Book Review | Torn – Carian Cole (All Torn Up Series, Book One)

Torn
By: Carian Cole

Series: All Torn Up
Book # In Series: 1 of 2
Genre: Age Gap Romance
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: July 11th, 2023
My Rating: ✮✮✮✮
My Reading Format: Paperback
How Many Pages: 475

Synopsis:

When I was five years old, I told Toren Grace we were going to get married someday. He’d been my closest friend, my protector, and my rock since the day I was born. But during my senior year, our relationship slowly changed. Silly conversations morphed into serious heart-to-hearts. Innocent friendship turned to stolen glances.

Then one day, an unexpected kiss changed everything.

While that kiss was all I’d ever dreamed of, it knocked Tor clear off his axis. His strong moral compass makes it impossible for him to accept our feelings for each other. Because, not only am I eighteen and fifteen years younger than him, I’m the one person he should never, ever want.

Tor is my father’s best friend—my pseudo uncle.

Neither one of us can stand to betray or hurt my dad, but we can’t keep our relationship hidden forever. Will there be a way for us to find our happily-ever-after? Or will we all be torn apart?

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This is my second time reading Torn by Carian Cole and the one thing I’ve learned, once again, is Carian Cole knows her way around writing an amazing love story full of heartbreaking emotion and endless passion. Reading Toren ‘Tor’ and Kenzie’s story the second time around felt like the first time all over again.

Torn is the first book in the All Torn Up series by Carian Cole. If you love age gap romances with a ton of forbidden vibes, this may be the book for you! I’m a fan of forbidden romance novels and I’ve been known to have a love/hate relationship with age gaps, especially when the gap is wide and a bit young, (18 years old). I feel the age gap has to flow dramatically with the character personality for it to feel right, and Carian Cole perfected the outcome.

Toren definitely made up the heart of this story. This man fought his Conscience so many times. In all honestly, this man had me crying one to many times. I couldn’t control my emotions. But could you really blame the man for fighting his feelings for his best friend’s only daughter… But for real, I loved the way Toren handled everything. I loved the fact that he fought himself extremely hard to not give in to the temptation that was constantly knocking on his door. These moments made for some very dramatic scenes and I was here for it!

As for Kenzie, the only reason this novel worked for me and didn’t have me feeling grossed out was because I felt she was wise beyond her years. She knew her heart and she went after her one heart’s desire. I loved that about her. I also loved the fact that her age would shine through a few times causing for some more dramatic moments. And I loved those moments too!

The first time I read this book, I was swept off my feet and rated it a five star read. This time around, I made the decision to rate this a four star read because even though I loved the book and the concept i felt there were a few moments that were a bit too fast paced for my liking causing me to want more from that important scene. When I say more I mean more conversation, more emotion, and more chemistry.

Overall, I adored Kenzie and Toren’s story. I loved the strong forbidden roots and the age gap concept. Now, I’ll be diving into Tied for the very first time! I can’t wait!

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