Broken Play

False Start, Book 1

By: Alison Rhymes

Narrated by: CJ Bloom, Edward Black

They have ties that bind.

June grew up in the shadow of her brother and his best friend, Drew McKenna. She stood back while Drew dated his way through high school and college, watching and waiting. Waiting for him to realize he loved her as much as she loved him.

When he did, it was the happiest she'd ever been. Until she found him with another woman only five years after their marriage.

Leaving her husband was a simple decision, but there was no easy way to cut him out of her family. When June receives a fresh start to her career, she also finds what could be a new lease on love. Reality hits Drew with a vengeance.

He wants her back.

She wants to make him suffer.

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Alison Rhymes (P)2023 Tantor

Really Good

I felt all the heartache of of the heroine. Finding your husband with an ex-girlfriend would be so hard and to find out they were regularly seeing each other. She made grovel. Good book!

Emotionally deep and stunningly honest

Finished this fantastic audiobook today, and I am definitely gonna have a bit of a hangover from this one.

This is NOT a book for everyone. The entire relationship arc begins with him cheating. So if that's not your thing at all, skip this one. But, if you want to immerse yourself in a redemption arc with a very heavy focus on the FMC finding her true self and moving forward with that, this one will make you cry, cheer, cry some more, dig into your righteous indignation, cry again, and then embrace both characters in their beautifully imperfect selves together.

The narration is absolutely superb, and if you are an audiobook lover like me, you will revel in how stunningly CJ Bloom and Edward Black bring Alison Rhymes characters and their story to life.

What I love about it:
How much depth and work went into the relationship building between June & Drew.
The care and intention that was taken to build June as a survivor, not a victim.
The tender yet ferocious and in-your-face FMC.
June claiming her power.
The solid redemption arc for the MMC.
Supporting characters with depth and purpose.
Holy Hell! That scene!!! So freaking hot! You’ll know it when you get to it.
And that final resolution. Way to go June!

A 5 Star Read that you HATE!

WoW! Never thought I would give a book 5 stars that I hated but hear me out! With that being said, this book was a roller coaster of emotions that made me want to throw my phone across the room as I listened to it. Forewarning, this book is about cheating and the author does a great job of making you feel the raw, gritty, gut wrenching emotions that come with heartbreak. It was like watching a train wreck and not being able to look away. I listened to the entire book in one day and was left with a whirlwind of emotions and still wondering how I felt at the end. I loved watching June grow into a stronger woman through the process but had mixed feelings about her and Drew in the end. At times I wanted to scream at both the characters for how they behaved but the author does a great job of making you feel empathetic towards both of them. In the end I was torn between rooting for them to stay together while also feeling like June should just throw Drew off a cliff. Even with the love/hate relationship I have with this book, I would totally still recommend it all day long to other readers!

Beautiful and so emotional

I had to keep tissues at hand for this one… CJ Bloom was a top notch narrator, as usual, and her counterpart was perfect. Their story was heart-breaking but brought to life so perfectly. Listened to in one day as I could not stop. 🔥🔥🔥🔥index high aside from gut-wrenching emotions.

Finding Strength and Rebuilding Trust After Betrayal

I read this book last year when it was released and couldn’t wait to listen to the audiobook too (which I have done, three times in the past week).

This was the first book that I found that deals with infidelity in the moment. Not focusing on a character after the infidelity happened, but with the main character being caught with his pants down.

When we think of romance books, we don’t often or probably not at all, think of cheating as the main storyline. But it is a part of many relationships that happens often. Its effects on relationships vary from anger to heartache to emptiness to self-doubt to questioning your self-worth.

Drew and June’s story was written beautifully. I felt Drew’s pain, when he was faced with what his betrayal did to their marriage and was determined to put in the work. I did feel like the work that he was so willing to put in after the fact, should have been his go to before cheating. But the aftermath of June finding out was the catalyst to push to do what he should have always done.

Ahhh June! I connected with June in this story, because I was a June. I felt her pain as if it were my own, but to watch her grow into the strong capable woman she never knew she was, was a breath of fresh air! As sad as it may seem, if it were not for Drew’s infidelity, June would have likely still be in a holding state while Drew chased his career. She would never have found her purpose or identity without Drew had she not put herself first.

People are averse to reading romance books that have to do with cheating, but I would recommend this book every single time!