Blog Tour: Broken At Love by Lyla Payne

Broken At Love
By:  Lyla Payne
Published:  March 8, 2013
Publisher:  CreatespaEARC, 183 pages
Source:  InkSlinger PR
Mature Content:  17+

GR's Summary:

When a knee injury ends twenty-year-old Quinn Rowland’s pro tennis career, he’s not only dumped by his hot Russian girlfriend but ordered to attend college by his disinterested billionaire father. A rich kid who’s not used to being disappointed by life, Quinn and his sociopathic half-brother Sebastian create a frat house game intended to treat girls how they see them—as simple game pieces to be manipulated for their pleasure.

College sophomore Emilie Swanson knows Quinn’s reputation—after all, he did send one of her sorority sisters into therapy earlier in the semester—but the game and his charm bring them closer together and soon she starts to believe there’s more to Quinn than people think.

But what if the more is something darker than a game of toying with emotions and breaking hearts?

Quinn and Emilie might be falling for each other, but there are secrets he’s not ready to tell—and lifestyle changes he’s reluctant to make. She willingly stepped on the court, but if Emilie finds out she started out as nothing as a pawn in Quinn and Sebastian’s twisted game, she might never forgive him.

To his surprise, Quinn finds that he might finally care about someone more than he cares about himself…even if that means letting Emilie walk away for good.

*To Add Broken At Love to Goodreads Click HERE

Broken at Love was a very fast paced, on the edge of your seat, unputadownable read!  It reminded me a lot of the movie, Cruel Intentions, which happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time!  Initially, I was very attracted to the cover and synopsis.  The characters on the cover don't really match up with the descriptions of the character's in the story though.  Emilie, comes from mixed parentage.  Her mother is Persian, and her father is Irish.  She has long dark hair, and looks completely Persian, and like a younger replica of her mother.  Other people often mistake her as Mexican in the story.  The girl on the cover looks caucasion to me with auburn hair, so she did not match my image of Emilie.  Emilie comes from a privleged upbringing, with a father that is a renowned surgeon.  Quinn is the male lead in the book.  He has dark hair, blue eyes, and is gorgeous.  From his face, to his body, to his style, he turns heads everywhere he goes.  Quinn was a very interesting character.  He came from a vast amount of wealth, a mansion, multiple servants, and materially had every advantage available to him.  However, his mother had left when he was a baby, (because she didn't want any kids,) and Quinn's father blamed him for her abandonment.  Quinn's father was a very cold man, who paid no attention to Quinn or his manipulative, and dangerous step-brother Sebastian.  Sebastian is a sociopath.  Therefore, Quinn and Sebastian were left to their own devices, and their father treated them like they were burdens.  Quinn had a passion and talent for playing professional tennis, which was the most important thing in his life.  When tragedy struck him with a knee injury, and he found out he would never play tennis again, his professional, Russian tennis star, girlfriend dumped him.  He was at an extremely low point in his life, and his father made him attend college.  While living with Sebastian, Quinn, under duress, agreed to follow the rules to a deceitful, and sadistic game, where he got women to have sex with him in a specific amount of time, got them to fall in love, and then he was to break up with them when they were the most vulnerable.  The frat guys would then place bets on or against Quinn's ability to complete the task.  Emilie ends up being part of Sebastian and Quinn's twisted game, and ends up changing the dynamics of the game...


This story was well-developed and entertaining.  While reading all about Sebastian and Quinn's frat house game, I was hooked and riveted to each page.  It was interesting to see how Quinn, and Sebastian set up these girls, from the moment they walked into the party.  Every detail was orchestrated carefully, and made to look like a coincidence.  What's worse is that these girls believed every lie, and manipulation.  Lies smoothly fell off of Quinn's lips, and I was thoroughly disgusted with him.  I kept thinking, "Wow, I can't believe these girls fell for that..."  Then, I'd wonder, "would I have fallen for something like that too when I was younger?"  Emilie drove me nuts!  Here was this beautiful, intelligent, creative woman, and even knowing Quinn's reputation, she still fell for everything he told her!  Even, when he treated her badly, she kept begging him back for more.  I thought she needed to be stronger, have some pride, and work on her self-esteem!  If a man did, and said the things that Quinn said to Emilie, I would have been gone a long time ago!   I understood why Quinn was the way that he was, understood why Emilie was attracted to him, and felt sorry for him.  Even though, I wanted Emilie to put Sebastian in his place, I enjoyed reading about her.  I loved picturing her creating her art, and was happy to see her getting stronger, and standing up for herself at the end.  Quinn had a lot of character growth as the story developed, and I enjoyed watching his transformation.  There was an abundance of passion, chemistry, and sparks flying between Quinn, and Emilie!  Let's just say, I swooned more than a few times!!!


I loved Broken at Love, and Ms. Payne's fast-paced, drama, suspense, and passion-filled story!  The next time I see the name Lyla Payne, on a book, I will be expecting an amazing story, that will have me up all night reading, because I can't put it down!  I can't wait to see what this talented author writes next, but whatever it is, I know it's going to be an adventure, I don't want to miss!

I give Broken At Love, by Lyla Payne, 4 Deceitful, Game Changing, Passion-Filled Stars!  If you enjoyed the movie, Cruel Intentions, you will love this book.  If you want a fast-paced, intrigue-filled, attention-grabbing story, then this should be your next read!  I recommend this book to all of you romantic, suspense readers out there!  I've been looking forward to reading this story, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!!!!  I loved it, and read it straight through in one sitting!!!!

"Sex and feelings.  Shame and regret.  That was the game."  (EARC, 11)


"I'm afraid you're going to break me Quinn.  Don't let me.  The challenge in his eyes intensified, heating up and pouring strength into me.  Don't you let me f***ing do that, Emilie.  Don't let anyone break you.  You're stronger than that."  (EARC, 70)


"I thought I'd won the match when she'd fallen into my arms, heart and all. The truth was, she's beaten me.  Snatched my soul and shattered all the lies I'd built around me to keep the pain of connecting at bay.  In tennis, losing your service game was called being broken.  If you lost your service without scoring a single point, you were broken at love."  (EARC, 174)

Bets are placed, hearts are broken

Roles are played, with the perfect setup

Outrageous secrets held over his head

Kiss and tell was the game

Exclusive invitations are envied by all

Nothing more than a pawn in a twisted pursuit

Always left behind, now he left first...

Tennis was his dream, and now there was nothing left...

Love came unexpectedly

Opened his heart for the first time

Vast emotions lead to a changed man

Earned her love by becoming worthy

How I Visualized Emilie and Quinn:

Lyla Payne's Inspiration behind Quinn and Emilie

(Source:  Lyla's Website)

Amazon/Barnes and Noble/The Book Depository

Lyla has long had a love of stories. A few years ago she decided to put them down on the page, and even though Lyla has a degree in film and television, novels were the creative outlet where she found a home. When the idea for Broken at Love (my first New Adult title) arrived, Lyla couldn’t wait to try something new – and she’s hooked.  In her spare time, Lyla watches a ton of tennis (no surprise, there), plays a ton of tennis, and dedicates a good portion of brain power to dreaming up the next fictitious bad boy we’d all love to meet in real life.

Lyla Payne is represented by Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Lyla Payne's:

Website/Goodreads/Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr

Since my alter-persona writes science fiction and fantasy, and also I’m a GIANT fan of the zombie genre, you should know that I spent quite a lot of time considering how to survive the obviously impending apocalypse, so this is an awesome topic. I’m not quite to the crazy level of building a well-stocked bunker in my backyard, but I do have plans to relocate to Tahiti or somewhere likewise impenetrable by the inevitable zombie hoard in the near future.

So, what five things would I save and take with me if there was a natural disaster?

I’m guessing you’re talking more about like, a tornado or a hurricane and I was going to lose my house, so we’ll go with that.

My dog, Yoda.
He’s almost 11 years old, and is the cutest, cuddliest, most wonderful Papillon in the world. My life over the past decade would have been cleaner, less hairy, and simpler but it wouldn’t have been nearly as filled with love, either. He has to make it out!

My other dog, Jilly.
I adopted Jilly about 5 years ago, and it took me a little longer than I expected to warm up to her, but now she’s part of my life and I would never leave her behind. Yoda and Jilly are my family!

My iPhone—not for the reasons you think!
All of my family’s contact information is in there, and the first thing I’d want to do is check in with everyone else. And, okay, fine. It has Twitter.

My copy of Romeo and Juliet.
Can’t live without it. Goes everywhere with me. People are surprised sometimes that I love it so much, but as a YA/NA writer, it’s (to me) the perfect example of teenagers in love—the immediate lust that’s called love, the desperation to be together no matter what, the impulsive behavior, assumptions, rebellion, and the feeling that everything is the end of the world. I just love it.

My laptop.  
What?  I AM A WRITER, YOU GUYS.  MY WHOLE LIFE IS ON THIS THING. That’s about it, I suppose.

There are a lot more things I’d WANT to save, like my grandfather’s Masonic ring, my other grandfather’s army pin (that he pinned on my grandmother all those years ago—swoon), my grandmother’s locket, pictures, all of the hundreds of other books I love…maybe my  cat, if we were having a good day.


What about you guys? What would you save in the event of a natural disaster? 
Obviously, we’re not talking about an actual apocalypse disaster here, in which case I would take my passport, water, drugs, long sleeves, and my old softball bat.  I’m just saying.

April 15^th

I Love Lady Porn
The Book CellarX

April 16^th

Whirlwind Books
The Secret Book Brat

April 17^th

Shhh Mom’s Reading
The Book Goddess

April 18^th

A Bookish Escape
Mostly YA Book Obsessed

April 19^th

A Life Bound By Books
YA-Aholic

April 20^th

ReaderGirls
The Book Whisperer

April 21^st

Confessions of a Vi3tBabe
Defiantly Deviant

April 22^nd

I Love Indie Books
Snuggling on the Sofa

April 23^rd

Fictionators
My Secret Romance

April 24^th

Books Over Boys
Hesperia Loves Books

April 25^th  

Book Bitches Blog
Total Bookaholic

April 26^th

The Bookish Babe
Book Addicted AA

April 27^th

A Book Lover’s Review
My Guilty Obsession

April 28^th  

Romance Addict
#BookNerd

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This Tour Was Hosted By: