Book Review: Breaking Away Series Boxed Set by Meli Raine

Meli Raine Suspense Book 1

The son and stepdaughter of rival drug dealers, Chase Halloway and Allie Boden know the odds are stacked against them, but love doesn't care about odds. Love only wants to find a way.

Chase Halloway knows he'll take over his father's empire when old Galt Halloway's done, but he has dreams. Plans that have nothing to do with the drug ring his father's so carefully built since Chase's mom died years ago. Untamed and unmoored, when he sees Allie for the first time he realizes maybe the future doesn't have to be so lonely...

Protected by Chase during a blow-out brawl in her stepfather's bar, Allie can't believe the tattooed, muscled man who has eyes only for her really wants her...forever. With a past marred by her mother's death and a stepfather who won't let her leave for sinister reasons she doesn't understand, she wants to choose Chase and her own fate.

Drawn together by an attraction so strong they can't find words for it, and unable to resist a physical temptation so strong they can't deny it, can Chase and Allie's love survive kidnapping, murder, false accusations and more?

The Breaking Away Series Boxed Set contained the entire romantic suspense trilogy: Finding Allie, Chasing Allie, Keeping Allie. Each is a full-length novel, and by the end of book three Chase and Allie get the happily ever after they so richly deserve.

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My Review:

Finding Allie

7/17/2016

I'm really liking this twist on the Romeo and Juliet tale. It's pretty obvious that the children of rival drug dealers aren't going to be allowed to fall in love with each other, but in spite of that the chemistry between Chase and Allie is unstoppable. I'm not sure if Allie's really naive or if she's been unconsciously hiding from the truth. And Chase is a little rough around the edges but so amazingly gentle with Allie. They'll be perfect together once they can get past both fathers. 1/29/2019 Coming back to this now that I know some of what's to come has made me love this book even more. I know what I've read, now I'm anxious to discover what I've missed.

Chasing Allie I’m actually kind of glad I’ve read ahead, and that I’m familiar with the other works of the author behind this alter ego. I would have missed so many inside jokes otherwise. And for as heavy as this book gets by the end, I was grateful for that additional levity. I’m a bit perplexed by the need for this book in the series. I understand that there’s some important stuff that happens in this book to set the stage for what’s to come. But there’s also a lot of this book that didn’t feel necessary. I loved the opportunity to watch Allie and Chase get closer. And to see what the relationship with her sister was really like. But for what’s contained in this particular book, I don’t know if we needed all of it. I’m hoping this background information will make more sense in context with one of the next books. Keeping Allie Even though I’ve read books from further forward in this world and thought I knew what was coming, I wasn’t at all prepared to deal with what truly happens in this book. This story takes us spinning through dark places to happy reunions and everything in between. Allie and Chase go through a lot in this book. I can’t completely reconcile some of Chase’s words and actions in the situation, but I can understand just how outside of normal the situation is and why those actions may not altogether ring true. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books I’ve missed from this author.