A few weeks ago I signed up for an Instagram sales blitz for a book by an author I wasn't familiar with, in a subgenre I usually avoid: Cowboy Romance. I live in Wisconsin. I know what "farmers" look like and don't think of them as romantic possibilities. But when I read the description and trigger warning for Broken (Brody Brothers book 4) that both characters came from broken, abusive childhoods I decided to sign up. The blitz came with an ARC and I immediately started reading.
I didn't expect to be unable to put the book down but I couldn't stop reading. And once I was done I picked up the first three books as a birthday present to myself. Reading them back to back it's only fair to review these books as a whole.
In Branded (Book 1) we meet Celia and Ry. Celia is a graphic designer and Ry is the second oldest Brody Brother. We quickly learn that Celia got a little too drunk at a belated birthday bash her friends threw for her at a local bar in Bitterthorn, TX (where the series is set) and grabbed one of the "untouchable Brody Brothers"'s ass. Ry humiliated Celia by spanking her in front of the whole bar and she's steered clear of him ever since just like all the men in Bitterthorn have been treating Celia like a leper.
Like all the books I loved the chemistry between Ry and Celia but I hated Ry's over the top possessiveness. It's a theme throughout the series. When one of the Brodys decide a woman is theirs then no other man should look at, speak to, or think about "his woman." It's stupid and honestly brings up a lot of red flags. But the more I read the books the more I was able to roll my eyes and ignore it because overall I did like the books. Ry enlists Celia to help him market his organic beef project in book one and you get to see them falling in love as Ry tries to show Celia all the reasons she should say in their tiny little Texas town. And I love Celia's friends and neighbors. Each of the female leads in this series get friends and supporters you'd love to have in your life.
In Braced we meet the third oldest of the four Brody brothers, Fin and nearly graduated veterinarian Lilah. This one is a second chance romance, which is a favorite romantic trope of mine. Lilah and Fin grew up together and Lilah was in love with Fin all along but a one night stand between the two torpedoes their friendship. But once Fin gets his $h!t together his focus is solely on making amends with Lilah and showing her that he's grown from the prick he was after the night they shared.
In a way, I liked Fin the most because he's not as much of a possessive, crazy jerk as the rest of the brothers. Lilah's biggest hurdle in this book is the brainwashing her mother has projected at her her whole life that she'll never be good enough for a Brody boy and here's Fin trying his damnedest to prove otherwise.
Bruised brings us oldest Brody brother, Killian and Dallas - youngest Brody Brother Des's half-sister through their mother and the spitting image of the woman who torpedoed Killian's parents' marriage. I actually did not think I would like Killian at all because he was background noise in the first two books but since I'd read the fourth book first (Des's book) I thought Killian was kind of a dick. But other than Fin, I actually ended up liking Killian the most. Like Dallas, I realized my first impression of him was totally wrong.
His tough exterior leads to a big teddy bear who, once he gets over his prejudice toward Dallas because of her mother's affair with his mother, does everything in his power to erase the scars of the past and show Dallas that there is good in the world.
Finally, Des and Winnie's book, which was the first one I read and the reason I one-clicked the rest of the series. Des is this brooding, healing man who lived through hell at the hands of his father's wife simply for existing. He's paired with Winsome Smiley whose family has been feuding with the Brodys over land for generations. Equally broken after a childhood of physical, verbal, and sexual abuse at the hands of her father and mistakenly thinking Des and his brother Fin were making fun of her when they rode the same school bus as kids they come together perfectly as they both learn that they are not what their abusers tried to diminish them into.
I loved this story so much I read it twice. Once at the end of July and then again after I'd read the first three books. I didn't think I'd like any of the other books as much as this one, but they all leave you feeling good at the end and give you the range of feels.
Verdict:Series Rating:
4.5 of 5 Stars
I definitely want to read more by Stacy Gail.
Highlighted Quotes:
“Imagine falling in love with someone at the very beginning of your life, and it’s a love so big it blots out the sun."
- Stacy Gail, Braced
"life is actually more about horseshit than dreams coming true.”
- Stacy Gail, Braced
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