Review: Irresistibly Broken by J. Saman

Irresistibly Broken by J. Saman

Series: Irresistibly Yours #1

Publication date: January 2nd, 2023

Pages: 352

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:

From USA Today bestselling author J. Saman comes a scorching-hot enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, age-gap romance about a broken billionaire and the irresistible woman who flips his world upside down.

Aurelia Whitlock is an ex-stepsister I forgot long ago. Until she shows up as a design intern at my fashion company.

And that's the easy part.

The part where she heats my blood, drawing me away from my grumpy, miserable side is another.

She has no business being here. The more I learn about how she got this job, the more perilous things become for me and my company.

I can't trust her. I can't fire her. And I definitely can't claim her full lips with mine.

Now it's a keep your friends close and your enemies even closer situation.

Except keeping this stunning woman who surprises me at every turn close isn't as easy as it sounds. She's a delicious load of sunshine wrapped in smiles and enticing laughter. Her secrets and troubled past make me desperate to swoop in and fix them.

And did I mention the mouth on her? The one that challenges me and argues with me at every turn. The one I can't stop staring at or fantasizing about.

I'm in trouble. So much trouble.

So where does that leave me?

In one hell of a mess with a woman who has the power to destroy everything. Including what's left of my heart.

What you can expect from Irresistibly Broken...

* Enemies to lovers

* Grumpy/sunshine

* Workplace Romance

* Broken hero

* Strong, sassy heroine

* LOL scenes and banter

* HOT HOT steam with kink and toy play

* He falls first

* HEA

* No cheating

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Review:

Aurelia has been blackballed from the fashion industry since she went toe-to-toe with her ex-mentor after they had tried to steal her designs for themselves. Since then she has tried everything to try to get some sort of internship in design to learn the ins and outs of owning a fashion business so she can one day have her own. She had all but given up on her dream when a surprising helper comes back from her troubled past and offers her a chance at an internship at Monroe Fashion. Of course she had hope that she would never run into their CEO, Zaxton Monroe, the entire time she was there. But fate had other ideas when she is mugged outside her new work and is saved by none other but the man she was hoping to avoid. After that it is a whirlwind experience of heat covered in hatred as she tries to maintain her job while avoiding the eagle eye of the bossman himself. Easier said than done for the ex-model turned fashion designer.

Zaxton had given up on meeting anyone of interest after his girlfriend died suddenly eight years ago. But he can't deny that Aurelia has something about her that simply draws him in. Perhaps its the smart mouth that never seems to lack a snappy remark back to his grumpy disposition. Before he knows it he is struggling to resist the siren outside of his office all hours of the work week. But he suspects that her intentions may not be as admirable as he would assume when he finds out the very person who got her the job is the one trying to bring Monroe Fashion's newest CEO down. Can Zaxton learn to trust again let alone let himself love again? 

I really liked Aurelia and Zaxton's chemistry. It was the ideal grumpy/sunshine dynamic. She was all light and laughter while he had a perpetual storm cloud over his head. I liked that Aurelia never took his bullshit to heart. She always came back at him with just as much fire as he displayed and was never cowed. She was one of the few heroines I have read lately who didn't play the damsel in distress all the time. She fought for herself and even fought for him a lot of the time. She was the boss bitch and I was here for it. Zaxton was hot and growly in all the best ways. He did get a little frustrating at times though.

My favorite person from the book was neither of the main character but the sassy designer, Lamar. I absolutely adored him. He was so clean with his teasing remarks and made me outright laugh every single time he talked. I wanted to jump through the pages and be his absolute best friend for all life. He could insult me any way he wanted, as long as he kept me laughing as much as he did in this book.

I wasn't too keen on the book referencing the age gap as much as it did. The appeal for me of an age gap book is knowing their age difference for myself and seeing the subtle differences in maturity to underline the fact it is meant to be a key part of the story. This book tended to kind of beat you over the head with it in hopes you melt. We get it, he is 9 years her senior. But it didn't feel like that much of a gap. 23 and 32? I don't know. I think it could have been referenced less and still had it have been a good hotness factor for those who were reading for that reason.

I enjoyed the book overall. There were a bit of shaky structural issues that made the story kinda wobbly at times but the romance, the main focal point of the book, was a saving grace.