BROKEN OPEN is book two in the Hurley Brothers series. In this book, we deal with Ezra Hurley, one of four brothers in the band Sweet Hollow Ranch. Ezra's initial burst of fame did not lie easy on his shoulders- he became a heroin addict and his family had to force him into rehab. Now completely clean, he's primarily working the family ranch, but he still writes the bands' songs and is starting to explore whether he is strong enough to go back on tour with his brothers. Ezra is, by his own lyrics, "ferocious. I'm dark and broody and broken." Ezra is wracked by guilt for how he behaved toward his family while he was using drugs. He's turned his life around, and his family has forgiven him, but he hasn't forgiven himself. I absolutely loved Ezra, and I loved how Tuesday got in his face about how he needed to finish healing.

Tuesday Eastwood has been widowed for five years, after her husband died from a rapidly progressive cancer. She's been floating through life, keeping herself apart from almost everyone. She's finally settling down and starting to come out of her shell of grief and loss, after she moved to the small Oregon town of Hood River to live with her best friend Natalie. Watching Natalie chivvy Tuesday back into life was beautiful- it was pragmatic yet poignant all at the same time. We should all be so lucky to have such a best friend!

I'm a diehard Lauren Dane fan. She's an excellent writer with a proven product that I love. Her female leads are strong women who happen to have some personal issues they have to work through, but they do it with the help of down- to-earth and rock-solid friends, the kind of great friends anyone would cherish. Dane's heroines love sex, and approach it in such a mature manner, openly enjoying making love and all that comes with it. The guys also have their issues to work through from their own personal traumas, and their own awesome support network of friends and family. Yes, there are problems between characters, both between our hero and heroine, as well as between the main and secondary characters. There are fights and misunderstandings, but they're worked through in a healthy and positive fashion. If I had a daughter, these are the erotic romances I would want her to be reading, because they're such good role models for responsible adult behavior.

BROKEN OPEN is another solid Lauren Dane winner, full of incredible sexual chemistry and positively scintillating bedroom scenes. The personal traumas and struggles ring true to life and engaged me immediately, and I couldn't set out of the park yet again with this book, and I can't wait this book down until I knew how it ended. Dane knocks it to see what she has in store for the next Hurley brother.

Book Summary

Beyond passion. And beyond their control… 

Five years ago, Tuesday Eastwood's life collapsed and left her devastated. After an empty, nomadic existence, she's finally pieced her life back together in the small Oregon town of Hood River. Now Tuesday has everything sorted out. Just so long as men are kept for sex, and only sex… 

Then she met him. 

Musician and rancher Ezra Hurley isn't the man of Tuesday's dreams. He's a verboten fantasy—a man tortured by past addictions whose dark charisma and long, lean body promise delicious carnality. But this craving goes far beyond chemistry. It's primal. It's insatiable. And it won't be satisfied until they're both consumed, body and soul…