Review: Breaking Away – Toni Aleo

BREAKING AWAY is a story of loss, healing, and love… where unexpected turns and heartache lead to passion.

To Nashville Assassins’ leading scoring center Phillip Anderson, playing hockey has always been easy… as natural as breathing. His life is no different. That’s until his world is turned upside down by the death of his sister. While mourning his loss, Phillip has to find a way to make his very angry sixteen-year-old niece, Claire, happy. Now, as her guardian, he discovers the only thing that seems to heal her lonely heart is dance class. But what he didn’t count on was the attraction he’d feel towards her drop-dead sexy dance teacher.

For Reese Allen, dancing has always been part of her soul. After having her heart broken in New York, she comes home with the determination to make her dance studio one of the best in Tennessee and succeeds. When she sees Claire dance for the first time, she knows the girl is bound for greatness and takes the troubled teen under her wing. Using dance as therapy, she suddenly finds herself bound to the young woman… and her hot-as-sin uncle.

However, Phillip and Reese are happy in their single lives. It’s simple. They do what they want, who they want, and how they want, but from the moment they meet, the attraction is undeniable. Soon, they are more than willing to spend just one night tangled in the sheets. But, one night turns into two, and two turns into three, until they find themselves in a repeated dance of “One Last Time” that has the potential to be something more… if only Reese and Claire allow it.

Can Phillip find a way to thaw the hearts of both the women in his life, or will he be forever trying to break them away from their pasts?

Series: Assassins #5
Release Date: June 10th 2014
Publisher: Self Published
Source: Good Choice Reading Tours
Reviewer: Lucy
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

Toni Aleo has done it again in her newest novel, Breaking Away. I laughed, I cried, and truly enjoyed the story between Phillip Anderson and Reece Allen. Phillip has had a rough time lately, with the death of his sister and his struggling relationship with the niece he is trying to raise. Reece is a serial dater, who looks at relationships like a man, but this is tested when Phillip and Reece enter a friends with benefits relationship that seems to never end.

Mrs. Aleo has a way of creating characters that makes you believe that you know them. Reece has always come off as a bit cold, but discovering some of her backstory gives a better understanding of why she approaches relationships systematically. Phillip gets nothing but sympathy. He was able to make the best of a horrific childhood, and always seems to keep a smile on his face despite everything that is going on, including dealing with his sixteen year old niece Claire. The relationship between the two was priceless, ranging from hilarious to heartbreaking, made better by their interplay with the secondary characters. This book is amazing, embodying themes such as second chances, redemption, and the healing power of love.