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Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Danny Cummings’ life is far from a fairytale, but that’s okay since he doesn’t believe in happy endings. After spending a year in juvenile hall for maliciously beating his sister’s boyfriend, Danny embraces his badass image. Spending most nights drinking, fighting and collecting gambling debts for his Uncle, Danny’s life is out of control. His addiction to the bad boy lifestyle won’t let him do anything about it, even with his family begging him to go straight. But, when fifteen-year-old Lauren McIntosh stumbles into one of his nightly escapades, the self-proclaimed anti-romantic can’t concentrate on anything except Lauren and the fact that she’s on the same path his sister was on. Danny knows true love happening for the villain is as common as gamblers paying their debt on time, but he’s never backed away from a challenge before and he hates the idea that history will repeat itself.

Growing old with the man she loves—in the small town where she was born—is the only dream Lauren McIntosh has ever had; that is until her family is practically run out of town amidst rumors of arson and adultery. So, when she meets Danny at her new school and hears the rumors about his activities from her new friends, she wants nothing to do with him or the gossip that seems to follow Danny everywhere. After a dangerous and ill-fated attempt at sneaking out, she develops unwelcomed feelings for Danny that he seems to reciprocate. But, Danny’s unrelenting pursuit makes Lauren nervous, especially since he’s the only one that wants to know the secrets surrounding her family’s move. Lauren can’t tell if Danny’s intentions are true or if he has other plans for their newfound and unlikely friendship. The only way to figure out is to let him in and that could destroy everything, including the popularity and social acceptance she desperately seeks.

My Review: Breaking LaurenBreaking Lauren by Jordan Deen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a review copy of Breaking Lauren from the author for my participation of AToMR’s book tour.

Breaking Lauren is written in a style that I have come to love; every other “chapter” is written from the perspective of Danny or Lauren, the two main characters.

Danny is a modern day thug – “Enforcer” – whose uncle is a bookie. He, his two cousins, and best friend Brandon go around beating up on people who don’t pay Uncle John. From the get go you can pretty much tell Danny doesn’t like this life and just gets through every day on autopilot.

Lauren grew up as the youngest daughter of a high school sweethearts whose marriage is pretty much over, though they don’t want to admit to it. In fact, Lauren’s character is somewhat fresh as she was a popular kid until her father cheated on her mother, who was accused of burning down their house. In a bid to save their marriage, they drag Lauren to California to start “afresh”.

I would have liked this book so much more if Lauren wasn’t such a whineass. I understand that her life has been flipped upside down and she’s starting at a new school, but oh my goodness, how could she have been so blind to so much?

Lauren’s mother should have been hospitalized; she’s a few crayons short of a full box. Through most of the book I wanted to punch her in the face over how she treated Lauren and how wishy washy she was.

Sarah was probably my favorite character of the whole book; her and Jess. I didn’t much care for Jenn or any of the new friends Lauren made at her new school and thought that Josh was more of a dictator than a kid. Seriously, the things the football and baseball teams did for him!

I’m looking forward to reading the sequel to this book to see if Lauren finally smartens up.

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