Caleb: Nobody’s better at being alone than me. I’ve perfected the art of isolation: I go to work at Luna’s Diner, come home, and I definitely don’t go on dates anymore.But then Beck walked into my diner looking like the textbook definition of a hot, single dad–tall, bearded, and the kindest eyes this side of the Rockies.And I let my guard down for the first time in years.He’s straight, but soon … years.
He’s straight, but soon he wants to keep me close. In-bed-together close. I’d forgotten just how good it could feel. But I have no room in my life for a crush, let alone a relationship. My past broke me into pieces, and I’m only now starting to pick them back up.
I’m not going to let myself fall for him.
Even though he’s the first person I’ve been comfortable with in years.
Even though he wants me, too, on lonely nights.
Even though his touch makes me ache.
Beck:
Since moving to Kinley Island, I’ve been living like a shadow. I’m divorced and single for the first time in fifteen years, and my days have been as drab and routine as the rainy weather outside.
And then one late night at my regular diner, everything changed. The mysterious, tattooed man behind the counter opened up to me–flirted with me–and I flirted back. I’ve never been into men, but I can’t keep my eyes off Caleb–he’s beautiful, intense, and broken, and now I feel a desperate urge to fix him.
But I also just got a phone call I never expected: my sixteen-year-old daughter is coming to stay with me for the summer. After living like a bachelor all year, I have no clue how to be a single parent. Caleb offers to help me, and of course I say yes.
But now I’m starting to feel addicted to him.
His body. His lips. His touch.
Is it possible to like a friend too much?
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I received this book as an ARC and this is my honest opinion. This story is refreshing! A simple and cute love story between Caleb and Beck with some twists in their relationship, a problematic teenager, Kristen, who helped them to find each other and a guaranteed HEA you’ll really enjoy. As a second book in a series, you can read it as standalone, but you’ll recognize some characters from the first book. I can’t wait for the next book!!
Caleb, the line cook that looks more like a tattoo model, is kind of alone. He cooks at Luna’s, then goes home. But one day he flirts with the hot bearded dad looking customer, and somehow, a friendship is struck up between him and Beck. He honestly knows better than to want more from an obviously straight guy, but sometimes the body doesn’t always react the way the mind tells it to, nor does the heart…
Beck is a solitary truck driver who’s always only been attracted to women, specifically to his ex-wife. But when the tattooed hottie at the local diner flirted with him, he LIKED it. His body LIKED it, too. And when he and Caleb fall into a friendship that somehow turns into a friendship with benefits, he rolls with it. After all, he’s used to rolling with it. That’s what he’s always done, what he always did with his ex-wife Amy, even when she verbally harangued him, derided him and generally abused him. But, he has a teenage daughter with Amy, who comes first, so getting back together with Amy should be his priority, right? Not falling in love with a man, even a sweetheart of a man like Caleb who makes him feel worthy in a way no one ever has before.
Gah, this story made me so mad sometimes! I wanted to scream at Beck as he let his ex guide his actions, let her get into his head so badly that he hurt poor beautiful Caleb. But their story is pretty great. I love that it’s both their second chance at love, at life.
“But Beck and I had been each other’s second chances.”
I haven’t read any of the other stories in this series, or by this author, but I will be sure to in the future, because I loved Break Free. It’s sweet, tugs on the heart a little, and Caleb and Beck are adorable.
ARC via LesCourt ARC Team.
I received this book with the understanding that I could leave a voluntary and honest review.
In this book we meet Caleb and Beck. When these two meet on Kinley Island Caleb is the chef in a local diner his biggest thing is getting his boss to let him put new items on the menu. That is until a man started showing up keeping to himself but making Caleb want to know him more. He can’t figure out what he needs to do to show the man that he wants to get to know him but he knows he is willing to try. Beck has been coming to this dinner a a while now but he keeps to himself. He has been feeling out of sorts since his divorce and doesn’t know where life will take him now. He knows he wants a closer relationship with his daughter but past that he is in limbo. Until one night something happens in the diner that gives these two a chance to talk. Not just talk but flirt. Will they give this a chance or will past hangups keep them as just two strangers in a diner?
This is another amazing story from this author. It does have its ups and downs I really want to tell you about. However I don’t want ruin the story for any other readers. I will say these characters will be with you long after you read those two little words, the end. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
This is the first time I have read a romance by this author & I will admit that I really enjoyed reading this emotional MM romance. The characters are quite well-developed & displayed realistic emotional feelings according to the situations they find themselves in. There is good support from the secondary characters. The plot is well-paced & has some unexpected, interesting events.
There is: a reformed bad-boy but lonely male line-cook (Caleb) notices a very hot truck driver & single dad (Beck), Beck’s 16yr old daughter (Kristen), Beck’s controlling ex-wife (Amy), some twists, drama, memories, self-esteem issues, guilt issues, loneliness, friendship, verbal banter, emotional turmoil, uncertainty, confusion, disagreements, attempted reconciliation, realization, confrontations, ultimatums, apologies, love, contentment, some steam & a satisfying conclusion.
***Possible Spoilers***
I was excited to start Break Free. The cover is nice and the blurb intriguing.
Caleb is a beautiful, smart, sexy, well-rounded person. His past has him in a holding pattern of grief. But upon meeting Beck, he starts to see a future that contains more than the gut-wrenching pain he has suffered from for the past couple of years. For quite a while, in his interactions with Beck, I could almost see angels wings and a halo. He is almost too good to be true. The point in the book where he shows a more human side when dealing with Beck was when I fell a little bit in love with him.
I started out loving Beck. He is a sweet, caring, sexy (and doesn’t know it), and loyal to a freaking fault. Circumstances and others’ actions have destroyed any sense of self-esteem he may have possessed and left him adrift in a sea of loneliness, confusion, and pain. I could feel his emotions, and I hurt for him. It really bothered me that he allows himself, even after the divorce, to make excuses for his ex-wife’s behavior and also to continue to put himself down. After a while, I was impatient with him and his sheer stubbornness in what he wants for his life. That gave way to anger because he refuses to see and hold tight to Caleb’s love and support. Instead, he wants his cheating ex-wife back! There is an aha moment where he finally figures out what is really going on in his life and resolves to make it better. That was when I loved him again.
At the end of the book, I care about Beck and Caleb and their future together. They are a lovely couple, the romance is spicy (it is a slow burn though) and believable, and the HEA is satisfying. I hope to see them in the third book of this series.
I look forward to more from this author.
This is a well written book with strong characters and an entertaining story line. The author does a great job building the story and pulling you in with all the emotions coming through the pages. He gives Caleb and Beck a strong connection and takes them on a journey in finding love after living with pain and heartbreak. The supporting characters help to bring the story around and bringing it to life. I enjoyed and would recommend this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
Book 2 in the Kinley Island series, and what a new series it is. I’m a self confessed Raleigh Ruebins’ fan and ‘Break Free’ didn’t let me down. It was a beautifully written romance, where a couple feels that pull to each other from the start but try to deny it until they can’t any longer.
Both the main characters have lost the loves of their lives, both these loves were women. For one there is the added complexity of not realizing or acknowledging what he is feeling is more than friendship because it is towards a man. This all added to the storyline, making it a better book.