Raw. Emotional. Romance.

Desolate

​DAMAGED SERIES, BOOK FIVE
I’d finally had enough, but he refused to let me go.

The man I fell in love with was handsome and charming, the kind of man who turned my stomach into a cage of butterflies just at the sight of him. He was someone who made me feel wanted and needed, who placed me on a pedestal in the centre of his world. He wasn’t someone so lost inside his jealousy and anger that he’d hit or control me. No, that was the man I was going to marry. I just didn’t know it then.

I hadn’t wanted to see the signs.

He said he loved me, and I believed him. That’s why it was so easy for him to convince me he’d never do it again. I gave him too many chances, too many opportunities to prove himself wrong. He was the very man neither of us wanted him to be. So I wasn’t surprised when he took another dangerous misstep—one that threw me over an edge I couldn’t come back from. But I didn’t expect that he’d follow. Even less, race me to the bottom.

___________
PLEASE NOTE: This book contains dark themes and sensitive subject matter that may be difficult for some readers. Recommended for readers 18+.
____________
Desolate is the second book in a three-book romantic suspense series of companion novels for the Broken series. Each book can be read as a standalone, though if you plan to read the Broken series, it would be best to read Fractured after the trilogy. 

Tropes

Domestic abuse 
Abusive Marriage 
Escaping Abuse 
Protective Hero 
Broken Heroine 
Healing Through Love
Love after trauma
Trauma Recovery
Starting Over
Friends to Lovers
Emotional Healing 
Hope After Heartbreak 
Hard-Earned Happily Ever After

Content WarningS

Infidelity
Murder
Stalking 
Domestic Abuse 
Physical Abuse 
Emotional Abuse 
Psychological Abuse 
Coercive Control 
Gaslighting 
Jealousy And Possessive Behavior
Manipulation 
Borderline Personality Disorder
Trauma 
Anxiety And Panic Attacks
Self-Destructive Behavior
Suicide Attempt
Death
Threats Of Violence

Quotes from book

​It’s as if I’m the one and only star in his sky, and he’d give up the light of day just to keep me at the centre of it." - Allie
Despite everything Nick has done, my shredded heart still holds a faded picture of him on every piece. Until my tears finally wash him away, it wouldn’t be fair to give Jax the tainted ones." - Allie
​He’s a man of few words, but when he touches me, I can almost hear the things he’s left unspoken—pressed into my skin, breathed into me." - Allie
I know it’s messed up that I’m still so protective of Nick, especially after what he did to me. But when love’s involved, common sense doesn’t seem to apply anymore. Your brain takes a backseat to your heart, even though it’s hands-free and reckless—moment-driven." - Allie
​I’m not the same woman I was when I left. I have new scars—healing wounds that have changed the way I think and feel." - Allie
It was too easy to get stuck in the what-ifs.
What if I’m wrong? What if I’m overreacting?
What if he recognizes his mistake and changes?" - Allie
I have to keep telling myself it’s okay to need someone, to lean on them when I feel weak. I don’t always need to know what to do or be alright, because strength isn’t constant. It’s always changing." - Allie
Like a pebble cast into still water, every sweep finds a different part of me—radiating out from my lips, spreading to the back of my neck, reaching all the way to the tips of my toes." - Allie
​I don’t want him to hold back.
I want him to touch me.
I want his body against mine—my skin on fire.
I want the moment to be so thick and heavy that even time slows—watching with bated breath as his strong hands write poetry over my skin, and his carved hips mark my soul.
​It’s as if I’m the one and only star in his sky, and he’d give up the light of day just to keep me at the centre of it.
He nudges his chin toward the place where the ghost of my naïvety sat—wide-eyed, stunned by the depths her husband had sunk to, even after all the warnings." - Allie

ALSO IN THIS SERIES