Toot's Book Reviews: Spotlight, Review, Excerpt, Teasers & Giveaway : Broken (Broken #1) by Kelly Elliot (CR)

Tour Hosted by

http://www.naughtyandnicebookblog.blogspot.com/

Book Blurb & Info

Layton Morris and his brother Mike grew up not knowing what it would be like to live in a normal home. With no running water or electricity in their home, no parents around to protect them, they quickly learned how to survive and depend only on each other.

When a tragic accident takes Mike away from Layton, and the only other person that he ever let into his heart walked away from him, leaving his heart shattered, Layton focuses all of his time and energy into the ranch he and his brother dreamed of. He makes a vow to himself to never let love in again. The last thing Layton needed or wanted was more heartache.

Whitley Reynolds grew up in a privileged home in upstate New York. When she landed the star football player in high school no one was surprised, not even Whitley. She dreamed of a life with Roger living in New York City and happily followed him there.

The first time Roger hit her for arguing with him about a dinner party, she forgave him. The more it happened, the further Whitley withdrew from her friends and family. One fateful day things go to far. Whitley makes a promise to herself and finds the courage to do the one thing she thought she’d never be able to do.

Fleeing with her best friend Courtney, Whitley was determined to put her past behind her and start a new life in the small town of Llano, Texas, where no one would ever find out about her past.

Will they both ever learn to trust and love again, or will their pasts come back to haunt them, keeping them both alone and…

Broken.

Purchasing Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1gZphEA
Banes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Broken-by-kelly-elliott?store=allproducts&keyword=Broken+by+kelly+elliott
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/broken/id756892264?mt=11
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/broken-92

Book Excerpt

“Will you do me a favor? I’m going to slowly start driving. Will you lean out and take a look at the tire? Tell me if everything looks okay.”

She nodded as she grabbed on to the bar. She leaned out the side of the Jeep. “Okay…ready.”

I smiled and gunned it while I held the brake down. Mud flew up everywhere, and she let out a scream that I was sure Mimi and her husband Frank would hear.

I let off the gas and looked over toward her. She was covered in mud.

“Oops. Sorry.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she balled up her fists. “You asshole! My eyes are burning from the mud in them, you fuckwad!”

I lost it and started laughing. I laughed so hard that I was pretty sure I’d snorted once or twice.

Whitley jumped out and began walking away.

“Where are you going?” I called after her.

“As far away from you as I can get!”

She turned and walked backward as she shot me the finger with both hands. Then, she dropped out of sight.

I jumped out of the Jeep and ran over to her.

“Shit! Oh shit! Oh my God…shit!” She cried out over and over as she held on to her ankle.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Whit, what’s wrong?” I dropped to my knees.

She looked up at me, and the next thing I knew, I had a handful of mud in my face. She smeared it all over my face and down my neck. She started laughing, but then she quickly stopped when I looked at her.

“You better run,” I said, glaring at her.

“What?” She jumped up and started to run.

I gave her a good thirty-second head start before I went after her. She kept looking back at me, laughing. She ran up to a group of oaks.

“You think a few trees are going to stop me?” I asked with a sly smile.

“Layton, let’s just call a truce, okay? Truce ’cause I’m itching all over. I really need to get this mud off of me.”

I shook my head. “Oh no, Miss Reynolds. Payback is a bitch.”

“Wait! You got mud on me first! I was paying you back.”

I acted like I was going to run to the left and then made a sharp move to the right. She screamed and tried to go left, but then she slipped. I ran up to her, picked her up, and threw her over my shoulder. I looked up and saw we were near the hunter’s cabin. There was a tank right around the bend next to the cabin.

Oh yeah, her ass is going in the tank.

“Layton, put me down! Layton! Oh. My. God. No, Layton, no! Where are you taking me?”

She must have seen the tank because she started kicking and screaming.

“Scream all you want, honey. No one can hear you!” I laughed.

“Mimi! Frank!” she yelled out. “I know sound travels in the country.”

“Whit, it’s pouring. No one can hear you.”

I smacked her ass, and she let out another scream.

“You’re crazy! Layton, please…I’ll do anything.”

I walked up to the edge of the tank and saw a snake. Shit. She lucked out!

I turned around and saw a huge mud puddle. I started walking toward the cabin.

“Oh, thank God! I thought you were going to throw me in the tank.”

“I was…but I saw a snake.”

She started screaming and kicking again. “Oh my God! Put me down! I just want to go back to the house. I want down, Layton! Now!”

“You want down?”

“Yes! Right now, you asshole!”

“Okay then.” I dropped her right into the mud puddle.

Teaser

Toot's Review

Broken is Kelly Elliot's newest book and the start to a wonderful new contemporary romance series, sporting the same name. Broken is the story about Whitley Reynolds and Layton Morris.

Whitley is your typical city girl. Her path in life has always been paved in gold. She comes from a good family with both parents being uber supportive and both doctors to boot. She has tons of friends and she even fell in love with the high school heartthrob, Roger. When Roger is offered a job in New York, the natural step is for her to move with him, so they can start a life together. Life just couldn't be better until her prince charming turns into a monster. Away from the support of family and friends, Roger has turned into a classic abuser. It's not uncommon for him to fly into fits of jealous rage and beat the snot out of her. When at a company party, Whitley makes the mistake of dancing with one of Roger's co-workers then touches his arm when saying goodbye. This throws Roger over the edge and Whitley wakes up in the hospital. Upon release, her and her BFF pack up her stuff and move to a little town in Texas to start over, away from New York and away from Roger.

Layton is a dead man walking. He's struggling to just go about his life. He was happy, not long ago but then suddenly 2 of the 3 people he's ever loved up and left him. One, his brother, Mike and two, was his fiance, Olivia. Mike died while serving his country and Olivia, couldn't deal. Now he is left to run a ranch he loves alone. Memories of the two assail him at every turn. To numb the pain, he's turned to booze and loose women. While riding on his property, he stumbles upon a city slicker, cursing up a storm at her broken down car. He offers to rescue the damsel in distress but maybe she's the key to rescuing them both?

Broken is definitely your cowboy romance with a city girl twitst. Kelly Elliot does a fantastic job at mixing great characters, typical romance and humor into a great read. Layton is freakin' to die for!! He's a sizzlin' hot cowboy with a broken heart who needs the love of a good woman to help him heal and Whitley is a wonderful mix of sweet, charming and sexiness with just enough ghosts in her past to be a challenge. The two make an adorable couple with a fabulous HEA. The story also sets up the rest of the series by introducing the reader to a whole host of colorful characters that are only going to spin more great stories for this fun new series.

So if you want a cowboy romance with great characters and a romantic HEA, give Broken a try!

Author Info

Really I'm just a wife to a wonderful Texas cowboy who has a nack for making me laugh almost daily and supports my crazy ideas and dreams for some unknown reason...he claims it's because he loves me.....so I'll just go with that one!

I'm also a mom to an amazing daughter who constantly is asking me to make her something to eat while she has her fingers moving like mad on her cell phone sending out what I'm sure is another very important text message!

Oh...and I like to sit down and write in my spare time!

I live in the Texas hill country and one of my favorite things to do is go for hikes around our property with my second favorite man, Gus....my chocolate lab and my sweet girl Rose, our golden retriever. When I'm not outside helping the hubby haul brush or move rocks or whatever fun chore he has in store for me that day, you will find me inside reading, writing or watching HGTV and soaking in a nice hot bubble bath.....yeah that last one I just made up but it sure does sound nice!!!

Follow Kelly at:
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/KellyElliottAuthor
Twitter:@author_kelly
Blog: http://authorkellyelliott.blogspot.com/
Email: authorkellyelliott@gmail.com

~Giveaway~