Torn by Carian Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
While reading this book I ping-ponged between wanting to walk away and soaking up every juicy detail. My biggest problem was Kenzi’s character which I found lacking. When we first meet Kenzi she’s 17 and quiet lackluster in personal interests/hobbies, future goals, and socializing. She just comes across as a follower without any clear ambitions or motivations driving her life. Sure she follows along to help Toren with the dog rescue but he and his family are the driving force behind that operation. She’s not passionate about music like her parents, academic, athletic, etc. Therefore it was hard for me to care what happened in the story when I didn’t feel any need to root for. Rich kid living with her rockstar dad, no job – just hobbies to while away her existence.
Toren (in my humble opinion) carried this book. In stark contrast to Kenzi’s lack of personality & interests Toren made up for it in spades! Former rocker, motorcycle mechanic and garage owner, animal rescuer, motorcycle club member, die-hard romantic… perhaps a bit too much going on but I can’t complain after the utter void that was Kenzi.
There are more books in the series and I haven’t decided yet whether to keep reading them. The writing was good and the plot moved among at an appropriate pace.