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Bend or Break Series
by Amy Jo Cousins
Average rating of 4.1 stars
(Based on the 7 books rated at KBS!)
I know many of you will ask so here is the deal.
My favorite book? Touch choice. #3 The Girl Next Door.
Favorite quote? You have to read it. I do not give spoilers and this one is a doozy!
Without further ado, here are the books and reviews in order:
Off Campus by Amy Jo Cousins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Tom goes back to college only to find his roommate was promised he would live alone. They do not get along, but Tom could care less what Reese wants since he only needs a place to crash and get the much needed sleep he deprives himself of. Can they find common ground?
Reese talks to Tom finally, and they make a truce of sorts. They live like hermits in just their room, never leaving except for food, classes, and to shower. Tom works himself to the bone to pay tuition on the weekends, but otherwise lives a closed off existence.
Tom starts to notice his feelings for Reese and they end up friends. Reese is kind of a people person, so eventually they come out to the main room to study instead of just hiding away. Will the pasts that have scarred them ruin their future? Can Tom forge a live of his own and move past his fathers mistakes?
I found this book so riveting! I could NOT put it down. I know this will be a book I read again and keep on my shelf. I loved it!
Nothing Like Paris by Amy Jo Cousins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is book # 2, in the Bend Or Break series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader enjoyment and understanding, I recommend reading this incredible series in order.
Jack and Mike AKA Miguel have a history. One full of love, pain, and regret. Getting back into town, Jack needs a friend ad maybe more. Can he get Miguel to forgive him?
Miguel wants to stay away from Jack. His heart can take so much pain. Seeing him in person and being able to touch.... how could he resist?
This series definitely tugs on the heartstrings. I did not expect to like Jack, after book 1. This was a seriously unexpected story that gives you the feels.
The Girl Next Door by Amy Jo Cousins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is book # 3, in the Bend Or Break series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. To avoid spoilers, understand characters, and fall in love with the series, I recommend reading these in order.
Charles AKA Cash and Stephany AKA Steph met through their mutual friends. College was a time of fun and sex and laughter. When they get in the real world, why do relationships not last?
Steph has a past full of pain and heartache. Trust does not come easy for her. Cash is fun and sexy as hell, but even he has one foot out the door.
This series just grabs me. I mean like by the throat! This is the best book so far of the series. This book has everything. Strong heat, sexy times, and so much more.
Level Hands by Amy Jo Cousins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the 4th book in the Bend Or Break series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader enjoyment and understanding, I recommend reading this series in order.
Rafael and Denny meet through Denny's family. When he gets a chance to go back to school, he feels worlds apart from the other students. The only person he knows there is Denny. Who taught him a sport that gave him back him life.
Denny has felt haunted by his past with Rafael. They have unfinished business, and the only way to solve a problem is to confront it. Or will that just push Rafael away?
This series has so many surprises for the reader! A story this good with characters that have rich stories are always a joy to read. These two were inevitable, and watching them get together and break down walls between them made it a great book.
Real World by Amy Jo Cousins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is book #5 in the Bend Or Break series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. With the potential for spoilers, and real enjoyment of this amazing series - I recommend you read this series in order intended.
Tom & Reese have already been through the wringer. Now that college is over, they have jobs and life getting in the way. With the holidays looming, Reese wants it to be special.
Reese has planned for Tom to meet his co-workers. Will this be like college all over again? There needs to be common ground before it is too late.
These are such really in depth characters! I love we are back seeing where the series began. Wonderful surprises for the reader, and even some holiday love thrown in.
Love Me Like a Rock by Amy Jo Cousins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is book #6, in the Bend Or Break series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader understanding and enjoyment of the series, I recommend reading these in order.
Austin has lived in the shadow of wanting his best friend. Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, Sean is there in all his naked glory. Can Austin move on and find real love?
Sean has been trying to chase after Austin for the better part of a year. Now that he has finally seen him, will the differences tear what he was hoping for in a relationship apart? Sean is trying to convince Austin they deserve a fighting chance.
This series just gets better. Every story is full of sincere, and fun characters. I love learning about the rowing also. These guys must be HOT! I cannot wait for the next installment in the series.
Hard Candy by Amy Jo Cousins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the 7th book in the Bend Or Break series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader enjoyment and understanding of the series, I recommend reading these in order.
Vincent meets Bryan and his whole view of the world changes. Bryan is everything he is not. Opposites really do attract. Can they make the most of the future?
Bryan has never had to hide who he is or what he does. Why should he have to do that with Vincent? He finds himself drooling over the man, but exasperated a moment later.
This story has so much to it. I was laughing one minute, crying the next. I really felt it all. Cannot wait until the next installment of the series!
Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Amy Jo Cousins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a combo of books 6 & 7 in the Bend Or Break series. These can be read as standalone novels. For reader enjoyment and understanding of the series, I recommend reading them in order.
These books are a good choice as a set since they both have characters who must overcome being opposites and find common ground.
Really good combo with seriously fun characters. This series has been a heck of a ride. I will be looking for the next book this author puts out.
***These copies were given in exchange for honest reviews only.
View all my reviews
About the Author:
Amy Jo Cousins writes contemporary romance and erotica about smart people finding their own best kind of smexy. She lives in Chicago with her son, where she tweets too much, sometimes runs really far, and waits for the Cubs to win the World Series again. Amy Jo is represented by Courtney Miller-Callihan of Handspun Literary Agency.
Readers interested in autographed copies of Amy Jo's paperback books can order them from Chicago's fabulous independent bookstore, The Book Cellar. They can ship anywhere, and will email me to let me know there are books to be signed if you care to order them!
I didn't read a romance novel until seventh grade. Mafia dons and samurai warlords? Check. Love stories? Not so much. Then my grandma showed up one summer with a garbage bag full of books. Her friend belonged to all of the Harlequin and Silhouette Book of the Month Clubs and passed on her copies to my grandma when she was done with them.
My grandma never met a Louis L'Amour book she didn't like, but she had no idea what to do with three hundred romance novels in a trash bag. Since it was clear that I was the book black hole, capable of sucking in uncountable numbers of novels while deaf to the world around me, I was the natural beneficiary of this windfall.
It changed my life.
I binge read all those books over the course of a summer where my mom despaired of getting me out of my bedroom. I was still reading science fiction and fantasy, adventure novels like The Count of Monte Cristo, and Agatha Christie books like they might run out of copies at the library. But those romance novels…I read five or six a day until school started. And when I finished that bag, there was another. And another.
Add in a seminal viewing of Romancing the Stone and the electric typewriter my mom managed to scrounge up and situate in the basement (so the clattering of the keys wouldn't keep everyone awake) on a tiny rolling metal table and there's really no escaping the fact that I've wanted to be a romance author for most of my life. As a career, it gives me the perfect excuse for my never-ending need to learn, about museum art restoration or theater stage management, about organic family farms or librarians' reader advisory ethics. I also get to remind myself again and again of the most important lesson I learned all those summers ago, hiding in my closet with a flashlight after midnight so I wouldn't get in trouble for staying up until my eyes burned…
People can make terrible mistakes with the ones they love, the last ones they ever thought they would hurt, and there can be a way back. Or through.
Because we are flawed and so often damaged already.
Because love is the heart of being human.
Love makes you vulnerable and strong in equal amounts and imparts a stretchiness to the soul that lets us bend when we're afraid we might break.
I can't think of any stories I'd rather tell.
Find Amy Jo Cousins Online:
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