Real Men Don't Break Hearts: A Real Men Novel
By Coleen Kwan
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Ally Griffin is horrified to learn her new landlord is none other than the infuriating playboy Nate Hardy—the man she blames for getting her jilted at the altar six years ago. Plus, now her ex-fiancé is back in their hometown of Burronga, Australia, to marry his beautiful new bride…for real this time. Everybody's treating Ally with kid gloves, as though she's still heartbroken, but she's just fine, thank you very much.
Nate Hardy is tired of his high-flying city career and bachelor lifestyle and is looking for something more real. The last thing he needs is to find himself undeniably attracted to Ally, the woman with whom he never saw eye-to-eye. But is he even capable of what Ally wants and deserves? As Ally tries to pull her life out of the rut it's fallen in, she doesn't count on Nate stirring up her emotions. A short-term fling with the resident bad boy is practically irresistible, but only if she can guard her heart…
Each book in the Real Men series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 Real Men Don't Break Hearts
Book #2 White Hot Holiday
Book #3 Real Men Don't Quit
Book #4 One Real Man
Coleen Kwan
Coleen Kwan has been a bookworm all her life. At school, English was her favourite subject, but for some reason she decided on a career in IT. After many years of programming, she wondered what else there was in life - and discovered writing. She loves writing both contemporary romance and steampunk romance. Coleen lives in Sydney, Australia with her partner and two children. When she isn't writing, she enjoys avoiding housework, eating chocolate, and watching The Office
Read more from Coleen Kwan
His Millionaire Maid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Real Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBaiting the Boss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReal Men Don't Quit: A Real Men Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhite-Hot Holiday: A Real Men Novella Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShort Soup Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Love, Dogs And Other Catastrophes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for Real Men Don't Break Hearts
6 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is the first book by Coleen I’ve read. I have to admit, in the beginning I wasn’t really into the book at all. But it got so much better.Ally Griffin is a single twenty-five-year old woman living in her hometown of Burronga, Australia. Ally owns and runs a gift shop in downtown Burronga that once belonged to her grandmother. She also lives above the gift shop. Ally pretty much lives the life of an old-maid. She hasn’t really had a serious/long-term relationship since she was nineteen and she doesn’t date very often.Nate Hardy is a twenty-nine-year-old bachelor who grew up in Burronga but left and made it big in the financial world of Sydney. He’s tired of the life he’s been living and is looking for a change. He’s decided to give up his lifestyle in Sydney and move back to Burronga and re-open the landscaping business his brother Robbie once owned. As a child/teen growing up in Burronga, Nate was far from being a model citizen. Burronga is small and Nate has a long road ahead of him to live down the memories people have of him. Ally and Nate are NOT fond of each other. The dislike stems from over six years ago when Ally dated Nate’s cousin Seth Bailey. Nate thought Ally was a Goody-Two shoes who looked down on him. Ally blames Nate for Seth Bailey (Nate’s cousin) standing her up on their wedding day when she was nineteen-years-old.In what seems to be a spur of the moment decision, Nate purchases the building which houses Ally’s gift shop and apartment. When Nate made the purchase, he had no idea it was the building where Ally’s shop was located. Nate was simply trying to make a mends for the past.Ally finds out about Nate’s purchase of her building the same day she finds out her ex-fiance is going to get married in their hometown. Ally thinks Nate is just coming around and buying her building to stick it to her once more. Everyone around Ally thinks that because she hasn’t had a serious relationship or even gone out with that many men since getting stood up by Seth that she’s still pining over him. Real Men Don’t Break Hearts is a wonderful romance. It’s a story of a woman who must learn to stand on her own two feet and stop allowing herself to be a victim of her own life. It’s the story of a man who is trying to make up for his less than stellar past and allow people to see who he really is.I look forward to reading more books by Coleen Kwan and the future books in this series.Source: PublisherReviewed for Read Your Writes Book Reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This review can also be found on my blog.
Real Men Don't Break Hearts was a delightful read. Funny and at times emotional as well. Ally Griffin once had her future all planned out. She was going to marry her high-school sweetheart, have kids, and the house with the white picket fence. On the day of her wedding, Seth stands her up at the altar leaving her broken-hearted and humiliated. She blames Nate Hardy, Seth's cousin, for having talked him out of marrying Ally. That was six years ago. Now Seth is returning to Burronga, Australia and he's getting married. If that news isn't enough to send Ally into a bit of a tailspin, the reappearance of Nate Hardy certainly is. Especially since he just became her new landlord. Her dislike for him hasn't waned, but could it be that she has the wrong impression about the town's most notorious bad boy? And could Nate have been wrong about Ally as well? Maybe he wasn't so far off the mark when he told her that Ally and Seth never belonged together.
Ally Griffin was a sweet heroine. I liked her personality for the most part. She was devoted to her family, even if she appeared to be the door mat for her grandmother and older sister a few times throughout. She was so concerned about not letting her Nana down, that she had trouble standing up for herself until it became almost impossible not to. Then there's her sister who is happily married, runs a business with her husband, and they're about to have another baby. The family's concern and interference in Ally's love life was at times funny and annoying. What I did like about Ally was that despite the hurt she'd been through, she did make an effort to separate the Nate from her past with the Nate of the present.
Nate Hardy used to be a troublemaker with a bad reputation and a police record. His only real family was his older brother, Robbie. Robbie wasn't a role model by any means, but he was safe. Now Nate is a successful investment manager, and he's returning to Burronga for good. He wants to re-establish his now deceased brother's landscaping business, but he quickly learns that small town people have long memories, and his brother had burned his fair share of bridges in the community. Then there's Ally. She's not the stuck up girl he perceived her to be, and of course she's changed physically. Enough for Nate to sit up and take notice.
I loved the chemistry between Nate and Ally. It was a constant mixture of lust and hate. Of course the inevitable happens and they decide that scratching an itch without emotions will satisfy them in the mean time, not. The love scenes were fade to black, which didn't bother me at all. The focus is not on the sex, but what happens when they continue of the river called Denial. Though the fallout broke my heart a little, I think it made Ally really evaluate her life for the first time. She became a stronger person for it. As for Nate, he learned what it felt like to be loved for the first time, despite his past. If you like a sweet romance about self discovery, acceptance, and second chances, then this is the book for you.
Disclaimer: My thanks to Entangled Publishing for the review copy. A positive review in exchange was not promised.