Shattered

Triple Canopy, Book 7

By: Riley Edwards

Narrated by: Connor Crais, Mackenzie Cartwright

Wren Cunningham wants to put her past behind her when she and her teenage son move from Chicago to Georgia to start a new life away from the dark cloud they’ve been living under since Wren’s ex was sent to prison. She tells herself she only has time for her son as she builds a wall around her heart. A wall that threatens to crumble when Phoenix saves her son from a fire. Phoenix is everything she’s never had—thoughtful, gentle, and a good role model for her son. His piercing blue eyes see straight into her soul. But if the walls around her heart are high, his are higher still.

Phoenix Kent grew up hearing how much he resembled his father, at least physically. Inside, the two men couldn't have been more different. Phoenix's father was a criminal, a murderer, and a cop killer. Phoenix is a police officer who volunteers at a community center for troubled teens. After he saves one of the boys, Griffin, from a fire at the center, Phoenix retreats from Griffin’s life, believing he doesn't have what it takes to be a father figure, which the teenager desperately needs. He sure doesn’t believe he deserves to be with Griff’s beautiful mother, Wren, whose painful past mirrors his own.

When Phoenix has no choice but to bring Griff along on a mission to rescue a barn full of abused and neglected horses, he doesn’t realize how much the experience will change Griff’s life. Or how it will bring Wren into Phoenix’s life.

Passion ignites, but can they tear down their walls before it’s too late?

©2022 Riley Edwards (P)2023 Rebels Romance

Very good

To me an excellent book is one that I immediately want to reread. That is Shattered. Riley Edwards always does a wonderful job with developing the characters. With that said, I did not feel that all the storylines were developed as well as they could’ve been.

I also listened to the audio version narrated by Connor Crais and MacKenzie Cartwright. You will love hearing McKenzie’s performance. She always does such a wonderful job.

Still Shattered

I cannot believe how much I really loved this book. I have read several books by Riley Edwards and I did not think I could love a book this much. I have read the 707 Freedom Series and the Special Forces: Operation Alpha series and I loved those. But this one was even better.
While it was short, I really fell in love with Phoenix and Wren’s story. It is not often that a man can come in and fight his demons enough to become a good role model to someone else’s son. So I really appreciate the way Phoenix stepped up when he saw so much of himself in Griffin.

Great story I would definitely recommend it.

Great Author

Another marvelous book by a great author. Keeps your interest b b as you feel every emotion.

Finally Phoenix is here!!!

It’s Here, Finally Phoenix!
I thought it would be hard to listen to the same narrators’ book after book especially in a series when you listen to them back to back but Connor Crais and Mackenzie Cartwright do such a great job with the material they are given that it isn’t hard at all. I love that narrators can make or break how characters are portrayed and these two do an incredible job!
With Shattered, we finally get Phoenix’s story. I don’t know how Riley does it but she can bring an alpha hero who thinks love is nonexistent down to his knees!! Phoenix and his siblings had a terrible childhood and no one to show any of them what love looks or feels like, so it can’t be real.
Wren is a single mom raising her son the best that she can. Her son, Griffin began being mentored by Phoenix and Wren found herself seeing a lot of her in him. Wren finds it hard to willingly put herself out there and allow herself to be happy but is it possible?
We knew Phoenix would have an incredible journey and Wren and Griffin were perfect for him! Riley did an incredible job!

Beautiful and healing love story

I loved Phoenix, Wren and Griff ‘s story. It had the perfect balance of humor, heartwarming love, real life issues, danger, and spice. I was feeling all the feels with this one. Phoenix, Wren and Griff are beautifully portrayed as real, relatable people who have flaws, but are really just trying to do their best as messy beings who have been badly bruised but not broken by their traumatic pasts. They are just wounded souls protecting themselves that help each other heal. Phoenix is a cop. He was abandoned by his mother, his father is a criminal and is in prison for killing a cop. Phoenix and his siblings were raised by his oldest brother. Wren is a single mother to a teenaged Griff. Her ex-husband is also in prison for murder. Before the book starts Phoenix was acting as a “big brother” to Griff and saved him from a fire at the youth center (end of book 6). They need to work to fix the cracks that formed in their relationship when Phoenix put distance between them after the fire before they can build something else. Griff was a such wonderful and integral character in the book rather than a flimsy story prop. The story would not have been as rich or well rounded without the full development and inclusion of his character since a lot of Phoenix and Wren’s conflict and growth revolved around interactions with him. On their way to their HEA, Phoenix and Wren have to learn to trust and take leaps of faith in order to come to terms with their painful pasts so they can embrace a beautiful life for the three of them together. Like the last book in this series, the danger was limited to the last 10% of the book. The minimal danger just made the love story more poignant. I am looking forward to reading the final book in this series. 4.5 stars.

Connor Crais and Mackenzie Cartwright did a phenomenal job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters fairly convincingly. I love the added dimension narration gives to a story.