Book Summary: 

Perfect for fans of Katherine Center, The Broken Heart Playlist is a single-parent, slow-burn, emotional romance.

Kate Miller is an extraordinary food stylist. She employs a whole host of tricks to make food look deliciously perfect, from painting grill lines on a steak to using mashed potatoes for an ice cream shoot.

But Kate is also living an extraordinary lie. The survivor of a brutal marriage, she’s stylized her life to present a perfect facade, hiding her brokenness and loneliness from everyone around her. The only love in her life? Her eight-year-old daughter. There’s no room for anyone else.

Until a handsome stranger with his own set of tricks moves onto her street. Suddenly, Gideon Walker and his therapy dog are everywhere, charming her family, winning over her daughter, and taking an unwelcome interest in her life.

The man who seems to know too much about her has invaded her small town. Against all odds, he also seems intent on breaking down her walls and invading her heart.

But Gideon is not without his own secrets. And if Kate gives in to their undeniable attraction, the truth could bring them together or tear them apart forever.

My Review:

One of the things I appreciate about Lara Martin’s writing is how relatable her characters are and how real everything feels. In fiction, there’s some embellishment to get the point across, but some stories take that liberty too far. With Lara, her characters feel like people you know or have read about. She even gives the surrounding neighborhood a personality, making you feel at home. To be honest, I may have felt this way because I read “Phishing for Love” first. While you don’t necessarily need to read that book, it introduces characters and references situations that will deepen your connection with this story. If you prefer not to, Lara provides enough background so you won’t miss the point. In either case, “The Broken Heart Playlist,” like Lara’s other books, pulls you into a world where secrets are kept and pain is hidden. You’ll find yourself racing through pages, hoping for a happily ever after because these characters, whom you’ll come to know and love, deserve nothing less.

To the outside world, Kate is a force to be reckoned with. As a food stylist, she is talented and focused, having made a name for herself. In her personal life, her family respects her boundaries, accepting that the Katherine they knew is gone, replaced by Kate – a woman made of steel with her daughter Lisset as her only focus. She doesn’t need friends or affection; she just needs to keep her life balanced as a single mother. This facade protects her. Behind closed doors, only Kate knows the haunting pain of the life she once lived with Oliver and how deep the scars still go. Or so she thought. It wasn’t until she met her new neighbor, Gideon, that she realized someone could see right through her. For the first time in a long time, the walls Kate has built to protect herself are starting to crumble, and she doesn’t know what to do. Her brain tells her to trust the lessons from her past, but her heart is ready to embrace the future. The problem is, the person ready to capture her heart has secrets that could also destroy it.

This book grabbed my attention from the start. After reading “Phishing for Love,” I was already eager for Kate’s story. We were given clues that something happened with Kate and her ex-husband, but the more you read, the more you realize you know as much as her family because Kate hid the truth. Nothing prepares you for how bad it was. When she finally shares what she went through, you might need a moment. Lara does a great job of not traumatizing the reader but makes it clear that Kate was in an emotionally, psychologically, and physically abusive relationship. If this may trigger you, please take this under consideration. Lara delivers the emotional impact of Kate’s experience without explicit details, but it’s worth mentioning.

I always love the characters Lara creates, and hanging out with Tess again is a treat. It was fun being inside Kate’s head to see how much she loves, admires, and appreciates her sister, despite Tess driving her crazy. Their text messages and interactions were some of the best parts of the story. I absolutely adored Lisset. You can’t help but be wrapped around that firecracker’s finger. Between her and Uno, your heart melts. Lara made Lisset true to life – not a perfect little angel but a real eight-year-old with sass, frustration, and stubbornness.

Among all the characters, there’s Gideon. I don’t know how to describe him without giving away why he’s one of my new book boyfriends, but he embodies all the things you could want. However, by the end of the book, you might feel conflicted about what he reveals to Kate. Even I’m still deciding if I’m okay with it or a bit creeped out. My reaction wasn’t unexpected, and Lara even has the characters acknowledge it, which helps. No matter what, what you learn about Gideon in the epilogue will blow everything else out of the water, residual ick factor included!

What amazes me is how, despite going through all the seasons in this slow-burn romance, I didn’t feel it dragged out. Each season brought something new – hope, change, adventure, and growth in the characters. You see Lisset overcome her challenges, Kate start to transform, and the overall evolution of their world. It’s like watching a plant grow with a time-lapse camera. Lara did a fantastic job moving everything along, and you don’t realize how much time has actually passed!

As always, Lara keeps her books squeaky clean, which I love. Like Sarah Adams, she can make a kiss one of the most heated, intimate moments between two people. There was so much tension between Gideon and Kate that by the time they kissed, the intensity filled in any blanks about what went down off-page.

Kate’s story focuses on the aftermath of rebuilding her life after her abusive husband leaves her. Even four years later, we see the severity of the impact on her well-being, self-worth, and mental state. As her grandmother said, Oliver’s voice was long gone, but the damage was done. She didn’t need him to keep echoing hurtful words and put-downs; she took over the mic herself. She continued the cycle of abuse, something many of us may not realize about survivors. The abuser may be gone, but the damage remains, and recovery is a long and arduous process. In Kate’s situation, Oliver’s abuse was slow and methodical. He isolated her from friends and family, blamed her for their failures, and made her feel like she was the problem. Her reaction was to become smaller while building him up until she was virtually nonexistent. In those cases, you no longer know who you are, just who they tell you you are – and boy, did he tell her! I can’t believe she kept that letter four years later, but again, she made herself believe she deserved it, to be reminded of why her marriage failed, why he left, and on some level, to protect herself from ever being in that situation again. The fact that she felt so humiliated because he left her, rather than her leaving him, was devastating. She held onto hope, and he used it to snuff out the last of her light.

The tricks food stylists use were absolutely fascinating! I don’t know who Lara used as a reference, but those moments were some of the most interesting in the book. I will say I refuse to ruin The Unique Food Museum for you, but just be aware as you read that scene, it is actually based on a real-life museum! Keep that little tidbit in mind.

The moment I picked up “The Broken Heart Playlist,” I knew I wasn’t putting it down anytime soon. With Gideon, sweet Uno, Lisset, Tess, Kate, and the rest of the gang, I knew I was in for something special. I’m curious if we’ll get Kenzie’s story anytime soon. I’d love to stay in this world a bit longer, but whatever magic Lara creates next will surely be just as good.