Fractured Lines: Out of Line #4 (Out of Line, #4)

by Jen McLaughlin

The lines we once crossed so easily have widened and torn us apart...

Once upon a time I thought Finn and I would live happily ever after, but real life doesn't always have a happy ending. He's testing my trust, and I'm losing faith in the man I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. He's the one I trusted to keep me safe, but now he's the source of my greatest pain...



Forgiveness is fragile, and some fractures never fully heal...

One mistake--a slip in a moment of weakness--might cost me everything I've worked so hard for. The thing about trust is that it's a lot easier to lose than it is to build. Just as I'm about to give up and surrender to the demons from my past, an unexpected threat reminds me what I'm best at: protecting the woman I love. Whether or not she wants me, I will fight for Carrie and our daughter, and I will keep them safe--no matter the cost.



Even if I have to put my life and my heart on the line.

• ISBN10: 0989668487
• ISBN13: 9780989668484
• Publish Date: 12 October 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Everafter Romance
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Cocktails and Books]

If there was ever a couple that deserved a happily ever after, it was Carrie and Finn. After all they went through, with Finn fighting his demons and making his way back to Carrie, I wasn't expecting to find them fighting those same demons as married adults. But fight them they did and it was heartbreaking to see them struggling....again.

If you haven't read any of the Out of Line series, it's a must to read the previous three books before you venture in the adult story of Carrie and Finn. Finn, a former Marine and Carrie's ex-bodyguard, struggled after her returned from being injured during a mission. He spiraled out of control and as FRACTURED LINES starts, we find that Finn has once again started to spiral out of control. But where before Carrie would have done whatever she could to make sure Finn knew she was there for him, she does what she can to protect their family from Finn. Knowing how much she loved her husband and it hurt her to push him away, it proved how much Carrie had grown from the young college girl who would excuse or help hide what Finn was doing. She was going to hold him accountable...even if that meant breaking up their family.

I felt bad for Finn, even when I was a little disappointed that we were starting this cycle again. I wanted Finn to acknowledge he needed help and fix what he broke. I needed him to understand just why Carrie did what she did. And I was mad at him when he kept throwing Carrie's profession in her face when he was trying to deflect blame. But in the end, I needed Finn to get himself together and be the man I knew he was.

As with every book in this series, this is a very emotional read. The depth of which these characters feel for each other; the hurt, the sorrow, the love, feel like another character and make it very hard to not find yourself emotional involved. Jen McLaughlin is an ace with the emotion and angst and she definitely does not disappoint with this one.

There is another book coming out with this series, with Riley (Carrie's friend from book 2 and 3) as the star. I can't wait to see what his story holds.

[Romance Schmomance]

This is a first in the Out of Line series that I've read, but you can read this one as a standalone.

This is definitely a first where I've read about a couple dealing with the aftershocks of a traumatic event and dealing with PTSD. There's one thing to hear about the various stories with the men and women in the armed forces and then reading a book like this. To be honest, I have no idea how the reality is for someone with PTSD, but I'd like to think that Jen McLaughlin did a great job painting a picture for me. As I was reading this book, it all felt so real and completely heartbreaking to see what they had to go through separately and together.

After an accident that sent him back to that dark place that he hoped to never visit again, he had a slip that could have ruined his marriage and family, forever. Carrie tries her best to keep it all together, but wanting to help him, love him, and trust him, all at the same time. But little by little you see how hard it comes for her to fully trust him. Finn thinks he doesn't need to seek help, so he piles on the lies, which just makes matters worse. Emotions are at an ultimate high and things are said that shouldn't have been said. After everything they gone through, can they get through this? Will they be able to gain each other's trust again? Can Finn get the help he needs to be there for his wife and daughter? Will love prevail?

It's been a while where a book constantly pulled on my heart. The many moments where Finn and Carrie are yelling at each other, shouting low blow, after low blow; I have no idea how my heart managed to take it all. There's just so much pain between the both of them, but there's love that runs so deep that is nearly impenetrable.

There were so many moments that really stuck with me and one of them was when Finn had a conversation with Riley.

People grow up. They change. You just have to try to change together.

I've been married for a very short time and I can tell you that the people we were when we first said our vows are merely different now. We've gone through so many changes as time has goes by. No matter what kind of hardship you face, it'll change you in some shape or form, sometimes for better or worse. And with Finn and Carrie, they are in some hard times, nearly losing each other, but something so pivotal brought them back together again. And they worked through every single thing. They suffered through loss time and time again, but they had the will to carry on together. They never gave up and I love that about them. They were so many times they could have taken the easy way out, but they didn't. Reading the news, you constantly hear about divorce after divorce after divorce. Everyone has their own suffering and we will never know what kind of pain they go through. In Fractured Lines we get to witness that pain and we feel it right with them.

Jen, I commend you for capturing such a heartbreaking, but loving story, but also showing what it feels like to really keep things together and staying afloat, when the easy way out is so tempting. All love suffers loss, but in the end, love did indeed prevail. Phenomenal job!