Ing Cruz
Written on Nov 1, 2013
Breaking Brandon is book #2 of her Fate series and tells the story of Brandon Billings. Fans of Elizabeth's Moreno series will be familiar with Brandon since he was the "other guy" in Sweet Sofie! I was so excited that Elizabeth decided to write a story for Brandon. His character really intrigued me in Sweet Sofie and I felt bad for him after the way the Moreno brothers ganged up on him in Sweet Sofie. As much as I loved my Moreno boys I thought they were a bit unfair to him in Sweet Sofie.
Anyway back to Breaking Brandon. The book opens up to a scene that was in Sweet Sofie. After being told to stay away from the girl he thought he was in love with and dealing with his dying father Brandon had, had enough of things around his hometown of La Jolla. Brandon is taking his mother with him back to North Carolina, where he is currently stationed at when another tragedy hits for Brandon. Brandon turns off all emotion at this time. He doesn't want any attachments and he decides to focus on his military career only. The story then skips to four years later and Brandon is being sent back to the place he vowed never to return to, his hometown. While waiting for a connecting flight Brandon is involuntarily drawn to a dark hair beauty who reminds him of the girl he thought he loved long ago. He dismisses her as spoiled and a daddy's girl from a conversation he overhears. Brandon never expects to run into this mysterious beauty but of course fate has other plans.
Regina Brady has dealt with her own tragic past. She lost her husband to a motorcycle accident and is still recovering from that lost. Regina is the cool headed one. The one her family leans on and depends on during emotional situations. So when her husband died, Regina completely fell apart, badly. Badly enough that she doesn't share with her family what almost happened. Regina is also headed back home and starting a new job. She'll be closer to her family but at the same time far enough away to still feel like she isn't being smothered by their worries. Regina notices the handsome soldier who doesn't seem to like her very much. She can't figure out if she knows him from somewhere and she can sense some major dislike from this handsome soldier.
As fate would have it Brandon and Regina end up working at the same military base.
Brandon is not very nice to Regina in the first half of the book. He vowed a long time ago to never attach himself to anyone and it annoys him that he can't ignore Regina. She's on his mind even when he doesn't want to think about her. He's cold and very standoffish. But soon circumstances keep bringing them together and Brandon slowly lets down his guard and realizes his first impression wasn't an accurate one. Boy, once he decides to take the plunge there is no holding back for Brandon. He's all in and I love that best about his character. I always wanted to know what happened to him after he left La Jolla and wow...breaks my heart the things he went through. I can understand why he cut himself off emotionally from getting close to anyone.
It was great seeing him fall in love with Regina. These two were hot together. I would say this is Elizabeth's second sexiest book, her first being Abel in my opinion! :) The connection between them was real and I connected with them all the way. The cute nickname that Brandon gives Regina just had me melting. There are a lot of swooning moment for me. As with Elizabeth's previous male characters, Brandon has the alpha-possessive maleness trait down pat. This was one of the many things I loved about him, besides his bone melting kisses! :)
Regina was no wilting flower either. She didn't put up with Brandon's coldness with her. I liked how she confronted him about it and didn't back down when he didn't give her a straight answer at first. It took me while to remember Regina's character but fans of the Moreno will get a kick out of how Elizabeth intertwines and brings the Moreno back into this story.
There was a twist at the end that I didn't see coming. At first I thought OMG..did Elizabeth really do that but thank GOD she didn't! Tricky evil lady playing on the readers emotion like that. I really enjoyed their journey to finding happiness and just peace. It was sweet and emotional. Loved the epilogue to this one! One I my favorite epilogues of her books. It was great catching up with the gang. It was wonderful to see things settled for Brandon and his past. Elizabeth Reyes has become one of my auto buy authors this past year. I love her stories full of love and big families. With Breaking Brandon she delivers with those things I love and then some. Family, they are important and a big factor in her stories. I definitely recommend this also recommend you read Sweet Sofie too before diving into Breaking Brandon.