Rule Breaker
Author: Kat & Stone Bastion
Reviewer: VampBard
Rating: A+
What I’m Talking About:
Touted as a modern day Romeo and Juliet story, I was intrigued. I’ve always been a huge sucker for Shakespearean redux. An earlier story, modeled on the Bard’s R&J was West Side Story. Here endeth your literature lesson. I promise. I did see a few parallels to these other stories, but what I never expected was two stories of personal growth and personal acceptance.
What a message to convey to readers. While Mase and Leilani both come from vastly different worlds, the racial bias, and familial expectations are something we all struggle to overcome. It’s a real thing today. We’re all guilted into fulfilling a dream someone else has for us. Becoming someone that’s out to chase the almighty dollar. Our worth as people is measured by our bank accounts. And that’s a sad, sad state.
I was so uplifted by Mase’s journey, as well as Leilani’s, I took time to journal and review some previous entries. And part of the reason I had to go back was because of these six words, strung into three sentences: Good thoughts. Good words. Good deeds. I really love reading stories like this, because they’re uplifting and help me walk my own journey.
But it wasn’t just a really awesome, feel-good book. The Bastions bring us damaged characters. Their personal demons are larger than anything I’ve had to deal with, fortunately. But what hope! If Mase and Leilani can overcome their challenges, surely lil ol’ me is perfectly capable.
I skimmed through one section. There’s a cancer-related death, and that’s my hard-limit, folks. I don’t care how it’s framed or gift-wrapped. So, I missed a little of Leilani there. I’m pretty pleased even without that aspect, though.
And what I’m even more impressed with is the description. Rich. Description. I’m not even kidding. I felt like I was riding a wave a couple times. I felt as though I was sitting on a beach looking at stars. I was living a little of the island life on a dreary fall day in Michigan.
Pick up Rule Breaker It’s the second title in the Unbreakable series. If you read the No Weddings series, you’ll recognize Mase. Kinda. He’s a more introspective and less jokester. I still totally adore him, though.
My Rating: A+ Personal Favorite
About the Book:
Leilani Kealoha wants to be set free. Of family expectations. Of generations of prejudice.
Chafing at rules made by the proud Hawaiian men in her family, she yearns to discover herself and hungers to explore the world. Her adventuresome heart? Longs for something even greater, deeper.
The last thing she expects is an East Coast haole surfer to hold the key to everything.
Mason Price is done walking his parents’ path. Done with social acceptance—with cold politics.
On a surfing quest to reinvent himself, Mase finds an exotic beauty standing on his towel. But it’s her feisty bargaining that catches him off guard. When he challenges her with a “Truth or Shots” drinking game, she unwittingly reveals more than she’d intended about herself…and him.
The raw truth stuns him: She’s suffered like he has, is lost like he is—keeps secrets like he does.
But will young love and shared situations be enough to conquer racial and cultural divides?
Lines in the sand…were meant to be crossed..
Release Date: November 7. 2016
Publisher: Kat & Stone Bastion
Series: Rule Breaker #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): paperback (400 pages), e-book
Book Source: Author
Purchase Info:
Amazon
Reviews in the Series:
Heartbreaker by Kat & Stone Bastion (Unbreakable #1)