Review: Breakaway by Deirdre Martin

I am a big fan of sports romances because I get to picture all the hot and sweaty men running around half-naked in the locker rooms.  So when I saw the cover of Breakaway by Deirdre Martin I was all over it.  Unfortunately, the cover is very misleading.  While the book is part of her New York Blades series it is set in Ballycraig, Ireland and really has nothing to do with sports.

Erin is a classic case of the one that was left behind.  Rory, her longtime boyfriend, left her in their hometown to go play hockey in the big city for the New York Blades.  He didn’t even have the decency to tell her to her face he was breaking up with her though.  He called her on the phone.  After having dated her since they were 14.  On the phone.  Already the guy was giving me warm fuzzies.  And while he dumped on her he also broke all connections with his best friend, Jake and pretty much the whole town.

Normally this would make me side with the female however Erin really wasn’t much better.  When Rory dumped her she lost a ton of weight, never left her house and basically turned herself into an indentured servant for her mother’s B&B.  She is 25, and although she is attending online classes for her art degree, she lives at home and does laundry and the grocery shopping for her mom.  She can’t break free and doesn’t seem to be making too much effort to do anything else.  She was lame and boring and I had a hard time working up any sympathy for her.

Enter Rory back into the picture because he has realized what a huge mistake he made and how empty his life is without Erin.  He has returned to Ballycraig to win Erin and everyone else back.  He is pretty cocky and thinks it will be a piece of cake.  Of course, since it is a tiny town and they really have nothing else to do, they all remember his betrayal and do not welcome him back with open arms.  At first.  But then little by little he worms his way back into everyone’s hearts.

Booo.  I was not happy about the worming back in.  When I read how devastated Erin was I thought to myself how I would find it very hard to forgive someone who had done something like that to me.  But she does.  She forgives him with what I would say is little effort on his part.  He hangs around for a couple of months, chauffeurs her around (since she never learned how to drive!), and pretty much pesters her every chance he gets.  He is very confident that she will get over what is troubling her if he just reminds her how good it was between them.

And it wasn’t just Erin that folded like a cheap suit.  Jake couldn’t seem to hold a grudge either.  They came up with this ridiculous competition where they would play games and the winner would get to take Erin somewhere.  No matter that Erin states many times she doesn’t want to go anywhere with either of them, they still play the games and she still goes.  It was very juvenile and unappealing.

I was pretty disappointed in the book.  I wanted sports and didn’t get anything like that.  I didn’t really care for the characters either.  Final grade- D.

Favorite Quote:

Now here he was, trailing her down the street, thinking all he had to do was say her name and she’d fold.  The man had a screw loose.

Erin?

Oh, Rory!  How are you?  I’ve been wondering what you’ve been up to since you messed up my life.  Oh, come in, let’s have a cup of tea and catch up.  It’s so good to see you again, you egotistical heartless wanker of a prat.

Rating: D
Breakaway by Deirdre Martin
February 7th 2012 by Berkley
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