Book Review — DRIVEN (The Driven Trilogy #1) by K. Bromberg

“I bet he fucks like he drives — a little reckless, pushing all the limits, and in it until the very last lap.”

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Well, I’m officially in love with Colton Donavan and hooked on this series!

I’d been looking forward to starting this series for quite a while now. Honestly, I’d loved the sound it from the day I first heard about it but, because of the cliffhangers, I was waiting to be able to read them all at once. Now that I’ve started it though, I totally get why so many readers are obsessed with these books!

The story followed Colton and Rylee. Rylee was a strong woman who had control over life and who dedicated her time towards working for a wonderful cause helping children in need. Colton was a reckless bad boy — a famous race car driver known for his skills both on the track and in the bedroom. They were polar opposites in so many ways and what she needed was something he couldn’t give.

“Let’s face it, you’re not a spend the night kind of guy, and I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl.” 

And yet, they kept being drawn back to each other… 🙂

I loved Rylee right from the start. She was a feisty, unintimidated and kind hearted. My first impression of Colton though was more of an arrogant, cocky manwhore… in Rylee’s words, an “egotistical asshole”. But I liked him! There was just something about him that hinted that there was much more to him than met the eye. Plus, he was just hot as hell!!

“I may be a man, but I’m nowhere near gentle. In fact, I think you’re a little curious just how I like it. Step over the edge with me, Ryles…I’ll be anything and everything but gentle.”

As Rylee soon found out, there was a lot more to him. Behind the bad boy that the world saw was deep rooted pain from a very dark past that he didn’t want to talk about. I really felt drawn to his character. What can I say, I’m a total sucker for the tortured bad boys. They get to me every time.

“The man is captivating in every way and the epitome of sexy. From that boyish grin that disarms me in seconds to his sexy swagger… He exudes virility, evokes desire, and commends attention… He’s edgy and reckless and you want to go along for the ride hoping to get a glimpse of his tender side that breaks through every now and again. The bad boy with a touch of vulnerability who leaves you breathless and steals your heart.”

Colton was dominant and possessive. He knew what he wanted and was determined to get it no matter what. But he kept his heart locked away. He was used to purely physical relationships with women, and was simply not ready to commit to anything more.

“I assure you, romance is not something I actively subscribe to. There’s no such thing as happily ever after.”

What I loved was that Rylee brought out a new side of him he’d never allowed to show through before — she meant more to him than anyone had before and that scared him. I loved the two sides of him — on one hand he was cocky and arrogant, but he also had a deeply caring side. It was the side of him he hid from the world that drew me to him. I could feel how much he wanted “more” and it broke my heart that he didn’t think he could ever have it.

“I know all about baggage, sweetheart. I have enough of it to fill up a 747 and then some… My shit can’t be fixed. I’ve been broken for way too long for that miracle to happen.”

And I just want to share this line here because this was the moment that fully sold me on the series…

“I’m seeing the true Colton Donavan – the unmasked version with a vulnerability that makes me want to reach over and take the hurt that often flickers through those green eyes and make it better. To show him that love and commitment are possible without complications. That it is real and pure and much more powerful than ever imagined when it is built and shared between two people.”

Another part of the story I loved was that, as I mentioned, Rylee worked for an organization whose goal was to help orphaned children and she did these shifts at The House which was where many of them lived. On it’s own, this part of the story was deeply emotional but guys, seeing Colton with these kids was just… WOW. My heart melted — it was just so beautiful and moving!!!

I’m not going to lie though — this book was a bit of a rough start for me for several reasons. But everyone kept telling me to hang in there because it got better and they were right!! It did get better and I’m so glad I stuck with it because now I’m hooked on this series!!

Ok – now there’s something which I kind of have to mention here… *twists lips* … ok — I’m just going to say it: this book has several strong similarities to both Fifty Shades and Crossfire. I’m not going to list them because I’m not one to nit pick but you’ll notice when you read it if, like me, you’re a fan of those two series. But, here’s the thing… take as a whole, the story is not the same and so, even though those elements made me a little uncomfortable while I was reading, my advice is to just overlook them. That’s what I did.

I’d say that overall, my enjoyment of this book was a steady upward climb. There were a few stumbles along the way, a few cases of deja vu, but all in all, it got better and better as it went and now…

I’m hooked, intrigued, and I want more!! Colton is very much the type of hero I most easily fall for —  tortured, mysterious, and a little bit dangerous, but protective, dominant and kind hearted. Rylee is the kind of strong heroine who I can respect. Overall, I liked the pacing of the story, I enjoyed watching Rylee and Colton try to figure out their relationship and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

I would absolutely recommend this book, but my advice is to be patient with it in the beginning. I’m glad I started it, really glad I stuck with it, and am now ready to dive straight into the next book.

This is a hard book for me to rate because there were 3.5 star sections and 4.5 star sections for me so I’m going to round it off to 4 stars.

PS – there is a giant cliffhanger at the end and I am so freaking glad I waited to read these books back to back because if I had read this without having the next one, I would have been quite upset. But now that I have the next book ready to go, I’m just giddy with excitement to dive right into it 😀

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• Buy DRIVEN (Paperback)

*** SERIES READING ORDER ***

Book #1 — DRIVEN
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #2 — FUELED
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #3 — CRASHED
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback| Read my Review