Review - The Breakup Project by Carolyn Miller
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For those of you who don’t follow along in the daily newsletter, you may not know how our review system works. I, the blog owner, have an ongoing list of books I’ve pulled straight from the Christian categories on Amazon. I’ve got three reviewers who choose books to read off the list and review them honestly for all of you here at Christian Book Finds. These reviewers were not paid or given anything other than the book (paid for by me, the blog owner) to do this review. None of us had any contact with the publisher or the authors unless I state otherwise. The opinions are their own and I’ve instructed them to be brutally honest so that readers will be able to decide if this is the right book for them to purchase.
Here’s Patti’s review of The Breakup Project. You can read a bit about Patti at the bottom of this post. It’s the first in a series of hockey romances. They’re described as “slightly sporty Christian contemporary romances.” Amazon has it listed as 370 print pages.
About The Author
Carolyn Miller is an Inspirational romance author who lives in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia with her husband and four children. She has a BA in English Literature and is a big Jane Austen fan. She writes Regency novels and contemporary romances, including her hockey series, Original Six. Carolyn says she “loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives.”
On the author’s website, she tells the story of how the idea for this series came to her after watching the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, where she witnessed an Aussie female athlete holding hands with a US athlete at the closing ceremony. She wondered how two elite athletes from opposite sides of the world could sustain a relationship. Later that year, she and her husband went on a trip that included Boston, Prince Edward Island, Quebec City, Montreal, Muskoka, Niagara Falls and Chicago. These places later became the setting for her hockey series, Original Six.
The Breakup Project Book Description
New Year. New Resolution. New Romance?
What happens when the best-laid plans break a friendship?
As the twin sister of hockey’s hottest forward, romance-loving Bree Karlsson is used to being ignored, leading to a New Year’s resolution to not date any athlete in her attempt to find Mr. Right. But what happens when the man who might prove to be her personal Mr. Darcy is her brother’s hockey-playing best friend?
Mike Vaughan might be happy playing in Boston, but he’d be even happier if Bree could one day see him as more than a good friend. He agrees to help Bree with a special project in the hope she’ll finally see him as something more. But when a misunderstanding ends in a Valentine’s Day disaster, Bree realizes that her breakup project may have broken her friendship with Mike in two. Can she ever redeem her mistake?
This friends-to-more romance has plenty of heart, humor, and swoon-worthy kisses in this first book of the Original Six, a sweet, slightly sporty Christian contemporary romance series.
Patti Stephenson’s Review of The Breakup Project
I’ve read and enjoyed several of Carolyn Miller’s regency romances and was interested to read one of her contemporary fiction stories. “The Breakup Project” is the first book in this new series, and it’s clear that this author has a wonderful ability to have interesting storylines in both genres.
I have to admit at the beginning of this review that I know very little about the sport of ice hockey. I don’t watch or follow that sport and I wondered how that lack of knowledge would affect my enjoyment of the story. I’m happy to say that it didn’t make any difference at all as this book is more character-driven and there’s not much focus on the action on the rink.
The “best friends to romance” storyline is always a favorite of mine and the author presented that theme very well. I liked the characters of Brent, the premiere NHL hockey player; his twin sister Breanna; and their best friend from childhood, Mike, who is also a player in the NHL.
At first, I thought this book was going to be completely light-hearted reading. Breanna’s decided that she’s tired of the attention she gets because of her twin brother’s fame. She makes a New Year’s resolution that she’s not going to date any hockey players for a year. Mike’s at the point that he wants to declare his feelings to Breanna, but her resolution changes all his plans for the year for both of them. Their road to happily-ever-after does not go smoothly and misunderstandings keep each of them wondering about their relationship. They seem to take “one step forward, two steps back” for most of the book and it was entertaining to see their relationship grow.
I also appreciated a more serious aspect to the book which involved Mike and Breanna’s determination to live out their Christian values and the conflict of Brent’s pulling away from his faith. There is a part of the story that I’m not quite sure was necessary which involved a physical threat to Breanna. (There’s a mild scene of a female character being intimidated by a man and she’s uneasy in his presence.) No harm comes, but be aware if this a a type of emotional trigger for you. I wish the author had left that section out of the storyline. I felt that it detracted from the overall theme of the book. However, there’s still fun and faith to be found in this one and the description of the next book in the series looks promising.
I voluntarily received a copy of this book from Christian Book Finds. All opinions are my own.
Where To Find The Breakup Project by Carolyn Miller
About the Reviewer
Patti Stephenson has been avid reader ever since she read her first “Nancy Drew” book many years ago. A retired elementary/middle school teacher, she enjoys doing wildlife/landscape photography with Mike, her husband of 45 years. They love doing photography road trips across America, especially in the National Parks. She also loves doing Bible study with the ladies in her church and blogging about books. You can find her blog at http://www.shelivestoread.com.
