Beautifully Broken – Laura Lee

I knew he would ruin me from the moment we met. Everything about the man screamed confidence. Sensuality. Intelligence. Worldliness. But it was how he saved me that ruined me most.

Through him, I learned to end my path of self-destruction. I no longer needed to numb the pain with mindless one-night-stands and drunken blackouts. He made me feel worthy. Treasured. Optimistic about my future.

Here I stand four years later, in a coffee shop a world away, still broken…but beautifully so. My scars no longer hold me back. Instead, they give me strength and enrich my appreciation for the good things in life. I have hopes and dreams…faith that anything is possible. I am no longer the lost little girl fighting for survival. I have direction. I have courage. I am not without possibility.

I’ll always have Gavin to thank for that—Mr. Cooper, I remind myself. That’s who he is to me now: just a former teacher. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. I was eighteen when we first met. Legally, we did nothing wrong. Morally? Well, I guess that depends on how flexible your morals are

My name is Kat and this is my story

Goodreads

I received an Advanced Reading Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating: 5 Stars

So you know that feeling when you recommend a really great book to a friend and actually get a little jealous that they get to read it for the first time, something you can never do again? That’s how I feel writing this review. While 3 Dark Crowns is my favorite overall book of 2016, this book is my favorite Contemporary Romance Novel of 2016. I want my very own Gavin for Christmas please, complete with strategically placed bow. I am seriously SERIOUSLY hot for teacher!

At the start of this story, I didn’t see how Kat and Gavin could possibly develop any kind of meaningful relationship. She was just so rough around the edges and so quick to run away from anyone and everyone. Gavin was a perfect combination of sweet and stubborn, not giving up on her at any point – not even when they discovered that he was her high school teacher. The sexual tension in this book was beyond palpable, I got butterflies in my stomach just reading their interactions. (Especially once they discovered she would be his student)

What really got me about this book though, was Kat’s growth as a character. It was incredible to witness the changes that her relationship with Gavin wrought. Considering her devastating past, and her messed up relationship with her junkie mother,  I didn’t expect such drastic development. By the end of the book, Kat was a completely different, more open person and I really loved that.

My Takeaway: While this review may be relatively short for me, it is only because I could gush about this book’s amazingness for hours. I absolutely adored the story, and thought it was relatively original for such a cliche (the student teacher thing has been done so many times – but I still love it). This book is definitely my favorite Contemporary Romance Novel of 2016. Hands down!