REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Surviving the Break
SERIES: Chadwick
AUTHOR: C.P. Harris
PUBLISHER: C.P. Harris
LENGTH: 294 Pages
RELEASE DATE: October 6, 2020
BLURB:
Max doesn’t do repeats, and he definitely doesn’t do commitments. Months after a hot encounter with a smooth-talking stranger in a bar room bathroom, Max comes face to face with the same sexy doctor during the unveiling of the community center’s dance studio. And the man is just as pushy and perceptive as Max remembers. Because of their mutual friendships, Max now has to work overtime to keep Dr. Ashton Jackson at arm’s length. Will he succeed in resisting the undeniable attraction he feels toward the man, or will he risk putting his heart on the line for love… again?
Ash isn’t afraid of love. He’s just never met The One. But there was something about the brown-eyed stranger he hooked up with that he can’t get out of his head. When their paths cross again unexpectedly, Ashton hopes to convince the wounded man with the heart of gold to give love a second chance. But what happens when the truth behind Max’s heartache threatens to leave Ash questioning everything he’s ever believed about himself? Will he too be left broken? Or will he and Max survive the break?
**An M/M romance and book two in the Chadwick trilogy. Can be read as a standalone and contains explicit sex and graphic language.
REVIEW: This is sort of a continuation of the first book, which I highly recommend, where we met Damon (and Blake) and Justin. It furthers the story by focusing on Max and Ash, both of whom we met the first time around. While you could get by starting here, there is a lot of backstory that explains how we got here and you would be missing out if you decided to go that route.
Max is Damon’s neighbor, the guy who runs the center where Justin now volunteers. He’s the man Justin friended and tried to take things further with when he was going through his troubles with Damon/Blake. Justin, and even a reluctant Damon, have continued the friendship. Max is suffering from a very big broken heart and punishes himself by not allowing himself to ever be put in that situation again.
Ash is Damon’s best friend from childhood. He is an obstetrician who has done very well for himself and although he wants a solid relationship, has just not met the right person yet. He also happens to be the one who found Damon’s brother (have to read the first book to learn about that tragedy) and it haunts him to this day with nightmares.
Ash and Max have amazing chemistry, but there are a lot of stumbling blocks in their way. Ash uses different tactics to break through to Max and ultimately starting with friendship is what gets the job done and his persistence pays off. But Max has to confront his past in order to move forward with his future, and Ash is there by his side when needed. Unfortunately, Ash has never really done the same, instead choosing to find other ways to manage his nightmares rather than dealing with the cause. Luckily, these two flip flop back and forth and come out on the other side together and stronger in their relationship than before.
I was not as blown away by this book as I was with the first and admit I was hoping to see more of Justin and Damon’s journey. But, this story also needed to be told, and while it lacked the intensity of Surviving the Merge, it was still a great story that I have no trouble recommending. C.P. Harris is a new author who came out of the gate at full speed, and I have definitely been impressed with what I’ve seen so far. I hope we get more in this series, but won’t hesitate to check out future books as well.
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