✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: J. Saman’s Irresistibly Broken ✍🏻
Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️
If you’ve read any of my prior reviews, there are two truths about my romance trope love: I adore a grumpy, broken hero paired with a sunshiney heroine with moxie AND forbidden relationships steal my heart. Both are true about J. Saman’s Irresistibly Broken, the first book of her newest series. Much like her last series, based on this first book, Saman promises several compelling romances in the future.
Irresistibly Broken follows the uniquely named hero, Zaxton Monroe, former popular boy band member and current fashion mogul, and Aurelia, his former step-sister and model and a current intern for his fashion company. There are lots of twists and turns to their story: for one, how did Aurelia fly under Zaxton’s radar to earn her current position? Can Aurelia transcend her former bad luck and find a path in fashion? Will Zaxton ever admit his deep attraction to Aurelia and act upon it? Will Lamar ever miss on styling Aurelia? And will they get to the bottom of the issues threatening the Monroe Fashion empire? All of these storylines conspire to engage you throughout Saman’s story.
What does Saman do well in Irresistibly Broken?
- She develops combustible chemistry between Zax and Aurelia using the forbidden power dynamic and grump/sunshine trope. For me, this is the best part of her book.
- She conjures future stories through the brotherhood of Zax and his former boy band members. Saman is crafting individual stories in various industries which intrigues me for future stories. In her last series, each of the heroes held a position in the medical field. With this series, she’s offering us a variety of avenues to explore. Even more, this brotherhood deftly ameliorates the tension between Zax and Aurelia using humor and brotherly connection.
- The story is interesting, albeit a bit predictable. I did see plot twists, but I am also an avid romance reader. It’s not hard to read between the lines of this story. That being said, Zaxton’s and Aurelia’s journeys, Zaxton’s need to rectify his past treatment of Aurelia and Aurelia’s need to find a community to belong, add the layers of emotion necessary to entice Saman’s readers. Those journeys remedy the predictability of certain plot points.
- Irresistibly Broken is deliciously spicy in ways that mark this series as different from Saman’s last. I’m excited to see if she continues this into the next books of this series.
What were my struggles with Saman’s book?
- Zaxton’s inconsistency of feelings. There are times when his indecisiveness about Aurelia seems inconsistent with his strength of character. I didn’t always accept his responses to her. It created issues with believability for his character.
- The predictability of the plot
I have become a fan of J. Saman’s fairly quickly through her last series, Boston’s Billionaire Bachelors. I am intrigued by Irresistibly Broken and keen for the stories to come.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 