Tour! A Review of Crushed by Lauren Layne

Crushed (Redemption #3) by Lauren Layne 
Genre: New Adult (Contemporary Romance/Fractured Fairy Tale)
Date Published: April 14, 2015
Publisher: Flirt

Lauren Layne’s latest novel about the healing power of redemption tells the story of a crush gone wickedly wrong, proving that what you want isn’t always what you need.

Growing up in New York, Michael St. Claire never expected to spend his twenties wearing cowboy boots. But that was before he learned about his real father, a total stranger with a family in Cedar Grove, Texas. Once in the Lone Star State, Michael meets Kristin Bellamy, who is exquisitely refined and everything Michael always thought he wanted in a woman. The only problem is that Kristin is dating Michael’s new half brother, Devon.

Kristin’s mouthy, curvy sister Chloe has always been in love with Devon Patterson. So when Michael offers to help Chloe break up Devon and Kristin, Chloe agrees to a deal that seems too good to be true. Before long, Chloe finally gets her man, only to make a startling discovery: She no longer wants the guy she had to fight for—she wants the one who stood by her side.

After all he and Chloe have been through, Michael swears he’s damaged goods. Can Chloe convince him that love is worth the risk? 

Crushed is the third book in the Redemption series by Lauren Layne. Remember Michael St. Claire from the first book, Broken? Things are about to get even harder for him when he finds out who his real father is. So, now he's in Texas with a plan get back at his father for knocking up his mother and leaving. I'm not sure what he was really planning to accomplish with this plan, but he had one none the less. What he didn't count on was Chloe. I love, love, love Chloe! I think everyone can relate to this girl in some way. She's the real deal, even if she has a few inner demons of her own. Put these two together, and they were pretty funny. Especially early on in their friendship... if that's what you call it. Chloe keeps Michael in his place, and after his behavior in book one(I'll be honest, I did feel a little bad for him after what Paul did), he needs someone to keep him in his place. He just needs someone. I really enjoyed Michael's story. He went from a character that I didn't particularly like, to someone pretty decent. Who knew? I love how each book in this series takes on a theme of a different fairy tale. To me, the Ugly Duckling in Crushed was always a beautiful swan inside and out. Lauren Layne sure knows how to make you love her characters.

The ARC of Crushed by Lauren Layne was kindly provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley for review. The opinions are my own.

Don't forget to read my reviews of the other book in this series!

Check out my reviews of some of this author's other books!

Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance.

Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.

Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair. Check out my interview with Lauren Layne.

To learn more about Lauren Layne and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

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