Beautiful Broken Love is now one of my favorite reads for 2024. You can feel Davina’s grief as she tried to live with the devotion that she still felt for her husband. Honestly, I initially didn’t like Deke because of his arrogance, but I changed my mind as I read more about his past and witnessed how he cared for Davina. Deke and Davina’s journey to each other is perfectly described by the title of the book, Beautiful Broken Love.

This was such a heart crushing story. I’ve never cried soooo much in one book.

This book did not feel long and I’m going to say it’s cuz I was eating it up.

The story line was amazing. I love Deke and the was he didn’t allow her over thinking to push him away he knew this was meant to be. Davina her growth was amazing. I can’t relate to her but I felt as tho I was her best friend just by her side watching her hurt. Deke never forced he didn’t really push he was just being there, a shoulder, an ear, a lil bow bow, he showed up for her every time.

This was a phenomenal book I’m going to need to get the physical copy cuz this was wow. I clearly need to get into her catalog because I ain’t know my girl was getting down with the romance and this was so heart wrenching I loveeeeed it.

A gripping book, this story pulls you till the very end, I enjoyed reading it. I definitely will love to see more from the author

Beautiful Broken Love is a highly emotional book. This book is absolutely so much more than a contemporary romance! Shanora Williams did a fantastic job making you feel the characters sadness, loss, grief. And she did a beautiful job honoring the ones lost in the story, as well as shining light on a new love.

Davina Klein-Roberts is an entrepreneur, working with an endorsement deal with Declan (Deke) Bishop, a successful basketball player. Davina is battling depression and grief, dealing with the loss of her husband, Lewis, 7 months ago. Deke is absolutely enthralled with Davina and is wanting to get to know her more than just by a business deal.

Deke is trying his best to get Davina's attention. But Davina is very quick to let him know she is not interested in anything more than friends. Deke agrees to this arrangement but has several break through moments to share Davina's grief while also trying his best to lift her spirits.

Davina is struggling with her guilt and grief. She doesn't feel like she should be ready to advance into a relationship with the recent loss of her husband, even though she was told very bluntly by her late husband, he would just want her to be happy.

This book is beautifully written. You can feel Davina's struggle with grief, pain, loss. But you can also sense her eagerness to one day hopefully move on in her life. You can feel Deke's desire to advance this relationship with Davina, but you can also appreciate his patience and his devotion to Davina as he idly stands by and waits for her to work through her pain and grief.

Davina and Deke also share a bond they didn't realize when Davina learns about the loss of Deke's sibling.

This book is perfectly spicy, emotional, heartbreaking and heart mending. I absolutely cannot recommend this book enough. Shanora relays these characters beautifully. She also makes you feel the emotions, even if you want to or not. I would highly recommend reading this one. Don't even think about it too much. Thank you to NetGalley, Shanora Williams and Montlake publishing for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

BEAUTIFUL BROKEN LOVE by Shanora Williams is a stand alone, contemporary, adult, romance story line focusing on professional basketball player Declan ‘Deke’ Bishop, and thirty-one year old, skin care designer/ widow Davina Klein-Roberts.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Deke and Davina) BEAUTIFUL BROKEN LOVE focuses on the building romance and relationship between professional basketball player DEclan ‘Deke’ Bishop, and skin care designer / widow Davina Klein-Roberts. Davina Klein-Roberts is the CEO of Golden-Oil Co, a designer skin care manufacturer, and she is hoping basketball player Deke Bishop will become the new spokesperson for her latest line but Davina goes into their introduction and meeting with a set of preconceived notions, and the her attraction to Deke is offset by her guilt in the wake of her late husband’s death. Several months earlier, Davina’s husband passed away, and our heroine had not desire to move on from the past. Deke Bishop fell immediately for Davina Roberts but Davina continued to struggle with her guilt and grief. Unable to compete with a ghost, a broken hearted Deke walks away, leaving the woman he loves behind.

The world building focuses on the the growing relationship in the face of Davina’s overwhelming guilt and grief. Unable to let go of the past, Davina struggles with her attraction to the man with whom she will fall in love but Deke is determined to bide his time but there is no end in sight for Davina’s grief. Meanwhile, with the approach of the Thanksgiving holiday, Deke’s embattled family want our hero to make amends with the man he blames for destroying their lives.

The relationship between Deke and Davina is one of immediate attraction but Deke is a client, and Davina is refusing to cross a line. In the wake of her husband’s death,Davina struggles to move forward, and her feelings for Deke add guilt to her ongoing grief. As their relationship grows, Deke’s past takes aim, targeting our story line heroine. The $ex scenes are intimate and provocative without the use of over the top , sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful secondary and supporting characters include family, friends, co-workers and teammates. We are introduced to Deke’s teammate and single father Javier Valdez , and Davina’s sister Octavia, a nanny who may be a prospect for Deke’s daughter. I am hoping the author has plans for a series.

BEAUTIFUL BROKEN LOVE is a story of grief and sorrow, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is emotional and often heart breaking; the romance is passionate; the characters are determined and charismatic.

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GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7040731372


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Chapters/Indigo (Sandy@thereadingcafe) posted

This book gave me old school vibes by this author previous books. This book has a lot of heavy topics such as loss, grief, finding friendship etc. this book was incredible! Highly recommend!

This is a heartwarming and emotional page-turner that will captivate readers who enjoy sports romance, romance, and stories of overcoming adversity, particularly those who appreciate strong, complex characters and the healing power of love.

Poignant. Engrossing. Shanora Williams has done it again. Her ability to brillantly craft a compelling narrative with words thatt cut deep into your soul is remarkable. BRAVO!!

Deke and Davina. I don’t know where to start. I feel like I have so many thoughts and I can’t articulate them. What I can say is you must read this book. If ever a title described a book perfectly, this is it! Filled with loss and love, this book will break you and put you back together again <3

3.5 ⭐️ 4 🌶️ "Beautiful Broken Love" Shanora Williams 
Thank you Netgalley and Montlake for this ARC copy.
Shanora is a new to me author and I am not mad at all that this was my first read.

"If only she knew I'd give her the world if she let me." 

Is it possible to have two soulmates in one lifetime? This was a heavy story and the one thing I kept saying as we navigated through the past and present for Deke and Davina is "I want you to go to therapy" - both of them...and bring along the families as well. 

The supporting characters were everything and they gave the best advice to these two. Love Javier, Octavia and Tish. And what's going on with Javier and sis? 👀Hmm...

One thing these two could not deny was their chemistry. They were hot and heavy 😏. But I also wish we spent more time on their healing process. There was no doubt that the love was there first from Deke. He fell hard. I just hope Davina is truly healed from her brokenness and Deke as well. They dealt with some heavy trauma and I would love to see what the healed or more healed than now versions of them look like. I hope we can hear from Deke and Davina more in the future. 
✨He Falls First
✨Sports Romance
✨Workplace Romance 
✨Grief/Death of Loved Ones - Check Your Triggers

I really enjoyed this book, it made me cry and feel lots of emotions.
I wasn't sure what to expect as it's not my normal genre really and it was the first I've read from this author but it won't be the last.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! This was my first read from Shanora Williams and now I need to check her backlist! Davina and Deke were both struggling, but through each others friendship found healing in themselves. I hate to compare, but I will. This reminded me of a Kennedy Ryan book in the best possible way. I loved it!

Davina is the CEO of a skin care company. She decides to reach out to Deke, a famous NBA player, about a sponsorship. They begin to work together and immediately feel a connection, but Davina is not ready to let anyone into her life after her husband passed away a few months earlier. Davina and Deke both have experience dealing with death and grief in addition to complicated relationships with family members. Will they be able to bound over their pasts? Will they be able to move on from the grief holding them back?

The writing style was exactly what I expected from Shanora Williams. It was descriptive and had amazing imagery. It is not your typical light romance and is full of emotion. You will feel the emotions right along with the characters.

I love when a hero meets the heroine, and immediately knows there's something about her that he can't let go.
We meet Davina, a grief stricken widow who has no intentions of ever loving someone again or even having a male friend. To get through life, she's poured herself into work and her company.
We also meet Deke, an NBA basketball player who was hired as a rep for Davina's company and knew immediately, that he found someone special.
lugly cried throughout this story. It brought out all my emotions just rooting and being happy for them.
Please read this book via audio the voices were spectacular the spicy scenes were perfect
Trigger warning emotional abuse, grief.
mention of suicide, mention of domestic Violence

It doesn't matter what genre Shanora Williams writes, she does an amazing job! This one was so hot but also she did such an amazing job navigating grief. I felt Shanora's own story being intertwined into the story and she really did do it justice.

Davina and Deke's chemistry is off the charts but Davina navigating the life she hadn't planned on. Deke is compassionate and understanding in ways that neither fully grasps. Their story was beautifully written!

How do I begin to describe how much I liked this book? Strong female characters are my jam. Love a woman who makes her own life better but has a man who just supports her. Vina, while she’s still grieving the loss of her best friend and husband, meets a man who finally makes her feel again. Vina and Deke make the best couple. They are both grieving but are helping each other move forward while enjoying each other’s company. Love that Deke treats her like a queen and recognizes she’s not a damsel in distress but just a woman who needs a good partner.

Ugh, this book made me ugly cry (and if you know me, you know that’s a good thing, lol). It’s such a beautiful story about grief and finding a way to move forward after losing the people you love. Davina and Deke’s journeys through their grief were so raw and heartbreaking, and I loved how they worked through it together. Their relationship felt so realistic, with all the fears and trepidations that come with starting something new while still healing. My only complaint is the slight miscommunication and some parts of the writing that pulled me out of the story—but honestly, those are just personal preferences. Overall, such an emotional and moving read!

This book was so well written, I absolutely loved it. It was so beautiful and heart wrenching at times you truly feel for both main characters. Davina pulled at my heart strings with what she went through in her last relationship and also being the eldest sibling that always pours into others but forgets to let others do the same for her. That is until Deke shows up and is one of the biggest challenges in her life and work space. Deke seems so well put together but also has his own grief and family issues he’s trying to overcome. I’ve read other books from this author but this one was by far such a great read that I enjoyed from beginning to end. Grateful for this complimentary copy and all opinions are my own.

"Grief is like a colossal wave. It rises higher and higher and no matter how sturdy your ship is, it'll smash into it and wreck it, leaving you to drown."

Shanora poured her heart and soul into this book, leaving everything she had on the page. It was was therapeutic for the author and her readers, ultimately, restoring my faith in the power of the written word. Beautiful Broken Love embodied the point of view of love after loss. Whether you've experienced the type of loss that Deke and Davina lives with or not, it is impossible to avoid identifying with their pain.

Cw/Rep: Grief, Death, Aspergers Rep, Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Cancer

For the first time in a while, I felt deeply connected to the characters on an emotional level. Deke started off as a character I rolled my eyes at due to his arrogance but by the end of the book those same eyes held hearts and stars. His character arc unfolded beautifully and lead to him being my favorite character. Davina's character heartbreakingly authentic. While I might have felt the cat and mouse actions grating from time to time, I couldn't say I'd do anything different.

Don't worry this book isn't all despair and depression, there is plenty of angst, attraction and audacity in these pages. I loved projecting my thoughts for a sequel on Javier and Octavia and even stretching so far to consider a story for Tish and EJ. The audacity was at an all time high with Giselle and Davina's mother-in-law. I found myself slow clapping at the verbal lashings the received. Lastly the attraction was scorching! Nothing would stop them not even a nearly 5 hour commute from Charlotte to Atlanta.

Beautiful Broken Love was just what the doctor ordered to mend the heart.

4.5🌟
Beautiful Broken Love !💖🥹🥹🥹🥹

"There are no words to truly define grief, but if I had to imagine them, I’d say grief is a beast who likes to stomp, claw, and bite until you’re stripped of everything . Then, when you finally gain some balance, it returns for another round, and the cycle continues, until you’re nothing but a hollow shell waving a white flag. That’s grief, I’m afraid. And it’s so damn cruel."

Shanora Williams wrote this emotionally charged Love story as an homage to grief. Davina and Deke each are on their individual grief journeys navigating life and love. Moving on seems like a selfish term when the person gone stays with loved ones in some capacity. I love how slowly and gently this love is grown and discovered for the characters. They each are able to choose love , when loss was out of their hands. This book is a heart healer !
4.5🌟