All Broke Down is the second in the Rusk University series. I will admit that I liked this book a little more than the first book, All Lined Up. Dylan and Silas meet while in jail. Dylan has been arrested at a demonstration and Silas for a bar fight. Their attraction was strong from the beginning, but they try to keep things casual despite falling hard for each other.The characters were a little more realistic to me. Silas is definitely a result of his upbringing. He is hot tempered and quick to believe he isn't worth a better life. He has high hopes that his football career will help him move on to bigger and better things. Dylan was adopted as a child and has felt she must be perfect in order to stay with her adoptive parents. This has kind of held her back from having fun.. I thought the two of them were good for each other. I loved watching Silas help Dylan come to of her shell and loosen up a little. Their relationship wasn't easy, but I was rooting for them to figure things out. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the ending with Stella. I won't spoil it, but I didn't like that it was almost an afterthought with no resolution. It just didn't fit with the story-line. The next book, All Played Out (coming May 2015), doesn't look like it is Stella's so I'm disappointed to have to wait to see how everything is resolved. This book definitely exceeded my expectations. After the first book, where I felt there were too much clichés and not enough surprises, I really didn't expect this book to be much different. However, this one didn't rely on overused tropes for college-aged characters. Sure there was still some predictability and stereotypical moments, but I otherwise found this book to be unique and well written. I think my favorite thing was that this book didn't focus solely on the main characters and their relationship. I've been reading far too many romance novels that seem to ignore that anything else in the world is going on outside of the main relationship. Even though the main characters definitely were the star focus, they each other relationships to work on and grow. Usually authors like to make all things happen to one of the two main characters, as well, but in this book we saw others go through tough things that inevitably trickled down to affect the bigger story.This book showed a major evolution for Silas Moore. In the first book we saw him as more of a villain than a hero, but this book showed his redemption. He comes from a rough upbringing that haunts him as he tries to overcome his circumstances. Even though enough people are willing to label him as hopeless trash, he tends to be his worst enemy when he lets those people get into his head and magnify his own doubts. Dylan Brenner really becomes his savior at first because she is a good distraction from his issues. However, their chemistry helps to break down some of his walls to allow himself to trust her. Though, Dylan is not without her own problems. She's spent most of her life trying to convince herself and everyone else that she belongs into the world she was adopted into. She's been trying to fit in for so long that's she's lost a bit of herself, to the point that she doesn't know what she wants from what others want from her. Silas is there, though, to help her sort through her thoughts and distract her from others. By the time the book ends, both characters have dealt with their parents a time or two, trying to get them to understand something. Those confrontations seem to big moments in helping the characters figure out where they want to be in their life. Though, neither character seems to get any resolution to their parental problems. Since the story is about their romantic relationship, it really didn't need a conclusions to these issues, but I'm one of those readers that like everything tied up neatly with a string and a bow. I'm hoping that the next book will give glimpses into how their relationship further evolves now that they are accepting of their feelings.Speaking of which, this book has made me look forward to this next book in the series. At the start of this second novel, I was simply ready to read it, but now I'm anticipating what's to come next for this series. I hope it lives up to this book and not the first one. It is going to be about Dylan's seemingly studious roommate, Antonella, and the cocky, wide-receiver, Torres. There's some good potential there already.
What do You think about All Broke Down (2014)?
The two stars are only for the author's note.
—aroob31
