Clean Break

Written by Abby Vegas

Narrated by Marni Penning

Lane Haviland can’t seem to catch a break. She’s dead broke, barely functioning as an adult, and completely alone in New York City. Her so-called “apartment” is a six-by-nine cell in a Brooklyn basement. And her new boss hasn’t ever met a personal or professional boundary she can’t bulldoze through.

Still, Lane’s determined to at least attempt to claw her way back to respectability. But she can’t seem to get her mysterious handyman, Viktor, out of her apartment – or her headspace. Maybe that’s a good thing: Viktor’s easy on the eyes, and that deep-voiced Russian accent is beyond sexy. But as he and Lane grow closer, he can no longer hide his connections with a dangerous criminal underworld – where secrets can be deadly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: Nov 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094431130

Abby Vegas

Abby Vegas loves writing and reading books that feature feisty, flawed heroines. Her favorite authors include Robin Hobb, Susan Isaacs, Georgette Heyer, Bill Bryson, Dave Barry, and David Sedaris. She grew up in New York City and lives in Michigan with her family. Visit Abby on the web at AbbyVegasAuthor.com.

Reviews for Clean Break

[Nicola · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I struggled to try and finish this book. I eventually gave up. The main characters are boring, and the girl is gullible. The males Russians accent is cringed. The entire storyline is unrealistic and predictable. The sex scene was extremely poor.

[Dorothy Epps · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked it. Sometimes a little confusing. The best part was bonding relationship with the family she was working for. I also always love a happy ending.

[Michele Ashlock · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing beginning to end and I really loved the twist

[Melanie Collins · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved all the interesting characters and the narrator is incredible.

[Brook Dougherty · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic read! Grabbed me immediately, well done! The characters are all unique and well written.

[anglineham · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book with interesting story line. Looses a star for fade to black spicy scenes.

[Samantha Bates · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well written character growth with a big ole bamboozle at the end.

[Jessica Williams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good grief.. such a great read. I loved all aspects of this book. The characters were amazing. But admittedly.. Cynthia and the narration of her character was the best. She drove me crazy at the beginning, but you can't help but love her and her kids. The love story was sweet and the intrigue was enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. Need more from those author. Wonderful five star read!

[noblesmily20 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was awesome and sweet...there were so many twists and the characters were well developed...loved this audiobook

[sandra2sandradine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was beautiful and unexpected.

Seeing the cover and reading the blurb, you'd think, "Ugh, another raunchy mafia love story", but it was subtler and sweeter than that. I also loved how the secondary characters were as lively, if not more, than the main ones.

I really, really enjoyed myself with this novel, and the narrator did an outstanding performance. So, yeah, don't judge a book by its cover because you might miss out on a really good story if you do.

I'll be on the outlook for more books from this author.

[Antoinette · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this story. Could have used more action, but I liked it.

[Nicole Renshaw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Never judge a book by its cover….
I can’t remember how I came across this book, but I’m so glad I did.
Based on the cover I expected it to be just another easy listen. And for the first chapter I still felt that way. Then came the characters. The way that they were developed was amazing. And the storyline was interesting and while sometimes predictable, there was also enough twists to keep in interesting. This was one that I couldn’t wait to find time to listen to.
For an authors first book, it was ridiculously good. It has left me so excited for her next book!

[Jon Dap · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Listened to it for God knows how many times. I enjoyed the storyline where the male protagonist is mysterious and endearing at the same time. Can't believe the reader was able to make her voice sound so good as a guy speaking in Russian.i I hope others will enjoy it as much as I did.

[Jennifer Smith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a great read!! I was excited to see how it was going to end. It was definitely not what I expected but I loved it!!

[Shannon Harvey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not a bad read but needs more background storyline. Writer has potential!

[Jennifer boyd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a different story from what I usually listen to. I have no idea who this author is but I would read another. I laughed often, and was entertained throughout.

[Brandy Grone · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book at times had me frustrated because I wanted a bit more spicy love scenes. The wonderful story of it all kept me hooked though and the ending was soooo worth it. This book gives warm fuzzy feelings of character development in Hallmark movie proportions. I’m a certified sappy person anyway, but the author did a great job bringing my empathy to the forefront for a few characters and that makes the ending so much sweeter.

[Alma · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The combination story of romance against the complicated life of Douglas as secret agent is so thrilling and I so love the happy ending, so beautiful story.

[Celeste · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! This was a very pleasant surprise. There was so much more to this than the usual Romances floating around. This was more of a love story than a romance if you get what I mean. This story kept me rapt the entire time, woven through with a bit of drama and action. But mostly focused on the characters, it had humor, and suspense. Good twists and turns. I loved the narrator! She enhanced the story even more and I will have to see what else she has done.

[sharon dean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting story with complicated twists and turns all over the book. Sort of left a lot of thing unanswered at the end of the book. Thou was still worth reading

[Eleanor English · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thoroughly enjoyed the book kept me engaged the whole story

[peachkuns · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love the characters and their lil quirks and the story was so interesting to listen to, but the ending... how dare you change the accents, especially to an inferior one, should have kept the MC Russian, one less start just for that.

[Mara Young · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a good book, almost feels YA, the plot has the potential to be really riveting.. but it seems a little watered down.
There is no ?️ in this book. Zero. Don’t let the cover fool you.

I also want to echo that the title of this book has basically nothing to do with the content lol

To answer other reviews - the female narrator didn’t bother me, I actually really liked the way she spoke conversationally rather than robot just reading the words off the page with minimal inflection… I didn’t mind her.

[katelyn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How dare you leave me hanging like that!! Good book tho

[April Mercier · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It wasn't bad, could have used more plot or interactions between them. The story didn't have to be a "smut" story but it would have been nice to see more romance was kinda dry in that department.

[Sydney Pietripaoli · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

CAUTION!: CONTAINS FADE TO BLACK! I was very sad that the canoodling faded to black? good book other than that

[debra border · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So much more than I expected! Surprising romance with intrigue, suspense and twists and turns! Loved it! Abby Vegas, I am waiting for your next book!

[MaryAnn Ramsey Wilson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. I almost skipped it because of one bad review. Please listen for yourself and you can see what one person can do to change many people lives.

[Hanna Horton · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I don't see the hype. I can't count how many times I fell asleep while listening to this book. A lot of "poor me, I have the hardest life" whining from the main character Laney. Steamy book... Where? Surprises... Where? Idk where all the reviews are coming from. It's a very predictable, whiney, dramatized over nothing book.

[Ashante Williams · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

(Viktor & Lane): TRIGGERS: drugs, prostititution, bratva, dirty law enforcement, child neglect. HOLY PLOT TWISTS BATMAN!!! THIS BOOK! I have to say that I almost didn't make it through the reading. The story is a slow burn ❤️‍? and it's not extremely detailed in the love scenes. Lane, the heroine, is the POV we read from and I have to say it was tough reading about everything she was going through and having to hear about it constantly. Her constant stressing about money and bills was a complete trigger for me and I can honestly say that I did not want to hear about it for 80% of the book. Viktor, our hero, is quiet but very much an alpha male. He doesn't hesitate to jump right in and help Lane. The two of them together are cute and have great chemistry. Honestly though, I didn't get enough of a buildup for their relationship before the shit hit the fan. There are some hilarious moments with the employer and her family and it breaks up the more serious, stressful moments. The author gives a really great background on both the characters and neither one is for the weak of heart. For this author's first book, I would say it was pretty good and those plot twists… damn. I predicted one but the other slapped my dead in the face. Nice job.