Unbreak My Heart

By Nicole Jacquelyn

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Synopsis

What do you do when your soul mate marries your best friend?
If you’re Kate Evans, you keep your friend Rachel, bond with her kids, and bury your feelings for her husband. The fact that Shane’s in the military and away for long periods helps-but when tragedy strikes, everything changes.
After Rachel, pregnant with her fourth child, dies in a car accident and the baby miraculously survives, Kate upends her entire life to share parenting duties. Then on the first anniversary of Rachel’s death, Kate and Shane take comfort in each other in a night that they both soon regret.
Shane’s been angry for a year, and now he feels guilty too – for sleeping with his wife’s best friend and liking it . . . liking her. Kate’s ability to read him like a book may have once sent Shane running, but their lives are forever entwined and they are growing closer.
Now with Shane deployed for seven months, Kate is on her own and struggling with being a single parent. Shane is loving and supportive from thousands of miles away, but his homecoming brings a betrayal Kate never saw coming. So Kate’s only choice is to fight for the future she deserves – with or without Shane. . .

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Michel’s Review

Unbreak My Heart by Nicole Jacquelyn took me by complete surprise.  This book took a completely different direction and different tone than her previous series, the Aces MC and The Aces Sons.  The one thing it had in common with the previous books was the story took on a life itself.  The characters came alive.  The reader easily became invested in their lives.  Their happily ever after was just as important to the reader as it was to the characters.

One of the things that made this book stand out was the element of time.  The characters have known each other most of their lives.  Their relationship was held together by family ties and one woman.  They went from being sort of cousins and close friends to being semi- friendly acquaintances after they moved into adulthood.  The one person that held their fragile relationship together was Rachel.  She was Kate’s best friend and Shane’s wife.  After she passed away in an accident, it changes the dynamics of their relationship.

As a young girl, Kate Evans was in love with Shane Anderson, her foster cousin.  They were the best of friends until she introduced him to her best friend and college roommate.  That introduction changed the dynamics of their relationship.  Shane could barely tolerate being around Kate.  Kate purposely avoided Shane although she was Rachel’s best friend. Shane’s career in the military caused him to be away from his wife and children quite a bit throughout their nine year marriage.  During his deployments Rachel would lean on Kate to help her with their three young children.  Kate followed Rachel and Shane to California for that very reason.  Rachel was eight months pregnant with her fourth child when she was killed in a car accident.  Kate had to step in to help take care of the new baby and three other children.  She downsized her business to make time for these precious children. Shane resents the fact that he needs her help with the children.  He resents the fact that she is the one who is now the mother figure to his children rather than his wife.  The past year has been pure hell on all of them.  Now he’s facing an upcoming deployment that will take him away from his children for six months.

On the one year anniversary of his wife’s death he makes a terrible drunken mistake.  He slept with Kate in a moment of weakness.  This makes him resent her more.  To make matters worse Kate ends up pregnant and has a horrific case of morning sickness.  Now he has to leave a sick pregnant woman in charge of his children.

They say the heart grows fonder during an absence. This six months apart may bring them closer together or define their tentative friendship.  They are going to have a child together and are raising four other children that need them both.  Can he let go of his wife’s memory and learn to love Kate?  Or will he end up resenting her more?

Shane needs an attitude adjustment.  He needs to open his eyes and see Kate for who she is and what she does.  What he doesn’t realize is that she has always been the glue that held his family together.  She has always given him and his family her unconditional love.

Kate has to learn to protect herself and not become Shane’s doormat.  It’s time for her to receive the love and respect she deserves.

Shane and Kate’s story is not one of insta love.  It’s not a love conquers all story.  It’s messy, frustrating, heartbreaking, and sad.  When they finally start to get things right, it’s breathtaking.  Through it all those precious children are loved, protected, and cherished.

Nicole Jacquelyn has written a sensational story that will engage all of your emotions. I highly recommend this book!

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About Nicole Jacquelyn

Nicole Jacquelyn is the mom of two little girls and a full time college student. She hasn’t watched television in well over a year, she still does things that drive her mother crazy, and she loves to read. At eight years old, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she told people she wanted to be a mom. When she was twelve her answer changed- to author. By the time she was eighteen, when people asked her what she wanted to do with her life, she told them she really wanted to be a writer- but the odds of that happening were so slim that she’d get her business degree “just to be safe”. Her dreams stayed constant. First she became a mom, then she went to college, and during her senior year- with one daughter in first grade and the other in preschool, she sat down and wrote a story.

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