Holly‘s review of Best Kind of Broken (Finding Fate, Book 1) by Chelsea Fine
Pixie and Levi haven’t spoken in nearly a year when they find themselves working―and living―at the same inn in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are… awkward.
All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they’re forced to share a bathroom, and therefore ashower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.
This read more like YA than NA. Though both characters are in college, it felt like a high school romance.
The story is told in alternating first-person point-of-view chapters from Levi and Pixie. They’ve known each other since grade school, but something happened to separate them a year ago. Now they’re both back in their hometown, working at the inn Pixie’s aunt owns, and living two doors down from each one another. All they want to do is forget the other exists, but it’s impossible when they see each other every day. If only they could forget the feelings that tie them together. Or the tragedy that tore them apart.
I had a hard time accepting the reason for their estrangement. Not the circumstances, but their emotional reactions to what happened. They were both supposedly grieving and feeling guilty, but I didn’t really feel their grief so much as their guilt. It seemed strange that neither of them really seemed sad or grief-stricken. Guilty and broken, yes, but not sad. That didn’t ring true, especially after their shared tragedy is revealed.
That aside it was a good read. I enjoyed the angst and drama of their situation, though I wish we’d gotten the backstory much sooner. I hate being kept in the dark and I’m afraid the story started to drag for me, since it was so drawn out. The alternating POV changes made the story seemed disjointed at times, but I like that we got to see inside both their heads. I don’t think the book would have worked so well if we’d only gotten one side of the story.
The next book is another employee of the inn. I’m curious about him based on some things that happened in this book and plan to read his soon.
3.5 out 5
This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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