Mended (Connections (New American Library)) (Connections, #3)

by Kim Karr

Music has the power to heal, but not all broken hearts can be mended.

Always in control, Xander Wilde considered life on the road to be a perfect fit for him. But when disaster strikes on the band’s latest tour, fate intervenes…and a newly single Ivy Taylor, the only girl he has ever loved, steps back into his life.

After moving past her painful breakup with Xander years ago, Ivy was poised to become the next big name in music…when suddenly she withdrew from the limelight—the same day she announced her engagement to her controlling agent, Damon Wolf.

Xander knows he should keep his distance. But once they’re on the road, he can’t resist pursuing her for a second chance. Yet a jealous Damon can’t let her go—and he’s keeping dangerous secrets that could destroy them all. 

When the three of them come together, everything falls apart.  But if Xander and Ivy can hold tight to the bond that connects them, they just might have a chance to reclaim the powerful love they thought they had lost forever....

• ISBN10: 0451470672
• ISBN13: 9780451470676
• Publish Date: 3 June 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451470676

Reviews

[EBookObsessed]

Everything is set for the Wilde Ones’ new tour. They have found a replacement for Xander’s brother, River, and Zane has come in as the new lead singer. The new band sounds great and the crowds have been very supportive of the change. Xander finally has hope that the tour will finish without any further drama. But when illness takes Zane out for the rest of the tour, it might just be the end of the Wilde Ones. How can he get another singer who the crowds will accept?

Then his deepest dream and worst nightmare walks back into his life. Ivy Taylor was the only girl Xander ever loved but he pushed her away so that she could pursue her dreams. Dreams he just couldn’t be a part of after high school. The fact that she walks back into his life, makes his heart speed up, but the fact that she is bringing a fiancé with her, kills any hope he might have of once again having his dream girl.

As Ivy woos the crowd, Xander tries to woo his way back into her life. He wants to talk about what happened in their past, but he is afraid to find out that a confession wouldn’t matter to Ivy. As Xander and Ivy once again grow closer and begin to rekindle the love neither could forget, Ivy’s manager/fiancé will do whatever he must to get Ivy back, including ruining Xander’s career.

THOUGHTS:
I really like the characters that Kim has given us in this series and am looking forward to sister Belle’s story. Xander was a character that had to grow on me. I disliked confrontational Xander from Connected and Torn who was unhappy that River would put Dahlia before the band. I definitely liked him by the end of Torn and certainly liked him in this story, and I liked Ivy right from the start.

Although I thought the breakup seemed a bit silly, I tried to think of it from the perspective of the 18-year-old Ivy who was pretty and talented but also shy and uncertain. I guess at 18, the misunderstanding between them could be seen as the end of the world without need of any further discussion.

The reunion of the characters was drawn out longer than it needed to be by the fact that whenever Ivy wanted to speak about what happened, Xander didn’t want to, and if Xander wanted to set the record straight, Ivy just wanted to leave the past in the past. They both still loved the other, but we couldn’t sync them to talk it through.

There were also two plot twists at the end of the book and she used them to tie up some loose ends, but I felt that it was too much. We could have gone with either/or in the twists and enjoyed the story. Using both to muddy the waters between Xander and Ivy was just overkill.

Regardless of the too many plot twists, this was still a quick read and a good story with well written characters and a lot of potential for more.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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