Broken Like This (Friends Like This Book 3) by Bethany Monaco Smith

I promised her forever.

But I’m not sure I can keep that promise. At least, not the way I’m supposed to.

I’ll always want forever with her, but not like this.

I’m broken. Falling apart. And I’m taking it all out on her.

I’m too much of a mess for this, and she deserves more than that. More than the way I’ve been. More than me.

I don’t want to do this without her, but I don’t know how to do it with her. There’s so much I have to figure out about myself and my future, and I have to do that on my own.

I have to let her go.

She might hate me, but it’s best for both of us.

I just have to hope by the time I figure things out and am ready for us again, she’ll still want me—want us.

I have to trust that she won’t give up on us, and we can still have the forever we were always meant to have.Will Rae and Aaron be able to fight through the hard things they face individually so they can build a beautiful relationship together? Follow all the love, heartache, drama, and angst in the third book of their love story.

My Review

This contemporary new adult fiction is about college romance, messy drama, and emotional relationships. The characters we know and love in the series are in college now, but that doesn’t mean it is perfect and life is easy. It gets difficult as they make mistakes, hearts get broken, and they learn and grow as people and become mature adults. Aaron and Rae’s story is riddled with this but is also a rollercoaster of turmoil and drama. Other unforgettable characters you know from previous books are in this, and they all experience life differently. This book gets better, and then the author ends on a cliffhanger. 

We begin this book with Rae and Aaron. They are quite frisky and definitely start it out steamy. Aaron is still trying to find his goal in life without baseball, what he will do, and who he will be. He has lost a considerable part of himself and seems a bit grumpy and lost. College life is fabulous hot steamy intimacy, great classes, and amazing friends. Rae is loving it but is Aaron okay? 

This book gets very emotional as they navigate failure and their own misunderstandings; it sucks that you have to let a person go to truly love them in the way they deserve, and that’s precisely what happens. I feel bad for Aaron as he seems so lost and depressed. Rae is a mess, and I expected her emotional breakdown. But it still left me in tears as well. 

This story feels almost tragic to the emotions as they struggle with their hearts crumbling. Still, hopefully, there is a brighter side to the turmoil and drama. The hard rock bottom comes before you can climb out; for Aaron, the bottom is very messy. Rae is hurting and worried about her best friend and trying to focus on her own growth. 

We start to see the light at the end of this self-imposed tunnel of darkness Aaron has been in. I secretly hope that it means Rae and Aaron reconcile to what they were at the start of the book. This book has a lot of complicated lessons for these new adult characters to learn. The author does a great job of presenting them to the reader to connect with things like friendship, trust, healing, self-understanding, and so much more in the pages of this story. 

This story is very emotional as Aaron and Rae are on this rollercoaster of crappy decisions and conversations. However, then the author ends the book on a cliffhanger, and now I can’t wait to read the next one as I’m completely hooked on this dramatic couple. I love the playlist at the back of the book. 

If you want to read Broken Like This by Bethany Monaco Smith, you can find this book on Amazon. As an Amazon Assocaite, I earn on qualifying purchases. This is the third book in a series that must be read in order. You can find the entire Friends Like This Series on Amazon.

If you like this book, you may also enjoy books with these tags and categories Friends to Lovers, College, and New Adult Fiction.