Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE: Breaking Point
SERIES: Turning Point #2
AUTHOR: N.R. Walker
PUBLISHER: Totally Bound
LENGTH: 238 pages
BLURB: A fight for what’s right becomes a fight for his life.

As guilt plagues him, Matthew Elliott’s world begins to spiral out of control. The harder he holds on, the more it slips through his fingers, and he’s helpless to stop it.

Entering into the underground cage-fighting scene, he starts out fighting for what’s right. The deeper he gets, the more guilt consumes him – the more pain he takes for his penance, and he’s soon fighting for more than justice.

He’s fighting for love.

He’s fighting for his life.

REVIEW:

“…in this breaking story, after almost eleven years, Detective Matthew Elliott has announced his resignation from the LAPD…”

It all starts with a lie.  That Matthew Elliot is no longer a detective.  That all he wants out of the MMA–mixed martial arts–is a good fight and a way to spend his retirement from the force.  That Matt is fine.  But the lies, they never stop, and the weight of secrets he has to keep could break him if he is not careful.  Especially when Matt is still a cop.  One that is tasked with bringing down a drug ring that has entrenched itself in the local fight scene.  One that has to lie to the only man he has ever loved.

It all straddles a line.  Between Matt-the-cop, and Matt-the-fighter.  Between Matt’s job and Matt’s heart.  Between all his wants to say and all he needs to do, Matt is stuck hopping the line and hoping that he is not split in two.  But no matter how hard he tries, he cannot be two people at once, nor save everyone he loves.  Hell, he can’t even save himself–not that he’s sure he’s worth the effort to even try.

It all comes down to the breaking point.  When the lies start to break him, and the line begins to blur, can Matt hold himself together long enough to do his job, and save his heart?  Or will the pressure of guilt and duty tear the cop in two, and the man to pieces?

Heaven help me, but damn, this was a good book.  I was unsure if I was going to enjoy it, especially since I had a few issues with the first book in the series, Point of No Return, but this story was a trip and a half.  All that glorious tension–it was not only tearing Matt in four different directions but kept me barely hanging on to the edge of my seat.  It was lovely, in a rather masochistic way.

I’m not usually one for 200+ pages of pure self-flagellation and regret, but Matt did it so beautifully.  He broke so completely, and with such heart-wrenching inevitability, that I hated seeing it happen, but loved watching it unfold.  It was really well written.  It made you hate it–and, boy, did I hate watching him lose it–but you also couldn’t help but feel that it was real, that Matt’s emotional backlog of guilt and anger, and self-loathing, had simply reached a point where if he didn’t fall, he was going to explode.  Breaking point was exactly what this story was for Matt.

I was lying to him, every second of every day, and he was so nice to me. So loving. So perfect.

I swallowed down the two tablets he gave me, then swallowed down my guilt. I needed to compartmentalize. I needed to do my fucking job.

Matt was undercover, but undercover as himself.  He had to divide himself into so many pieces to do his job that the cuts began to bleed him dry.  I loved the play between cop-Matt and fighter-Matt; loved that Matt becomes one because of the other, but neither of them is stable enough to hold up the failing whole that is simply Matt.  The Matt that loves Kira.  The Matt that simply wants the peace he has come to find in his lover’s arms and in his friend’s company.  This tension between his obligations and his wants, tear at him, but he has such an underlying strength–or maybe it is just pure stubbornness–that won’t allow him to walk away from his job, his new friends, or to give up the man he loves.  Too bad he can’t actually have them all–sustain them all.

It sounds horrible to say it, but I loved the breakdown between Kira and Matt in this.  It is just that there was no way for them to sustain a loving, happy, relationship with Matt lying at almost every turn.  It was too much weight to carry in the growing silence between them.  I totally admire the effort it took for them to keep trying, to keep bashing up against that freaking wall that Matt kept building, and to cling onto any part that meant that love was enough.  Even when it wasn’t.  Sometimes in series, where the relationship between two MCs is a major factor in the storyline, sequels have a tendency to let me down.  They either get too lovey-dovey, and the sweet factor tries to rob me of my evil little soul–or contrived circumstances are thrown at them in an effort to make the story interesting.  And while the second one may apply a little to this series, I can’t help but feel that it was necessary for Matt and Kira to go through this hell.  Matt has so many lingering issues from book one, and with the addition of Matt’s lies, it was inevitable that everything in Matt’s world would crumble.  Even Kira.  Who I love–almost as much as I love his parents.  Most awesome parents ever!  Equal parts fiercely loving and scarily defensive.  No wonder Matt would do almost anything for them.

This book greatly surpassed my expectations.  And I really do hope we might see more of Matt and Kira in the future.  They both have some interesting hurdles to cross, coming up, and I would love to see how they do it.  Together.  This book made me happy and tense and heartsick almost always at once.  You need to read this–though make sure that you’ve already gone through book one (it will make for a more enjoyable read if you have the groundwork for this story).  Just remember that while Matt can be a stubborn idiot, he can also be unfailingly loyal and worth the effort to love.

Carissa rates it – 

BUY LINKS: Totally Bound

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Carissa is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.

To read all her reviews, click the link: CARISSA’S REVIEWS
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