Torn

My first book by this author and I am officially sucked into this rock and roll world. While this book does contain a rather large age gap, the way it was written and the transition from “uncle”, friend, and then lover was done beautifully. We see glimpses of the past when Kenzi was a little girl and her interactions with Tor. They were the right amount and did not overwhelm the story or take away from the present. We learn slowly but surely what happened to Kenzi’s mother and you cannot help but feel for her and her dad, Asher.

This is why after finishing this book I went straight to Asher’s story which is book 6 in another series. All the books can be read as a standalone but there are situations and instances that connect them all together.

This book was outstanding!! Tor was hot hot hot!! So much drama, tears, laughs, and love. I’m going to recommend this to all of my friends. Kenzie was so grown up for her age. This may be considered a taboo topic for books but it was so well written it felt natural. Almost like a normal friends to lovers book. Well done Carian Cole.

I’m A Sucker For Age Gaps, This Book Is One Of The Reasons Why
*read on KU. No need of sugar daddies called promo teams*

What’s this book about? (I’m trying to give as little spoilers as possible)
When Kenzi finally realizes her feelings for Toren Grace, things change. Her heart wants what she wants. Age? Doesn’t matter. Circumstances? Don’t care. However, she can’t stand to hurt her dad who’s been through so much. Toren is her father’s best friend and this revelation might break him.

This is my first Carian Cole book. I picked this up because lots of fellow bookstagrammers or authors recommended it. And can I just confirm that this story was everything and more. I’m so glad I picked it up. It’s definitely one of my favorites. I have over 250 notes on this book and I don’t even know where to start. The male lead is a stand-up guy even if he is kinda stubborn and kink-shaming at times, but who cares. The lead girl is adorable and I related to her a lot. The two have intense chemistry together and their relationship is incredible even before the romantic aspect comes in. The story has hilarious but also very emotional aspects. There’s a mystery going on – perhaps if I knew the other books, I’d have known about the mystery earlier? I don’t know. Whatever it is though, the mystery added drama and all the feels. My heart went crazy for this story. Romantic. Entertaining. Very easy to read. This story includes some of the most wonderfully romantic words I have ever read on a page. I can compare this to Unconditional by QB Tyler, but this book is the less horny version of it; both are very taboo, but Torn handles it more ethically decent, I’d say. It’s still taboo, but for the more romantic people.
I recommend this to all the lovers of age gap, rockstar families and intense chemistry.

If you love books that make you laugh, cry, and get that little pang in your chest feeling all the feels then this is a book for you!

I am going to be honest and say I’m not sure how Carian would play out the dynamic between Tor and Kenz without creeping me out but she did it. The age gap isn’t what bothered me at all – 15 years is nothing (my parents were 18+ years apart when they met & fell in love) but the family dynamic between these two had me wondering! Carian has a great way of showing you what these two are feeling and making you see why they feel the way they do and just how right it is. Now, convincing any one ELSE is a different story – the pain you feel for them, ugh! You just have to read it. You won’t regret it but if you want to sleep at night, start it in the morning because you won’t be able to put it down! I was up until 3:30 in the morning before I had to get some shut eye and then went right back in to it the next day because I had to know how their story plays out. It’s THAT good.

I would recommend this one to a friend, for sure.

Book one in the All Torn Up series, this series is also a crossover from The Ashes & Embers series. Can be read and enjoyed as stand-alone. Full length told in dual POV with HEA. There is a 15 yr age difference between Toren and Kenzie. Kenzie is mature for her age, her only reluctance is how her dad will take her dating his best friend. Toren really struggles with the age difference and the fact that he helped raise his best friends’ daughter, that makes him feel like a dirty old man. I liked how realistic and natural their love relationship was, there was nothing dirty about it. The only thing I didn’t like is the amount of time of their “break”(over one year seemed excessive to not see each other, not talk or text, but still consider yourselves a couple) and she had been back in town for an entire month and still hadn’t contacted him. I loved the epilogue!!

This book took sexy to a whole new level! A forbidden, age gap romance jam packed with humour and love.
I adored Tor’s rugged sexiness and Kenzi’s innocent sweetness with a side of spunk.
I love the in depth description that this author includes in all her books, and I’m shocked how I’ve only just heard about her!
Another 5* read for me!
Carian Cole practically dragged me out of my book funk with Tied, and she’s done it again with Torn!
Up next, The Ashes and Embers series, Book 1, Storm!
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Beautifully Intelligent, Honest, & Soulful… If you believe the universe creates a matching soul for every being, our literal “other half”, a fated mate born designed to complete you; you will understand and appreciate this book. You will love it even, it will be impossible not to.

Torn, by Carian Cole is a thoughtfully written story of such a connection. It is a tale of two people slated by the universe to be whole. A story of one being born to complete the other and having to navigate the social and familial expectations that go along with their socially constructed lives.

Twice in my life I have met people like Tor and Kenzi. Twice in 45 years, I have stood awed by a connection so powerful, so obvious, and so unobtrusively natural it takes on an almost supernatural life of its own. Twice. Only twice. But twice was enough to make me a believer in something so beautiful, so utterly unexplainable, that it has to be witnessed and felt to be believed. And it truly does defy time, space, and yes, even age.

Cole treats the telling of such a tale, and each character within it, with the respect they deserve. She beautifully illustrates through Kenzi, Tor, Asher, Ember, and all others surrounding them, how each and every one of us move, live, breath, and love in our own time, and at our own pace. Torn is refreshingly intelligent. A book to be savored. A book to be pondered and reflected upon. Its layer upon layer of detail about these characters lives carefully unfold in wondrous fashion. Do not rush through it. And most importantly, don’t judge it at face value.

If you get bogged down by artificially created social constructs and/or don’t believe in soul mates, then you may find this book unsettling. You may get stuck in the semantics of the ages, the change in the initial relationship, but don’t! Don’t sell this book short by being close minded. Look past the surface, really look. Because if you do, if you open your mind’s eye just a tad, take the time to think, wonder even, if such a soul connection this book portrays exists, you will be emotionally rewarded. I promise you.

Regardless of what side of the cosmic divide you fall on however, this book is a violently resonating piece that offers an important lesson on fear, love, and staying true to your own mind and heart. It is more than a love story. In all honesty, it is an important essay on human interaction within the confines of the “moral” boxes we as a species create for ourselves. And in all honesty, I wish there were more pieces like it.

I had never read a book by Carian Cole before this one. It wasn’t until after I finished it that I realized there were others before it in the series. But I am not sorry I read this one first. Torn is a much needed departure from the stupid “daddy” tropes that all too often saturate the older man/younger woman subgenre. Torn offers an intensely honest portrayal of an organically created connection based on actual love, respect, and care. It makes you think. It makes you feel. It makes you want to love unconditionally. And I loved it. And I am now a very big fan of Carian Cole!

Tor has been like an Uncle to Kenzi since the day she was born. He has been there for all the important moments in her life as well as just day to day stuff. They have loved each other like family. Until suddenly they realize that the friendship they have might be leading to more. Can they love each other and not destroy their family?

This was my first Carian Cole book and I really enjoyed it. There were a few places I wasn’t so sure because of the age gape and family relationship but Toren is an honorable man and was never inappropriate with Kenzi. He never even thought of her in any way but as a niece until she was an adult. I liked the flash backs to their past. I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the family in the other books.

I kept hearing great things about Carian Cole’s work but although I respect what my friends and fellow readers have to say, I needed to experience her work for myself! Boy am I glad I did! Absolutely freakin amazing! I am blown away by her ability to tell a story!

I have read a lot of books with the trope of daddy’s best friend/older man, younger woman, etc but this one was just so well written! You got to see through little “flashbacks” how they had a connection from the beginning. I liked that about it. I didn’t go in a “oh this is gross” way that some people may have or might react to Toren knowing Kenzi since she was a baby. I find how the story was told to an explanation of how life sometimes does really work.

Reading Tor and Kenzi’s story was heartwrenching one minute and super steamy the next. Their bond from over the last 18 years was always there but it as life does changed with them. When it does change and become “more” they both fight it a while and come back to it and then Kenzi takes some time due to the conflict it causes to let it just be absorbed and accepted.

Tor and Kenzi are two of my favorite characters in a story!

Torn is an apt title for this love story between Toren Grace and Kenzi Allyster Valentine, fifteen years age difference and family friends make this a difficult relationship to explore for them.

I really enjoy the way this author expresses herself, her descriptive text leaves no doubt as to how a character is feeling or what is happening in the scene, for example when Kenzi describes herself…’I live in a deep, dark, perplexing sea of people. Some might be starfish, and some might be sharks. I just bob along on my little raft, watching and learning.’

Being told in two timeframes,the present day and throughout Kenzi’s childhood, readers gain a deeper understanding of both lead characters plus other important ones too. Kenzi describes Toren as… romantic but tortured… this sums him up perfectly, he is such a wonderful character and one you can’t help but love. Kenzi might be young but very mature as well, she is caring and respectful.

This slow build romance seems impossible and you find yourself hoping things turn out for Toren and Kenzi. I have to admit to feeling frustrated at times due the prolonged agony of their relationship but it was beautiful as well

You experience all of the emotions the characters do in the story as you read. At times, I was disappointed or annoyed with what was happening to the characters or not happening, at others laughing at the humour and yet at others I felt a fear so deep in my heart I thought the organ would jump out of my chest. One of the most heartwarming feelings in this book is the animal rescues, so real, so devastating in their history but so wonderful too.

This is a beautiful romance.