Two lovers strive to trade a grim past for a bright future in this story of bittersweet yearning.Tina Jenson belongs to the same social stratum as Harris Chapman, but he’s out of her league—at least that’s what she thinks before they jump in bed together. It’s the perfect night, but when she overhears crude, hurtful comments the next morning, she can’t get away fast enough.Ten years later, Tina’s … enough.
Ten years later, Tina’s life is a mess. That night with Harris didn’t just hurt her feelings; it started a cascade of disappointment and heartbreak. Every time she bumps into Harris, her heart twists inside out. She still wants him, but she’s harboring a painful secret from their night together that she’s not ready to reveal.
Crossed signals, high-society whispers, and shame have kept Tina and Harris apart for years, but deep down, they’re hungry for each other and eager to write their own rules. Can they let go of the past and find their way back to each other, or are the barriers between them too high and too strong?
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This book is emotional, and sweet and all the things a good romance book should be. I really enjoyed it!
Oh my! This was not at all what I was expecting. And I absolutely love it more because of it.
Ten years ago Tina had her eyes set on Harris. When he not only acknowledges her, but fulfills her young girl’s dreams, she is euphoric. Until she overhears a conversation. She walked away that night and the rest of her life was forever changed.
Harris has been attracted to Tina since she turned seventeen. After making a monstrous mistake in their youth, he has tried to make amends. He NEEDS to make amends because he yearns to have her in his life. But Tina hasn’t spared him a moment’s notice to do so. When circumstances provide an open door, he eagerly steps through and refuses to walk back out.
Tina was lost, trying to find her way in life and failing miserably time and time again. I loved watching her climb out of the despair she lived in and into a bright new sunrise. She had a lot of past pain to deal with and to witness her build herself up and face it was a heartbreaking, beautiful thing.
”For ten years I was stuck in the past Harris. I felt incapable of moving forward with my life. I was trapped by my own incapacity to let go. I suffered from panic attacks, awful nightmares, and a crippling inability to settle in one job for too long. I know I appeared flighty and irresponsible. When in truth I was incapable of digging myself out from beneath a mountain of suffocating self-doubt and fear.”
Harris was such a fun hero. He had a wild sense of humor and was always careful to give Tina the room she needed even as he wanted to push for more. He was devastated by all that Tina had gone through, the result leaving him shattered and broken. His heartbreak was as painful to read as Tina’s.
”He hoped this meant she’d forgiven him. He hoped it was the beginning of something more. He hoped she cared for him even a fraction as much as he cared for her.
He hoped. And it terrified him.”
This couple had so much to overcome and it seemed completely insurmountable. There is some push and pull from Tina as she must face her past and what she is presently feeling. This book started with that night years ago and from the first page I was glued to this story. With some amusing moments, great banter, and sizzling chemistry between these characters, I fell completely in love and can’t wait to get my hands on Libby and Greyson’s book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley and Montlake. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Second-chance romance is one of my favorite tropes, so I was pretty excited to read this book. However, I really struggled to finish it. My biggest problem was how Tina continuously was pushing Harris away and didn’t even give him the chance to make it right or explain himself. I can understand that what she went through really broke her and left scars, but to heal you would have to talk it out with the person that in your opinion caused all the hurt. I loved Harris, I thought he was very patient and sweet. He didn’t let what Tina was throwing at him push him away. It was obvious that he felt a very strong attraction and love for Tina, and it didn’t really diminish in the ten years they were apart.
However, when Tina was ready to take the next step, Harris wanted to sacrifice himself for her happiness. Which was nice of him, but he shouldn’t have. He finally got her to give him a chance, and then he wants to give her space to grow. I was glad it didn’t take long for Tina to convince him otherwise. Overall, I thought this was an okay second-chance romance, but I couldn’t really feel a strong click between the characters. I also didn’t like some of the decisions they took. I was very close to DNF’ing the book, but decided to finish it anyways, and thankfully it got a bit better. I liked the writing style and I thought it had a very nice flow. Even though I didn’t enjoy this story, I do want to read her other books because I loved The Unwanted Wife.
4-Stars
Book 2 of the Broken Pieces Standalone Series – although you don’t need to read the first book, I recommend that you do to fully enjoy Greyson and Olivia’s story.
This book hurt in the best way, like my heart was hurting so much for these characters. Natasha Ander’s can write some really angsty-romances, and this one was no different.
We met these characters in More Than Anything, Tina and Harris’s story (Greyson’s brother). Although that book had our hearts pumping, nothing could have prepared me for the level of sadness I felt while watching Olivia and Greyson’s marriage collapse. Olivia was a tough as nails heroine, definitely no doormat and I loved her strength.
Now if you’re a fan of Natasha Ander’s like myself, then you know that this author produces the best grovels – it’s true and I can totally toss you some title names to back up that claim. Greyson’s grovel did not disappoint. Nothing makes me happier than a heroine who can stand strong at the first sign of remorse from the hero. Olivia made Greyson work for her forgiveness through actions and not words – I loved that.
There was no “I’m sorry” and she melted for him and all was forgiven. There was none of the hero bulldozing the heroine to let it go and then they lived happily ever after.
No, not in these pages.
I definitely recommend this to all of my book buddies who love a romance of a marriage in trouble and good grovels.
Tina is very complex person with lots of baggage. She has spent years of self doubt, social anxiety, and pain crushing panic attacks after a one night stand with her long time friend/crush Harrison literally crush her faith in people, in love and herself. She isolated herself and shut out everyone beyond her best friend Libby, who doesn’t know all her secrets and nothing about that night.
Harris has tried for years to get Tina to talk to him and forgive him for his bad judgement that one night that changed both of their lives. Harris after years of trying finally had a chance to be close to Tina forcing her to see him daily. Slowly she let her guard down, but only enough to confuse herself with all the emotions she had been trying a decade to suppress. Her panic attacks and night terrors returned.
She finally told Libby, her brothers and Harris her secret leaving her feeling lighter and more focused on the future than ever before. She was finally making something positive happen in her life, MJ was a sucess and she was making friends and was finally living.
The flippant remark would be More Than Anything I wish I had not read this book. It wasn’t that bad nor does it deserve that kind of snark.
The heroine is the problem here in a rare case of Hero deserves better. Don’t get me wrong, the heroine has/had just cause to be snippy with the H when right after their first time she overhears him getting paid off by some gross mean boys for sleeping with her. However, and it is a big HOWEVER, [the hero was never in on the bet as he was roofied and has tried to apologize for ten years. TEN YEARS!!!!! (hide spoiler)]
What do you do when the hero in a book does all the right things and still has it thrown in his face? You give the heroine and the book two stars. There is more to the heroine’s refusal to see the hero for what he is, and I am being a heartless reviewer, but I just didn’t buy the ten year hair shirt the heroine decides to torture herself and others with. She doesn’t even tell her best friend since childhood what happened to her to set her off on a journey of failure which I also found unbelievable so the h ended up swimming into manufactured angst territory. I hesitate to say more for those that want to read this as SPOILERS.
She has allowed her Great Big Mystery that is HP 101 to sabotage her life. I got so irritated with her incompetence I wanted to fire her. She opens a restaurant with BF and forgets to send in the ad, forget to send out the flyers, goes home to take a nap while her just-had-a-baby BF whips up masterpieces in the kitchen, and etc…
The next story coming is the H’s shutdown twin trying to win back his wife who is the best friend in this story. I feel like we have already seen it, but NA may pull something out of her hat.
I like NA writing as she can pull a story together, but when I spend half my time yelling at the heroine for being a big ninny it just doesn’t work.
Any time I see a new book by Natasha Anderson I know I have to read it. She has a way of telling a story and giving you characters you can’t help but love. This book was no different.
Tina and Harrison grew up together and started as friends. Their families were part of the same social circle so they were around each other a lot. All it took was one night to change the dynamic of their relationship.
Now years later and they are finally ready to try a relationship. This book was packed full of angst and I couldn’t get enough. I am huge fan of angst and this one delivered in spades. There were times when I was made and heart broken. I loved this book and am looking forward to more work by this author.
More Than Anything was an enjoyable (and emotional!) story of a woman struggling to overcome her insecurities, fears and heartbreak. Tina grew up in a household of emotional abuse; constantly being put down and treated like crap by those who are supposed to care about her the most. This wreaked havoc on her confidence and self-esteem.
Harris was an amazing influence on bringing Tina out of her shell and helping her to grow and overcome her past issues. I enjoyed watching Tina develop more confidence and feel she was worthy enough for the love of a good man.
In addition to the Harris and Tina story, I became fully invested in the Libby and Greyson story playing out in the background and cannot to find out what is to come with their relationship.
2.6 Broken Hearts
I really wanted to enjoy this. I just couldn’t get past Tina’s character. During the opening, I liked her spunk and was excited to watch her take on her adversaries. As the story progressed the tough ‘I can do this’ heroine disappeared. She went from placating the negative nancies to becoming one herself. And the lackadaisical attitude she took with regards to her life choices and commitments just cemented my inability to connect with her character. Honestly, her voice in my head even became whiny.
The plot line itself was a great idea and is what captured my attention. I managed to trudge through this story because I was enjoying everyone else. Harris, Oh did I liked his character. He took responsibility for his actions, even when they were not the acts of a good person. And he was such a closet romantic. Lisa, I want her story! Her character had the backbone I want from my heroine.
Yes, life sucks, scars don’t ‘heal’ the trauma, they just provide closure so the wounds don’t fester. We choose how we want the world to see those scars.
This was a huge second chance expesially after 10 yrs with a whole lot of angst and drama and heartache that will be devastating but we also get some funny moments also and when you learn all the truths you will understand why Tina acted the way she did it happens its life and the decisions to do the right thing even if you crave it like your last breath its not easy, I really liked Harrison he was more easy going then Tina and he still lived his life. I liked the characters and once the pieces fit together it was easier to understand the issues and all the why’s when the truths are told. I felt bad for both 10 years is a long time struggle alone.
Loved this book … cant wait for book 2
A wee bit more than broken…
I would love to take the easy route in reviewing More Than Anything and just say it was good, packed with emotions and ended on a happy note. The problem is that it was A LOT more than that. I “enjoyed” the journey but felt a slight disconnection from the main characters. I liked seeing the connection between the heroine and her best friend but couldn’t understand keeping such a big secret for so long. There were times that the hero was one of the best blokes, however, he was also responsible for a horrible betrayal. There were so many lows before we even get a glimpse of the highs. How do I explain my enjoyment without giving it all away? This is the kind of story that you must get the whole picture before you can judge.
I didn’t understand Tina and her self-loathing. No, I take that back, I did understand but it got a wee bit old by the end. She’s very negative about EVERYTHING and I became impatient waiting for her to realise that her family was one of the main causes of her issues. Her parents are snooty and along with Tina’s siblings, spend a lot of time finding fault in her. Her best friend Libby, who always has her back was a better person than all of her family, yet Tina kept her biggest struggle a secret. As I said, I did understand her low self-esteem, but I was impatient to see her get past her issues and confide in the people that matter.
Harris and his twin brother Greyson have a pretty good life but it’s far from perfect. Greyson’s marriage is in shambles and he only has himself to blame. Harris has feelings for Tina but can see that she will never forgive him for his betrayal when she was 18 and he was 20. Harris’s family have been long-time friends with Tina’s family and her brother is one of his best friends. He tried to apologise numerous times, but it’s been ten long years and she still can’t look him in the eye. Harris wants Tina’s forgiveness and he will do whatever it takes to make things right.
I spent most of the book frustrated with the heroine for her lack of communication skills. I get why she closed herself off emotionally and physically, but I really didn’t get why it took so long for her to share her burdens. This is one of those stories where you’re pulling your hair out because YOU wouldn’t do what the heroine does. YOU would communicate. YOU would stand up for yourself. YOU would have taken the steps to get help to move on, get better and find support. But, this is not my story and I haven’t faced the traumatic experience that Tina did. I had to step back and let Tina fight her demons at her own pace.
How do I rate a story that frustrated me, made me sigh, smile and squirm, and left me a little emotionally drained? Well, my first instincts were 4 stars. Then, when I started writing this review it headed into 3-star land. But, I also remembered the high I felt when all the secrets were out, conversations were had, and love won out after all. I’m going to stick with my first instincts.
If you’re looking for a story with a whole lot of emotional bang for your buck, then I highly recommend giving More Than Anything a whirl.
Stacey is Sassy, received an advanced copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.
This was my first read by Natasha Ander’s and while the brother’s best friend trope is usually one I gravitate to read, this one didn’t work for me. I couldn’t connect with either of the main characters, probably due to lack of character development. I’ve heard great things about this author, so it could be a it’s just me not you type of experience…
I volunteered to read an ARC generously provided by the author and this is my first time reading her work.
More Than Anything is a story with a premise that has been tried and tested over and over again. But still, it is a premise I enjoy reading. The writing is superb in that it ebbs and flows nicely, with good character development. But there were few issues that peeved me that caused such a low star.
Although the writing was superb, it needed a lot of editing. Not in grammar or sentence structure, but in the amount of information thrown at a reader. There were pages and pages of unnecessary details that distracted and retracted from the element and emotion of the ongoing scene. These detailed “inner” monologues, especially Tina’s that made her a weak character in my opinion because, after a while, I just became tired of the lamenting of her “shortcomings”. Even though I understood what she was dealing with, I just couldn’t sympathize with her struggle anymore. Also, there was way too much emphasis given on the surrounding with way too many secondary characters that distracted from Tina and Harris.
Overall, if this story is refined with most of the unnecessary details edited out, it has the potential to be quite a good summertime read.
After reading the description for the latest Natasha Anders book More Than Anything I was hooked. The story line centers around Tina (Martine) Jenson and Harrison Chapman and a long held secret. This is the seventh Natasha Anders book I’ve read to date and while not my favorite this is a solid 3.5-4 star book.