Two Halves of a Broken Heart by Jade Royal. Published on March 13, 2018 by Miss Candice Presents | MCP Standalone or Series:  Standalone Page length: 274 Crown rating: 4 crowns Reviewer: Parker How long did it take to finish? A few days Sometimes craving something, will make you cling to what you want... even if it’s not good for you. Lucien Ray and Irys Black knew well of this sentiment. Despite being complete strangers, both Lucien and Irys desperately craved the same thing. Love. They both wanted to feel that undeniable love with a partner that would stick by their side no matter what. But they were looking for love in all the wrong places.

Lucien, as someone diagnosed with a disease, felt his chances at love was minimal. Irys, a confident and curvaceous woman, comfortable with her weight, but as a larger woman, her options for love were slim. Eventually reality sets in, and the both of them realize that the love they clung onto wasn't as fulfilling as they had hoped for it to be. But then fate intervened. Lucien and Irys stumbled into each other’s lives. The first encounter was so subtle, yet the both of them couldn’t deny the enthrallment they felt towards each other. When they both realized they had broken hearts that needed mending their connection further strengthened. But like a virus, the insecurities of their past failed relationships rooted itself into their new relationship and threatened to corrupt what they were trying to build. In this standalone novel, take a journey with Lucien and Irys to see both halves of a broken heart attempt to come together in order to be whole again.

What I liked:
I liked that the book was outside of the normal urban romance theme. The main male character wasn’t overwhelmingly obnoxious or controlling, and had no issues putting his emotions on display. There was a consistent focus on the two main characters, unlike a lot of books that start out focusing on the main characters but by the end of the book the supporting characters have taken over.

What I did not like:
The book is over-dramatic and highly unrealistic. Irys truly made it hard for me to continue reading because she was naive, weak and inconsistent. One minute insults about her weight didn’t bother her, and then the next she was in near depression over how heavy she believed herself to be. Her sister’s actions of moving in and sleeping with Irys ex all over the house, disrespecting their mother and even the nurse was far fetched and way over the top. Same with Lucien. While I liked his gentle nature, his insecurity about no one ever wanting to date him besides Rosa because of him having diabetes was severely dramatized. Cancer or an incurable STD I can understand, but diabetes, really? Luna also made the book hard to push through because she came off more as a thorn in the side than an overprotective older sister. Honestly, the only character in the book and I truly liked was the mother.

Would I recommend this? Read it again? Read the next book in the series?
I wouldn’t recommend it because it wasn’t a great read for me, and I probably wouldn’t read the next book in the series either.

Rating:
I’d rate it two stars.