Broken by Love (Basin Lake #2)

At sixteen, Emma Chambers has a mother who drinks too much and a father who doesn’t pay enough attention to her. When her science teacher, Matthew Thatcher, takes an interest, she thinks she’s found a supportive friend. But when the relationship becomes physical and is exposed, Emma must face the truth of what the man she trusted did to her as well as the long-lasting consequences of their union.

Three years later, Emma is nineteen and making a habit of sneaking into nightclubs with her friend, Angela. There, she attempts to numb the pain of her past with men, music, and most importantly alcohol. Blindsided into accompanying her ex-boyfriend to Seattle’s hottest club, Rampage, she meets John, a tall, gorgeous guy with the most beautiful blue-gray eyes she’s ever seen. He ignites in her a hopeful spark that burns through her numbness. But can Emma believe a man like John, handsome, successful and established, could love a girl like her once her painful secrets come to light?

John Mercer’s life has been planned out for him since he was a little boy, expected to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a corporate lawyer while being paired with the woman his mother deems perfect. When he starts to push back, ending his relationship and reevaluating his professional future, he meets Emma. She’s the beautiful girl dancing at the nightclub he and his friends are at, and when he spots her, he’s left a little breathless. His best friend, Denny, is interested in the chestnut-haired beauty too, but, as John and Emma embark on a blossoming romance, a far bigger threat looms. It will force John to reexamine his own past and decide how far he’ll go to protect the woman he has fallen so desperately in love with.

Broken by Love is book two of The Basin Lake Series and may be read as a standalone novel.