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A review by bookish_notes
Breaking Drake by Joel Abernathy
3.0
I’ve been waiting for this book, and it was just as addicting to read this book as it was to read the first two books in the series!! There were some moments that I kind of question, and the ending was a bit disappointing, but overall, this was a decent book with Drake and Sterling.
This book is NOT a standalone since the characters are introduced in the previous books and the relationships between the other couples makes much more sense read in order.
The author does provide some really thorough trigger warnings at the start of the book but I will add that blackmail is a huge part of this book as well. TWs from the author: Drake uses drugs, and rehab is not a theme in this book, so some readers may consider that an unresolved issue. Sterling is very dominant, and the “encounters” between the two men tend to be rough, especially in Sterling’s dungeon (however, Drake is never injured). There is also mention of past parental and relationship abuse, such as an older ex grooming a young man and having a child with him. (The abusers are not in the picture anymore.)
We’ve met Drake as a competent, but sometimes distant, manager of Dante’s Infernal in the previous books. Drake is Dante’s father and Drake’s biggest rival is a man named Sterling at an opposing music label. We find out the exact type of relationship Drake and Sterling have had throughout the years, and it’s a doozy.
I’m usually not a fan of time jumps between chapters of the characters past and the present. But surprisingly, it works here. We learn more about the relationship between Sterling and Drake, as the sadist Dom and masochistic sub and how they came to know each other even years before their kinks came into the picture. The timeline, unfortunately, does get confusing if you try to piece it together because it’s not clear when everything takes place or how much time has passed, past or present.
One thing missing for me is the reason really behind their bickering and animosity for one another. Is it just because of Sterling’s competitiveness and his hate that Drake gave it all up when they were younger? Is it because Drake always saw Sterling as being one step ahead and having it all? The “enemies” part of this “enemies to lovers” is too vague to me to really FEEL the reasons of why they hate each other unfortunately.
I will say that I did like all the sexy scenes and all the moments when Drake and Sterling are just in the same room with one another. But is it enough to save the plot holes and the plot itself? I would say, not really. And that’s really unfortunate, because I love the characters but it just feels like something is missing from this story.
There weren’t any big angst moments, but it still felt a bit surface level of feelings. Like, we know Drake’s drinking and cocaine use doesn’t get addressed at all, but what’s Sterling’s feelings on that? Just all a part of being in the business? We see it being addressed with Dante but with Drake it’s just not a big thing because he’s a high functioning alcoholic ready to kill his liver? Their angst towards one another never felt real for me, the confessions and love declarations, while sweet, never did either.
A side note that while there’s moments and hints of some BDSM, a lot in this book is on the tamer side so there’s not really any heavy BDSM scenes as some readers might expect. Condoms, even while they knowingly fuck other people, is apparently not a thing in this book.
One of the biggest things that bothered me in this story is that there’s really no women in this story. There was a potential for one when the news that Sterling’s label was merging with Drake’s and Sterling had a band with a woman in it who was lovely (we met her briefly in the last book) but she’s very conveniently out of the picture in this book.
The only other woman mentioned is Dante’s mother, who is Drake’s ex and who was his manager once upon a time. It’s been a hot minute since I read the previous books, so if this was mentioned before, I’ve long forgotten. But this woman groomed Drake at a very, very young age (since he was TEN), got pregnant and had Dante when Drake was SIXTEEN and she was THIRTY. She’s a sexual predator and I’m glad she’s not in the picture at all. But even here, Drake’s relationship with her is sidestepped most of the book even though everyone around him tries to address it and point blank told him that he was sexually abused as a child.
It’s sad that there’s basically no female characters in these books and the ones who ARE mentioned is between an ex-bandmate, Drake’s alcoholic and abusive mother, and Drake’s sexually abusive ex.
Moments I did like in this book are the times with the band and meeting the new bandmates, Saint and Danny, who will presumably be the fourth book in this series. We’ve met them before and while I do like Danny, I’m not a big fan of Saint just yet. So, it’ll be interesting to read his book, I guess.
The ending felt extremely rushed to me and I don’t like the new direction the band is going, even though I guess I technically understand it? For that particular character’s sake at least. It just feels sad to me though so for the sake of the band, I didn’t love that decision.
This book was a quick read and I loved returning to this world and seeing all the band members again. There definitely could’ve been more depth to the story, but I still look forward to reading the next book when it comes out.
This book is NOT a standalone since the characters are introduced in the previous books and the relationships between the other couples makes much more sense read in order.
The author does provide some really thorough trigger warnings at the start of the book but I will add that blackmail is a huge part of this book as well. TWs from the author: Drake uses drugs, and rehab is not a theme in this book, so some readers may consider that an unresolved issue. Sterling is very dominant, and the “encounters” between the two men tend to be rough, especially in Sterling’s dungeon (however, Drake is never injured). There is also mention of past parental and relationship abuse, such as an older ex grooming a young man and having a child with him. (The abusers are not in the picture anymore.)
We’ve met Drake as a competent, but sometimes distant, manager of Dante’s Infernal in the previous books. Drake is Dante’s father and Drake’s biggest rival is a man named Sterling at an opposing music label. We find out the exact type of relationship Drake and Sterling have had throughout the years, and it’s a doozy.
I’m usually not a fan of time jumps between chapters of the characters past and the present. But surprisingly, it works here. We learn more about the relationship between Sterling and Drake, as the sadist Dom and masochistic sub and how they came to know each other even years before their kinks came into the picture. The timeline, unfortunately, does get confusing if you try to piece it together because it’s not clear when everything takes place or how much time has passed, past or present.
One thing missing for me is the reason really behind their bickering and animosity for one another. Is it just because of Sterling’s competitiveness and his hate that Drake gave it all up when they were younger? Is it because Drake always saw Sterling as being one step ahead and having it all? The “enemies” part of this “enemies to lovers” is too vague to me to really FEEL the reasons of why they hate each other unfortunately.
I will say that I did like all the sexy scenes and all the moments when Drake and Sterling are just in the same room with one another. But is it enough to save the plot holes and the plot itself? I would say, not really. And that’s really unfortunate, because I love the characters but it just feels like something is missing from this story.
There weren’t any big angst moments, but it still felt a bit surface level of feelings. Like, we know Drake’s drinking and cocaine use doesn’t get addressed at all, but what’s Sterling’s feelings on that? Just all a part of being in the business? We see it being addressed with Dante but with Drake it’s just not a big thing because he’s a high functioning alcoholic ready to kill his liver? Their angst towards one another never felt real for me, the confessions and love declarations, while sweet, never did either.
A side note that while there’s moments and hints of some BDSM, a lot in this book is on the tamer side so there’s not really any heavy BDSM scenes as some readers might expect. Condoms, even while they knowingly fuck other people, is apparently not a thing in this book.
One of the biggest things that bothered me in this story is that there’s really no women in this story. There was a potential for one when the news that Sterling’s label was merging with Drake’s and Sterling had a band with a woman in it who was lovely (we met her briefly in the last book) but she’s very conveniently out of the picture in this book.
The only other woman mentioned is Dante’s mother, who is Drake’s ex and who was his manager once upon a time. It’s been a hot minute since I read the previous books, so if this was mentioned before, I’ve long forgotten. But this woman groomed Drake at a very, very young age (since he was TEN), got pregnant and had Dante when Drake was SIXTEEN and she was THIRTY. She’s a sexual predator and I’m glad she’s not in the picture at all. But even here, Drake’s relationship with her is sidestepped most of the book even though everyone around him tries to address it and point blank told him that he was sexually abused as a child.
It’s sad that there’s basically no female characters in these books and the ones who ARE mentioned is between an ex-bandmate, Drake’s alcoholic and abusive mother, and Drake’s sexually abusive ex.
Moments I did like in this book are the times with the band and meeting the new bandmates, Saint and Danny, who will presumably be the fourth book in this series. We’ve met them before and while I do like Danny, I’m not a big fan of Saint just yet. So, it’ll be interesting to read his book, I guess.
The ending felt extremely rushed to me and I don’t like the new direction the band is going, even though I guess I technically understand it? For that particular character’s sake at least. It just feels sad to me though so for the sake of the band, I didn’t love that decision.
This book was a quick read and I loved returning to this world and seeing all the band members again. There definitely could’ve been more depth to the story, but I still look forward to reading the next book when it comes out.