Jen's Reading O: Blog Tour - Broken Embrace by Dana Mason (Excerpt + Review + Giveaway)

The Past…As childhood sweethearts, Brian and Melissa's plans were simple: finish school,
get married, and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, life didn’t go as
planned. Melissa went away to college, and Brian married her best friend.The Present…Seventeen years have passed and Brian's stable family life has come crashing
down around him. His wife’s a cheater, his teenage daughter is hiding things from
him and Melissa is back in town to remind him of what he lost all those years
ago.Melissa's returned home, ready to forgive and focus on her future, but that all
changes the day she gets a desperate phone call from Brian’s daughter, Erin.
Thrown back into Brian’s tumultuous life, Melissa struggles to move beyond the
pain of his broken promise.The Future…While working together to save Erin from the evil web she’s caught in, Melissa
and Brian fight to fix the past or face losing each other all over again.

Brian stood with one hand on his daughter’s shoulder and one on his son’s, looking out over Erin’s bowed head. He felt like he’d been thrown back in time, back to a day he would never forget.

Their blond heads perfectly matched as they tilted toward each other in an iron embrace. He remembered the day like it was yesterday, the picture clear as the bright blue sky above. He knew right then—with every breath—he loved Melissa. Who gets this stuff at eight years old? He would’ve laughed at the idea if he had the energy. Who the hell understands what love is at eight? It didn’t make sense, but he couldn’t deny it.

Watching Melissa and Ali cry over their father’s coffin twenty-six years ago was so like today. There they stood, holding each other again, Ali’s hand reached out to Johnny’s, but her arm around Melissa, their heads together, crying all over again. He remembered how hard it had been for them both. He wanted to cry, too, and he did, for Ali and for Melissa. It hurt him in his soul to see the pain and tears in her eyes.

He looked again at Julie’s shining coffin glinting in the bright sun and wanted to kick himself for thinking about Melissa on this day, the very day he had to put his wife in the ground. If Julie could hear his thoughts, she would hate him. Ironically enough, so would Melissa. Melissa would never respect him, not after what he’d done to her, especially if she knew what he was thinking about now.

How did we get here? How did so many things change since that day? Nothing had turned out the way he’d planned. Back then, and for years after, his future was sure. He never doubted where life would lead him. But how could he regret? How could he—as he stood there with his kids—regret his family? Regret his life to this point? Regret Julie? No, he didn’t, of course not, but regret Melissa? Yes, he regretted losing Melissa. He loved Erin and Cody with his whole heart. He’d loved Julie, too, but Melissa was different. He couldn’t explain it, just different than Julie. Melissa held a part of his soul. To this day, she still gripped it in her hands. That part of him had been missing the day he’d proposed to Julie, and every day since then.

Melissa will always have it, even after she marries that jerk-off from Berkeley. Even then, she’ll still own a part of him. His stomach lurched at the thought of her with him, that puny, little clone with no heart or passion. Melissa was full of piss and vinegar, how long would it take this jerk to squash that out of her.

Is this what it felt like to Melissa? Had she felt this sinking, overwhelming sickness when she’d found out about him and Julie? Had she been living with it for all these years? Had her love for him been equal to his for her? He couldn’t remember if he’d ever told her how much he loved her. Did she know? Did that make everything harder for her? Did Julie understand how much he loved her? It’s too late to fix that—she’s gone—Jules is gone. Julie is dead! Did she understand how important she was to him? Even after the hateful things he’d said, he still loved her, and now she was gone.

You must read this series!

I read all three books in a row and loved them all! Dana does a great job in making you feel with the characters do. I recommend you have a box of tissues handy when you read this book!

All three books are about second chances at love, but this one is about a second chance with your first love, the one you can never forget. Seventeen years ago Brian and Melissa were high school sweethearts. When they graduated Melissa moved to New York for college and Brian stayed behind. The next thing Melissa knows is that Brian married her best friend, Julie, without even breaking up with her. Needless to say, she was brokenhearted and had a really hard time moving on. While Brian has been building a life with his wife and kids and building a career as a police detective, Melissa has been away from her hometown trying to build a life for herself. Now Melissa is back and has mended fences with Julie.

Tragedy strikes and Julie is killed in a car accident, but not before Brian finds out that she was cheating on him. Brain is devastated and Melissa steps in to help with his kids. What Melissa doesn't know is the reason why Brian married Julie and that he has never been able to forget her. Spending so much time together makes it impossible to deny their feelings for each other. Brian needs to deal with his failed relationship with Julie before he can move on with Melissa, but before he has a chance to do just that, Brian learns that the man who was having an affair with his wife has been sexually harassing his teenage daughter. Brain needs some time allow to process all of this and asks Melissa for a few days alone. Days turn into weeks and Melissa in convinced that Brian's feelings for her weren't real. What she doesn't know is that he does not want to make the same mistakes he made with his wife and wants everything is place before he goes to her again.

I don't want to give more away than I already have, but there are many serious issues of sexual harassment and domestic violence in this series of books. I think the author does a great job of portraying what abused women go through and how they can feel that it is all their fault. I love the way she shows that you can overcome it and that their is nothing to be ashamed of.

Dana Mason is happily settled in a small valley amongst the California grapevines with her husband and three children. Author of the romantic suspense, Embrace Series, she's written about a group of friends from Northern California who learn just how short life can be when you don't hold on to what's important. Second chances don't come easy...but sometimes love is worth the risk.

When not writing, Dana specializes in professional development and training.
She's also a board member on the local Art's Council and does what she can to
support the art community.

Dana
Mason Media Links:

@danamason06

DanaMasonRomance.com

www.facebook.com/danamasonromance