Published November 19, 2013
Publisher: Intermix
Format: e-book, provided by the publisher
Genre: adult erotic romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
Rating: 4.5 STARS
(From Goodreads) Second in the darkly compelling, sexually-charged contemporary romance trilogy, in which two men vie for the mind, body, and heart of a woman who may never give in to their wishes—or her own…
Evelyn “Scout” Keats has left behind her painful past of surviving on the streets, and is now living in the luxurious penthouse master suite of Hotel Patras with her lover, billionaire Lucian Patras. But what she doesn’t know is the price Lucien paid for her freedom.
To protect Scout’s life, Lucian cut a deal with a dangerous man from her past, Parker Hughes. He swore to stay away from her for thirty days, even though he knows Parker will be fighting to keep them apart for good and take Scout as his own.
Yet neither man realizes that Scout is not about to be used as a prize or a bargaining chip for any man’s power play—and she falls back on her hard-earned self-respect and courage to show both men that the only person she truly needs is herself.
But Lucien has other plans…
Breaking Out was full of many highs and many lows. It made me sad and happy and really, really mad. It started on a really high, fun note, and ended on an incredibly frustrating and somber one. THIS is why I love to read.
Evelyn has a good thing going with Lucien, but lately he's been growing more and more distant, and she doesn't know why. When he leaves her, she is more devastated than she thought possible, and it's then that Evelyn starts taking the steps to remake herself all on her own.
My favorite part of Breaking Out was watching the transformation of Lucien. In Falling In, he started out as a pretentious, angry man with nothing much to keep him warm at night except for his billions of dollars. Through his association with Evelyn, he had the opportunity to become teacher, master and, surprisingly, friend. He had spent so long chasing something more without even knowing it, that when he found it in Evelyn, he quickly embraced it.
Evelyn, however, was much more hesitant to embrace all the new feelings she had for Lucien. She was brought up on the streets not being able to depend on or trust anyone but herself. She loves Lucien but can't tell him that, because of the power those words would give him over her. I constantly admired Evelyn's strength of self and character. Honestly, sometimes I felt like she was a little TOO strong. A little too unbendable.
When Lucien starts to pull away, Evelyn panics and immediately thinks the worst. Her fears took over and she gave them power. It broke my heart that this strong girl didn't think she was worthy of Lucien or his love. And, then when Lucien enacted his part of the deal with Parker, and left her, Evelyn was devastated.
I don't blame her for being scared and sad. Despite her not being able to say the words, she loved Lucien with everything in her, and then, in her eyes, he just dropped her. What was the saddest part to me is that Evelyn didn't trust Lucien enough to see beyond his actions and to read between the lines of his words to know that he didn't want to leave. That it was killing him as much as it was her.
And then there was Parker. UGHHHHHHH. What a huge douchebag. For as smart as Parker was supposed to be, he acted so stupidly. This guy made me feel so stabby. He was certainly a huge part of my frustration while reading Breaking Out.
I loved the scenes between Lucien and his father. They relationship is strained at best, and yet, when Lucien is at his lowest, it's his father's house that he travels to. It was a bittersweet scene between these two hard-headed men whose lives were changed by women.
I love books that make me feel in spades, and Breaking Out certainly did that. Once again, it's told in a different sort of dual POV, with a third told in Evelyn's, another third in Lucien's, and the final third back in Evelyn's. I continue to be impressed by Lydia Michaels' stellar storytelling. Her writing is beautiful. And the chemistry between Lucien and Evelyn is so palpable, it nearly leaps off the page. I loved this book so much, and I just knew that it was only going to lead into an explosive final book.
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