lauren and I will certainly read more from her in the future.

Thanks to Kimberly Lauren for providing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kimberly Lauren

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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'.

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