Down Shift (Driven #8) by K. Bromberg
Available October 4, 2016
Synopsis:
The New York Times bestselling Driven series continues with a standalone story about finding love where you least expect it…
Behind the wheel, racing champion Zander Donavan is at the top of his game. But after too much excess in his personal life, he’s forced to step away. He needs to accomplish something all on his own—outside of his famous father’s shadow.
Getty Caster is running away from the abuse that clouds her past. She thinks she’s found the perfect escape—until she discovers a stranger in the beachside cottage she’d been promised. He’s undeniably sexy, but she’s there to heal. Alone.
Before long though, fighting with each other turns into fighting their attraction. And giving into desire sets off a chain reaction that has their pasts colliding. With an unexpected love on the line, can they overcome the fallout to build a future?
My Review:
K. Bromberg continues to surprise with this strikingly mature and deeply-felt romance! Although Zander is the son of Colton Donavan from the Driven series, this book can absolutely stand on its own. Down Shift is an incredibly sexy and emotional story. Zander and Getty’s book reminds me why I love reading contemporary romance. A definite must-read!
Zander was always one of my favorite characters from the ‘Driven’ series. He was adopted by Colton and Rylee as a child but now he is a grown man tormented by personal demons. He is tortured and making poor decisions and living a crazy life. Well, that doesn’t fly when you’re the son of the renowned Colton Donavan and Zander is promptly fired by his own father from the racing team. Colton tells Zander to cool off and come back when he can be a responsible member of the famed racing team.
Hateful words are exchanged between father and son and Zander takes off. The Donavan clan are one tight-knit bunch, but no one knows where Zander is. It was heartbreaking to read about the pain that his family must have been going through while Zander sorted himself out.
Getty is also trying to make a fresh start and get back on her feet. She is running from something or someone and trusts absolutely no one. She is living a very simple life in a cottage while working in a local bar. Getty and Zander quite literally run into each other in the middle of the night in the MOST unexpected way!
‘I force myself to look away because . . . well, because he’s a stranger. In my house. Naked. And oh my God, something is wrong with me, because I’m not running and calling 911 like I should.’
Getty and Zander’s romance is a slow-build, based on trust and friendship and heat. The author takes time to create her characters and their relationship and so the reader really gets to ‘know’ these two characters. They are both in pain, but can they save each other from their pasts?
The Prologue was filled with emotion for me, I literally cried while reading the heated between Colton and his beloved son Zander. This intense emotional connection with the main characters continued throughout the story. ‘Down Shift’ is THE perfect mix of steamy romance, emotion, light-hearted humor and suspense.
K. Bromberg really knows how to create broken characters who learn to put their past suffering behind them. Getty and Zander have been though so much pain you wonder if they will ever be able to open their hearts again. That pain is what makes their ultimate happiness so beautiful and meaningful.
‘The invisible scars are the ones that cut the deepest and stay with you the longest.’
I fell in love with Zander in ‘Down Shift’ and his story was everything I hoped for: sexy, emotional, funny and very mature. Fans of the ‘Driven’ series will be thrilled to see Colton and Rylee make brief but pivotal appearances here but make not mistake, this is Zander and Getty’s story. Get ready and JUST JUMP!
ARC provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.