ARC Review | How the Heart Breaks by S. Marie

first things first

Before the age gap puts you off, please give this book a chance. I know at first glance, the relationship between a 30-year-old and a 19-year-old (he turns 20 toward the middle of the story) seems really weird and possibly inappropriate, but this guy is mature, confident, knows who/what he wants, and honestly, is 🔥 AF, lol.

main thoughts

This was my first read by S. Marie (Stacey Marie Brown), even though her Savage Lands series has been on my TBR forever. Let me just tell you…I am now a fan!

The beginning of the book was kind of hard to get through in the sense that Emery’s grief over her husband’s death is absolutely heartbreaking. The writing was, I felt, delicately handled–realistic without being either over-the-top or underwhelming. Grief is its own monster and no two people will handle it the same, and I felt it was believable and written well.

The chemistry between Emery and Mason is electric. It’s slow burn, but the build up was intense and delicious. There’s immediate attraction between the two and it just keeps building throughout the book.

One of my favorite parts of this book was how Mason kept coming up with more excuses to come see Emery. He’d claim he was there to help fix an appliance, but then he’d flirt with Emery in that intense, no-nonsense way of his, leaving Emery completely flustered. I loved these two characters and seeing the growing relationship was so wonderfully written.

Emery’s growth in this book was beautiful. She really flourished from the beginning of the book to the end and I loved that. Mason was so good for her, and vice versa. The amount of heartbreak both these characters have been through is astounding but has given them compassion and resilience. Sure, they face a few roadblocks along the way and Emery’s hang up on their age gap is super detrimental to their relationship for a time, but it was all so incredibly well-written.

I also want to mention that the twist that was written hit me out of nowhere. I’m normally pretty good at predicting these kinds of things, but I didn’t see this one at all and I thought it was perfect.

bullet points

• what is it about mechanics in books that make them so hot??
• Addison’s handling of Mason drove me nuts. I understand why she was upset that her aunt was with her crush, but he never lead her on and they certainly were never together, so I don’t understand why she felt like she had such a claim on him just because she thought he was hot. I get it’s added for drama and it definitely added a nice bit of angst to the story, she just irritated me with this, lol
• Emery’s bestie, Marcie, is the type of friend every FMC should have. She’s a true ride-or-die; she’s honest, loyal, gives fantastic advice, is absolutely hilarious, and is just a wonderful person and friend.
• I loved how Harper, Emery’s sister, ended up dating the police officer who gave Emery the news of Ben’s passing. He seems like such a sweet and caring man and I thought that was such a nice addition to this story.

quotes

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final thoughts

If this book hasn’t taken top spot for my favorite reads of the year so far, it’s definitely in the top 3. I absolutely devoured this book.

If you’re a fan of angsty, age gap, somewhat taboo stories with a dirty talking MMC and an FMC learning how to love again…you need to read this book!

As always, if you end up reading, please come back and let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Happy reading!

thank you

Huge thanks to Hambright PR for gifting me a copy of this book! All opinions stated in this review are my own.

book links

Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop