I believe I’m the last stop on the train for the Break Me Like A Promise book blog tour today! If you missed my review of the first book, Hold Me Like A Breath, click here! Now onto the sequel!

Break Me Like A Promise by Tiffany Schmidt
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance, Thriller
ISBN: 978-0802737830
Source: Received ARC From Publisher
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No one is unbreakable.

All Magnolia Vickers has ever wanted was to follow father’s path as head of the Family Business. But new legislation is poised to destroy the Family’s operations in the black-market organ trade and Maggie’s recent behavior has wrecked the business-savvy reputation she’s worked her whole life to build.

She’s given an ultimatum: shape up or step aside.

Then Maggie messes up: she downloads a virus onto her father’s computer, and must sneak it off-estate for repair. When Alex, a tech whiz, uncovers the type of information on the machine, he offers Maggie a choice: her Family can give him a kidney, or he’ll irreparably scramble the data. Maggie agrees, but has no intention of keeping her promise or ever seeing him again. That night Alex shows up at her Family estate with copies of confidential Family files and a shocking revelation—the kidney is for him.

The Vickers aren’t willing to let Alex out of their sight, so he moves onto their estate and Maggie is assigned to be his keeper. A task she resents and he enjoys making as challenging as possible. But procuring black market organs is becoming increasingly difficult, and as Alex’s health declines, she’s surprised to find herself falling for him.

Like it or not, Maggie must accept that if she wants to save Alex’s life and carve out a place in the new legalized organ business, she’s going to have to fight for both.

***

Whoa! Now this is how you write a killer sequel. Break Me Like A Promise was even better than Hold Me Like A Breath! In the sequel, we go from the NorthEast to Texas and instead of following Penny, we follow her brother, Carter’s longtime girlfriend, Magnolia (Maggie) who is grieving shortly after Carter’s murder.

Maggie would be a sophomore in college had she stayed in school so this is upper YA and I haven’t read an upper YA in awhile so this was so totally refreshing and just what I needed to mix up the Read pile.

I loved Maggie’s voice! It’s so much more humorous, confident, and no holds barred aka so much more fun. Yes, her privilege shines through and is often deserving of eye rolls (moreso in the beginning and middle than the end) but aside from that, Maggie was a total riot!

It was so great to see this whole other side of the Family and even though Penny does make a few appearances, I had a blast following Maggie who is pretty much the complete opposite of Penny. She doesn’t easily bruise like Penny but she is breakable. And I can’t even tell you how refreshing it is to read a story that is unapologetic about its broken main character. Heart broken and broken in many other ways. This is Maggie with no filter. Take it or leave it.

Following Maggie as she tries to prove herself to the Family while grieving and growing alone (how lonely that is) and finding new love (interracial love again, holla! Or should I say… hola!) made for such an intense and captivating read.

We’re following a girl who is living in a family that lays out her future, her expectations, her truth, only for her to one day break down those boundaries and find her own.

It takes blackmail and risk taking and many tests of loyalty. It takes betrayal and losing trust in the people who always had it for her, gaining trust in the people she never realize did. It takes a lot for Maggie, who knows her worth and is constantly on the road to proving that to everyone else, to really learn how to use the power she has as the heir to her father’s empire, to not just her benefit. Having power is great but knowing that it’s not all about you and knowing how to use it that power genuinely for something greater than yourself is even better. Watching that growth in Maggie was so exciting to see. I actually wish we got a bit more and it didn’t have to end.

I also love that Maggie is such a feminist.She demands respect and equity. On the other hand, I love that she is young and naive and she also knows when she’s wrong (even when she doesn’t admit it right away). She wants validation and she goes against the grain. These are real people that aren’t depicted in fiction enough so this was wonderful to see.

It was so great to see a young girl willing to grow to be better for herself and not just for other people. For so long, she does strive to be better for other people but she eventually comes to a realization that she needs to do what she needs to do in order to be better for herself. Both are important to her and both become important to the reader.

That said, what a fascinating concept to follow again, human organ donor trafficking. Which is illegal. In the sequel, we get more into the politics of it all and without spoiling anything, I really, really loved how this story line concluded.

And the romance. It’s so amazing the people that come into our lives who help us see the world in ways we maybe never would have, could have opened ourselves up to otherwise. Alex is that person for Maggie and he comes into her life at the perfect time in the most mundane way ever. I loved it. Most of all, I love that this romance was a slow burn and didn’t really feel like a romance until more than halfway through. Best of all, Maggie didn’t turn sacrifice who she was or throw anyone under the bus to validate this relationship!!!! (I can’t even tell you how happy this makes me! Happy dance!!!).

In closing, Break Me Like A Promise is a remarkable story about life and death and what breaks us and what keeps our hearts on the mend. It’s laugh out loud funny at one moment and incredibly intense in the next. It’s got so much voice, so much power, such fantastic writing and storytelling. Definitely a must read if you enjoyed the first book. You haven’t seen anything yet. Finally, this story is inspired by the Brothers Grimm Frog Prince for those wondering! Okay, enough reading about the book. Get your copy and get to reading!

Break Me Like A Promise by Tiffany Schmidt is available today.