Broken Promises

by Belinda Boring

Published by: Moonstruck Media

My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars 

Blurb from Goodreads:

All Bree wanted to do was spend her Friday night with the man she loved and adored. Planning to watch a movie together, she never would’ve believed leaving her home would result in her relationship with Quinn being tested beyond its limits.

Unbeknownst to her, the Fae have been organizing to invade Earth, and their devious plans are culminating now, colliding with Bree’s very existence. Using a powerful glamour, the Fae trigger each person’s violent tendencies, turning the streets into a battleground and strangers against each other.

In a crushing blow, Quinn becomes affected and Bree finds herself battling to save her lover from himself as he stalks her relentlessly, taunting her at every turn. In a game of cat and mouse, Quinn can’t decide whether he wants to seduce her or kill her, breaking her heart further with each encounter.

But fighting for her love isn’t her only worry. As the battle ensues, Bree discovers a startling truth about her own heritage that she must come to terms with. Determined to bring balance back, she teams up with others to drive the Fae back across the veil, only to find herself in way over her head. Bree has no other choice but to fight, leading her to a confrontation that will change her world forever – and threaten to leave her with broken promises.

My Review:

As a fan of Belinda Boring’s Mystic Wolves series, when I heard about Broken Promises, an urban fantasy with a darker edge, I was intrigued.  Broken Promises is centered around the fae and the human world is drastically altered because of their actions. There is deeper development and background that has to take place in Broken Promises than in the Mystic Wolves series, and while I don’t feel the book was flawless, it was a very promising start to a new series.

Broken Promises begins with Bree and Quinn, a couple very much in love.  Bree is a fairly clumsy girl and Quinn is her rock.  When the fae invade and cause humans to turn on each other, ensnaring Quinn in the violence, Bree’s world is split on multiple levels.  The world is no longer the same and her lover loses his humanity to cruelty and violence.  Bree has a very difficult time accepting the new circumstances, and she is stubbornly determined to try to save Quinn.  Quinn has been influenced and taken over by the dark Fae General.  He has become cruel and determined to turn Bree to the violence with him.  However, Bree is not alone, she learns that there are others who can resist the fae influence and these others are Guardians that try to protect the world from the Fae.  The Guardians help Bree find out who she really is and give her some hope.

I really like the premise of Broken Promises.  I am intrigued by the Fae, how they want to take over the human realm, and they use cruelty and violence to do it.  I am a bit unsure about Bree.  I felt that Bree was whiny, she was full of angst, she has a lot of meltdowns, and she doesn’t think about the repercussions to her actions.  Also, in the beginning of the book, Bree was described as a super clumsy person, but the clumsiness didn’t come into play after the Fae invaded and was never explained.  I did feel for Bree though when it came to Quinn.  The thought of losing the person you truly love is a major theme of the book, and the emotions come through.

With a story involving lost love, alternate worlds, and violence around every corner, Broken Promises sets the foundations for what promises to be a thrilling new urban fantasy series.

There is a lot of action throughout Broken Promises, a detailed plot, and background on Bree and her past.  All of the elements to a good story are there but I felt like the story was disrupted at times by Bree’s repetitious angst and carelessness.  The flow of the story did not feel seamless.  However, the characters grew on me and I really did enjoy the story.  I will be reading the next installment in this series, I am looking forward to it.

Readers, if you like urban fantasy stories, especially urban fantasy stories centered around the Fae, then you should consider giving Broken Promises a try.

Broken Promises released in October 2012.  You can find it at Amazon, Smashwords, or Barnes and Noble. (E-book only $2.99!)