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    2 Book Lovers Reviews

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​​​Falling to Pieces has all of the elements that make a student/teacher romance so appealing.  With any forbidden romance, we are drawn to the illicit nature of it.  We are intrigued by a love story that develops under circumstances that society doesn’t condone.  It’s the threat and fear of the couple’s relationship being discovered that keeps us riveted to the pages of their story. 

Bree is a character that you can’t help but feel for.  Her life has been filled with sadness, loneliness, and abuse.  While most seventeen year old girls go to school and hang out with their friends, Bree’s life consists of going to school, cooking and cleaning.  She yearns for companionship and kindness.

Axel Taylor is a young, eager, and observant teacher who wants to do right by his students.  When he sees that Bree is trying to conceal a mark on the side of her face, he is more than a little concerned.  While Bree is adamant about keeping her home life a secret, Mr. Taylor’s kindness and compassion toward her eventually breaks down her defenses and she confides in him. 

Since Bree is a lonely girl, she enjoys having someone to talk to.  Their interactions begin innocently enough.  Axel just wants to know that she is safe.  Bree is just happy to have someone caring in her life.  But soon enough their feelings begin to evolve into something deeper.

I’m not going to delve into all of the details of their romance, but I will just say that it was impossible not to want them to be together – I didn’t care if it was wrong.  There was just something sweet and loving about the two of them together.  Did they know that their relationship was wrong?  Absolutely.  They did try to keep their relationship innocent.  It was a valiant effort.

What made this book stand out for me was the way that it was written.  It begins in the present day, but then the author takes her readers back six years earlier to when Bree first met her teacher.  We get to witness their interactions and watch their relationship unfold.  Word by word, we watch them fall in love.  I loved getting to see how everything first began for them.  When the book goes back to present day, I was able to understand everything that they had lost and what they may have gained in those years that they were apart.  While they still had deep feelings for each other, their lives were very different now.  Would their love get a second chance?

Falling to Pieces was an emotional glimpse into the lives of two people who weren’t supposed to fall in love.  It revealed the aftermath of their forbidden love and how their lives were forever changed.  

*4 Stars