Pieces of Me (The Wilder Brothers #9)

Carrie Ann Ryan

Blurb:

Gabriel Wilder.

Rock God.

Voice of an angel.

And in love with his best friend’s sister.

Resisting Briar Ashford has been one of the hardest things he’s ever done.

Until the one night he breaks his promise.

Only when tragedy strikes, forgiveness slips through his fingers.

Briar Ashford never let herself fall for her brother’s best friend.

Until the night she did.

She wanted to live in the shadows, writing the songs for the stars who shined the brightest—not finding a way to co-parent with the man who refuses to pick up his guitar again.

The world is waiting for Gabriel Wilder to rise from the ashes. Only, first, he’ll have to figure out if he’s ready to finally let himself love the one woman who never knew had a claim to his heart all along.

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4.75 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

I really hate it when an author has me crying almost more than she has me falling in love with her stars, but even more than previous novels in this series, Carrie Ann Ryan was determined to tear our hearts out repeatedly in this story of loss, healing, second chance love. There is so much happening in this novel, both painful and healing that I honestly had to take a day off from reading just to process everything before I could start my next book so that I didn’t have an emotional hangover affecting my next read! I knew that I was going to enjoy Gabriel’s story, but I wasn’t prepared for what was coming my way, in any shape or form, but I am very glad I had the chance to enjoy it and can warm others to be prepared for the coming heartbreak and trauma before the immense love between him and Briar that will truly change your life and perspective on emotions. Carrie Ann never fails to dig deep into each of us and remind us of what made us fall in love with romance and teach us repeatedly the bottomless potential of the human heart for recovery, love, and redemption.

Gabriel Wilder has finally found the pinnacle in his career, worldwide acclaim, a true connection with his band, and he is living the life that he always thought he wanted playing his music to the masses—but he isn’t truly bone-deep happy like his siblings and cousins that have settled down and built homes in recent years as he looked on. The one woman that his heart has always yearned for is the one he can’t have, even though they gave in one night, and when tragedy strikes it only drives a bigger wedge between them. Briar Ashwood has loved Gabriel since she was a teenager, but she always new he was not going to be hers as there was too much at risk for them to have a chance together, but when their worlds crumble around them, they are left with no choice but to face the consequences. Now Gabriel and Briar have to come to terms with their role in one another’s life, but the more they are together, the more their needs and emotional connection is undeniable and soon they give into their chemistry once again. Can they finally find a way to be a family, despite everything that has always stood between them, or will all the hurt and pain that still threatens their future push them apart for the last time?

Gabriel Wilder has got to be one of the most broken and screwed up of all the boys we have seen, if not one of the worst of all of Ms. Ryan’s characters. In the beginning of his story, he is simply a melancholy guy, dealing with being left behind while his family changes and he refuses to acknowledge why he isn’t happy, but when tragedy strikes he closes the world out and essentially gives up on the world and himself. It was really hard to see such a bright light so dimmed that I was afraid he was wink out, but thankfully he was forced to wake up when his future basically slapped him upside the head in the form of Briar and the consequences of their one night together. I was thrilled to see how he stepped up for her, not only physically, but emotionally –as much as he could at the time—as he tried to show he that he would be there for her and the baby. He obviously still had a lot of work and healing to do even if he didn’t want to admit it, but it was easy to see that he never stopped loving Briar and would do everything he possibly could to be there for her and try to make it up to her that he had been a ghost for months, including forcing himself out of his self-imposed seclusion so that he could be a member of the world again for her and the baby. While he continued for far too long to hold a small piece of himself back from her, almost too long, preventing him from fully committing, he did finally get the kick in the @$$ he needed and give all of himself to the woman he’d always loved and show us the strong, brave, sweet, and loving man he always was under the layers of pain.

Briar has her own trauma to work through in order to be everything she needs, not only for herself and her baby, but always for Gabriel and their family unit as a whole. Briar it seems has a very rocky childhood, which we get some glimpses of (but I imagine we will get more in the coming series about her family), but the biggest loss for her is her brother and dealing with being without the man she’s always loved while she tried to handle it. She luckily had the love and support of her siblings, in their own strange ways, as she dealt with her pregnancy and reclaiming her independence after her trauma, but once Gabriel steps up and they are able to form their partnership it gives her much more breathing room to get back to herself. I loved seeing how she blossomed under the love and care of the Wilder woman and even as she interacted with the other Wilder men, but seeing her loving Gabriel and their child made it obvious that she just really needed that love and healing. She is smart, sassy, self-reliant, and private which makes living as under the microscope of being with Gabriel difficult, but she refuses to give up the man she loves when the chips are down and I loved her even more for that strength and determination.

Pieces of Me is truly a story of two people that are meant to be together but have fought is so long they aren’t sure how to live any other way and then when real catastrophe tears their lives apart they have to find a way to rebuild, this time together for the good of their future. Briar is a bright light that is determined to show the man she loves that while she doesn’t need anything from him, she won’t give up on him and let him drown in his own pain, even if he wants the world to leave him alone. Gabriel has truly allowed the trauma to bury him and he doesn’t care, until he is forced to come to terms with his past and future all at once and he will never again let Briar down, even if it forced him to deal with the pain and heal from the breaks. Together Briar and Gabriel will change their future and let their past become softer and less painful, though they will never forget those they’ve lost and that meant the most to them, showing that love truly can conquer all, even if the way to conquer is just to show us that love never dies. Their passion when they finally allow themselves to feel it through the pain is hot enough to burn through the pain and to continue to burn all through their live together. I am looking forward to seeing more of them together and the healing I know they will continue to strive for, in the finale of the Wilder series (Endlessly Yours) as well as in the new series all about Briar’s many siblings (Ashford Creek). Carrie Ann Ryan is one of those authors that tears out your heart just to make it grow three sizes bigger before she forces it back into your chest, so be prepared for the pain as you lose yourself to Pieces of Me.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.