Blog Tour Review: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker

Title: Unbreak My Heart
Author: Melissa Walker
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Age Group: Young Adult
Category:  Contemporary Romance
Release date: May 22nd, 2012
Pages: 240 (ebook)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Publisher
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Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. 


Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. 


Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

Unbreak My Heart took me by surprise as I began to read, acquainting myself with its main characters and their important roles played in this story.  Clementine knows that she made a mistake and she has her entire summer vacation trapped on a sailboat to think about what she could have done to save her lifelong friendship.  When the story starts out, you don't know much about anything that happened, just that Clem spends about half of her vacation depressed, moody, and difficult for her family to deal with.  After all, a vacation is for having a good time.

When I started reading, I found it difficult to feel sympathy for Clem.  She did something that she knew was wrong with her best friend's boyfriend and having been in Amanda's (the best friend) shoes, I thought that Clem's sadness over the situation would irritate me.  As it turns out, it didn't at all.  This story showed me how easily someone can get wrapped up in the charm of another and that no one sees all sides of a story.

I actually enjoyed Clem and once she met James, a cute redheaded artist, her mood takes a turn for the better.  She's able to trust again, feel butterflies and finally begins to take advantage of her vacation.  Though James ends up having a huge family issue that he's dealing with that summer, he never stops smiling and that helps Clem realize that her issues could be worse.  These two have a perfect, slow-developing and innocent summer romance.

The author did a wonderful job with this story, alternating between the past and present, telling two stories at a time.  Sometimes we break but we have to pick ourselves back up and continue living.  There's no use in dwelling in the past, just correct the mistakes you made and move forward.  I loved watching Clementine's character develop throughout the story and by the end, you could really see a change.  She went from being insecure and constantly blaming herself to being strong and inspiring.  Unbreak My Heart is well-written, emotional and the perfect summer read.