Book: The Heart Breaker by Stephanie Alves
Reviewed by Maggie Hayes
Rating: God Tier
The Heart Breaker by Stephanie Alves
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
There is so much to gush about in this book: the true enemies-to-lovers tension, the scalding-hot spicy scenes, and the themes of parental abandonment and found family. My heart was equally soaring and crushed as I watched Cole and Aurora on their path to falling in love.
Aurora is such a multifaceted character, with more layers to her personality than an onion has. We get to see her give as good as she gets while trading barbs with Cole, strong and fierce in the face of discovering her longtime boyfriend cheating on her, and soft and sweet once she finds love. I love how human she is, capable of making bad decisions and having flaws. Maybe it's our shared daddy issues (thanks for the ugly tears, Stephanie!), or my appreciation for women who aren't one-note. Either way, she's making it onto my Mount Rushmore of FMCs.
And Cole? The tattooed (and pierced!!) hottie with a temper and a secret soft center for his younger sister? Total whatever is stronger than catnip. He's deeply wounded by his traumatic upbringing, and it's left him pushing away anyone who gets too close. Watching him fall for Aurora came with so much personal growth, and once this man is down, he is down BAD.
Not enough can be said about the enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Aurora and Cole. This isn't one of those books where the tension disappears after a couple of chapters, and the characters realize they secretly loved each other all along. Cole genuinely hates Aurora, believing she ruined his life in high school, and Aurora has every reason to hate the way he treats her. It's purely the hottest sex imaginable that brings them together at first, and it's a hard-fought battle before feelings ever enter the picture. Basically, the perfect enemies-to-lovers romance.
I can't believe this is the end of the Colton U Playbook series, but what a satisfying conclusion. Stephanie Alves has cemented herself as one of my must-read authors, even though I know I'll always need a box of tissues nearby because I will shed literal tears over her characters. I can't wait to see how she tortures me next.
Thank you to the author and Love Notes PR for providing an ARC.