A Bookish Escape: Blog Tour: Beautifully Broken Spirit (Sutter Lake #3) by Catherine CowlesJe

Beautifully Broken Spirit

Sutter Lake #3

By:

Catherine Cowles

Published:

October 22, 2019

Source:

eARC from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for a honest review

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“Beautifully Broken Spirit is a beautiful, emotional and memorable friends-to-lovers romance with a dash of intrigue and suspense that ensures you stay on the edge of your seat.”-- Frolic

Beautifully Broken Spirit, an all-new beautiful and emotional standalone in the Sutter Lake Series from Catherine Cowles is available now!

Book Synopsis:

She’s always been his safe place to land.

Jensen has shared a special bond with Tuck for as long as she can remember, their friendship a language that never needed words. But as life threw her one curveball after another, that secret language turned to stony silence.

He’s always been her protector.

Tuck has looked out for Jensen since the day she was born. As his best friend’s little sister, he’s tried to keep her firmly in the friend category. But she’s always been more.

All it takes is one moment of weakness to send Tuck’s fiercely guarded walls crumbling to the ground. As a new fire burns between them, someone watches. Someone who doesn’t like the new life Jensen’s building for herself.

And they’ll stop at nothing to keep her in the dark.

My Thoughts:

Beautifully Broken Spirit was the first book that I've read by Catherine Cowles, and I will definitely be reading more of her stories in the future! While the series doesn't have to be read in order, I'd highly recommend it, because there were important events that occurred in the two previous books that were referenced, and had a large impact on the main characters as well as the secondary characters in this story.

Fans of the friends to lovers trope need to check out this story! It was done beautifully. Jensen and Tuck grew up together. Tuck was best friends with Jensen's older brother Walker. However, Jensen and Tuck shared a unique and beautiful bond. They grounded one another, and knew each other in a way that no one else did. They were perfectly in sync, and the author was able to portray this in such a way that I could feel and sense their connection from the moment I began their story.

Jensen is a single mother to nine year old Noah, and has had terrible luck in love. She believes it's due to bad judgment. Since she no longer trusts herself, she has given up on finding someone, and chooses to focus on her son, her tea shop, and the wild mustangs that she rescues and rehabilitates.

Tuck comes from a dysfunctional family. His father has an alcohol addiction and has been cheating on his mother, flaunting woman after woman in the small town of Sutter Lake, since Tuck was a young boy. This has made Tuck decide that he doesn't ever want a serious relationship. Instead he just has casual hookups, spends time with his best friend's family, and dedicates himself to being a forest ranger and working with SWAT.

Chemistry between Jensen and Tuck begins to simmer, until they both can't deny it one moment longer. However, since both of them are not looking for a relationship, they decide to have a secret friend with benefits arrangement instead. In the meantime, danger escalates all around them, and it soon becomes clear that someone is targeting Jensen. Just when things couldn't get any worse, Noah's father comes to town because he wants to rekindle things with Jensen, and become a part of Noah's life.

Deep feelings, sizzling chemistry, danger, and drama all abound in this story, and I was all in from the moment I read the first chapter! If you are looking for a story that will make your heart melt, as well as give you an added sense of danger and suspense, add Beautifully Broken Spirit to your TBR!!!

Book Teaser:

Book Excerpt:

“Hey, Little J.”

My entire world seemed to tunnel as my vision went black, and my knees buckled.

“Shit!” Strong hands caught me before I could hit the floor. I blinked rapidly as Tuck’s face came into focus. His expression was full of worry. “Are you okay?” He settled me into one of the café chairs.

My stomach pitched. “I’m fine. Just got up too fast. You startled me.”

Tuck’s brow furrowed. “The door was unlocked.”

“Well, I thought I’d locked it.”

Tuck let out a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a growl of frustration. “You need to be more careful. Anyone could’ve come in here, and you wouldn’t have even known. Just because we live in a small town doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take precautions.”

I pinned him with a stare that should’ve had him taking a step back. “I know that. Believe me, I of all people fucking know that.”

Tuck winced. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I waved him off. “I know.” I pushed up to stand, but the world turned wobbly again, and Tuck pressed me back into the chair.

“Oh, no, you don’t. When’s the last time you had something to eat?”

I tried to think back. I guess I had missed lunch. “A granola bar in the car on the way to drop Noah off at school?”

This time Tuck did growl. “You need to take better care of yourself.”

My skin prickled. “I take fine care of myself, you big behemoth.”

“I’m not seeing a whole lot of evidence of that lately. You take care of everyone but yourself.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he kept right on going. “You stay right here while I go fix you a snack.” Tuck pinned me with a hard gaze. “You move a muscle, and I will paddle your ass.”

My jaw came unhinged, but simmering heat pooled low in my belly. My hands fisted. What the hell? Before I could regain any semblance of the ability to speak, Tuck had turned on his heel and strode towards the kitchen. Had I actually hit my head? Was I now in some sort of coma-induced alternate universe where Tuck threatened to spank me? And why the hell did some part of me like the idea?

I was clearly in some sort of hunger-induced brain misfire. That was the only reasonable explanation. I did all kinds of crazy stuff when I went too long without sustenance. Yes, those crazy things were generally something like eating an entire pan of brownies in one sitting. They weren’t typically the burning desire to climb one of my best friends since birth like a tree. But hunger could make you do lots of insane things.

Tuck emerged from the kitchen juggling a plate with the largest sandwich I’d ever seen and a tall glass of what looked like apple juice. He came towards me with what I could only describe as a swagger. Had his hips always moved like that when he walked?

Don’t get me wrong, I knew Tuck was attractive. Hot even. I’d had the requisite crush on him throughout my middle school years and even into high school. But he had always treated me like a little sister. Someone he liked hanging with. But never once had he given me even a single hint that he was interested in more than friendship. And I’d grown up. I’d put him firmly in the big-brother category. So, why, all of a sudden, was my body reacting to him?

It had to be my dry spell. Could it even be called that if it was as dry and vast as the Sahara? I needed to get laid and stat. Because the last thing I needed was to fall for a guy who was a walking one-night stand.

Purchase Information:

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About the Author:

Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she's not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.

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