I didn't realize what this book was when I requested it. It has a different cover but I had listened to the audio a year ago lol I love a forbidden romance!

Torn is the first book I have read from Carian Cole and I was pleasantly surprised by this story. Carian did a good job of telling a taboo love story that did not fall into a creepy uncle/family friend vibe. I like how their relationship evolved throughout the story but also the parts of her growing up and their connection on a deeper level. As the story went on, it made me think of Jacob and Renesmee from Twilight. They were connected from the beginning of her life and he was what she needed him to be throughout her life. Highly recommended if you like taboo, sweet, romantic books. On a side note...Tor rescues animals throughout the book, how can you not love him??!!
Thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for sending this book for review consideration.

Carian Cole writes beautiful love stories, that touch upon angst and taboo, but she does it so well.

Torn was the first book I read by Carian, and I’ve been a fan of her books ever since.

Her writing captivates from the beginning to the very end. Her books make me smile, cry, laugh, and swoon. It’s such a magical experience.

Torn is about Toren and Kenzi. Toren has known Kenzi her whole life, in fact, he’s her godfather. But as she gets older, he starts to see her in a new way. A friendship evolving between two adults in a way he never imagined. Some may definitely see this as a taboo as he watched her grow up, but Carian does it so well. He’s been her protector and even fights against his feelings through a majority of the book. He’s so afraid of change, losing Kenzi and his best friend Asher (Kenzi’s father). Yet, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her or her family. Toren is an amazing guy.

Even being surrounded by rockstars and having young parents, Kenzi is very mature for her age, and knows what she wants, even in the face of grief. She’s such a strong fmc and I really admire her. Kenzi fights for what she wants, and what she wants is Tor.

They connect from their past but also from the present as they see each other in a new light, bonding beautifully especially over their shared love of animals (something Carian always adds to her books). Their hopeless romantics to their core—soulmates. Some love stories are written in the stars.

It’s safe to say you’ll feel every emotion under the sun with this one.

I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a love story that doesn’t fit under a conventional type of story.

Thank you Carian as always, for a chance to read and review your beautiful words. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley, too.

I have no idea where to start with this review but I’ll just dive in. I do not normally like to read taboo or age gap romances that much but I read a lot of positive reviews from the 1st publication of this book that made me think this book would pull it off. I have to say, it did.

So, we follow Kenzi and Tor who have known each other since Kenzi was born, they have a 15-year age gap and Tor is Kenzi’s dad’s best friend. So it’s incredibly taboo and I was skeptical of how it would work out between them.
To start off, I have to say that they kiss when she’s 17 but nothing else happens until she’s 18. I wish it all happened when she was at least 20 or something because I wasn’t really comfortable with that, so if it’s something you absolutely don’t want to read, it’s of course not a good idea to pick up this book.

That being said, I do think it’s written really well and with a lot of care. The reason why it works is that they have such a caring and loving bond that makes it make sense. Along with that, Kenzi is the one who pursues Tor first and for a long time and Tor tries as much as he can to do things right and he’d never want to hurt her.
It’s emotional, angsty, sweet, steamy, and tender. Kenzi is really mature and wants all the same things Tor wants which makes their relationship work. I felt like the connection was strong and I rooted for them really hard. I liked how it all came together in the end as well, and it made sense for the story.

One thing I didn’t really like is that there’s quite a few short flashbacks to when they were younger. Even though none of it was creepy or weird on its own, it felt strange to read about them before she was 18 and I wish that wasn’t included in the book, even though I can understand its place.

Overall, I think this book is well-written and I would recommend it for people who like age gap and taboo romance. It’s definitely one of the best ones I’ve read (which isn’t that many but still).

⭐⭐⭐.5

“Somewhere in hell Satan has just pulled out a bag of marshmallows and is roasting them in my honor.”

^ Same. I love a good taboo, and Tor definitely delivered. A tattooed biker (and former rocker) that runs an animal shelter/rescue and beats up guys that abuse animals? Swoon. I enjoyed the story, although the ending was a bit disappointing. It felt rushed and a couple of things just didn't make sense to me. But overall a fun read! Looking forward to reading Tied next.

Taboo ❤️‍🔥
Age gap 🔞
Forbidden love 🙊
Dad's best friend 👬

“Once you've lost someone you love with no explanation, no closure, no end - you're stuck in a torturous limbo. You don't know if you should hang on to that ray of hope that they might come back or give in to your grief and accept that they're gone . So you teeter between both until you slowly go insane.”

Let me start by saying I love a good age gap romance and I do not mind dad’s best friend trope. That being said, this book was just hard for me to stomach from just the prologue. She’s handed to him on her date of birth and they tell him he’s the godfather. He then tells baby Kenzie “you’re the love of my life”. I kept reading thinking ok it’s only the prologue. Nope, this book felt like grooming and I just can’t get into that. She was underage when they first started anything. Then between every steamy chapter scene it goes to flashbacks of her as a child.

Sorry but this one was not for me at all.

Yeah... nope. My bad for not paying enough attention to/understanding the synopsis, but this is one taboo that makes me cringe so bad, I just can't.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

“She’s five, Tor.”
“So? Age doesn’t mean shit.”
I wink at Kenzi, who's cradling her new bunny across the room, an adorable smile on her face, tears long forgotten.
It's the best high I've ever felt. —
Excerpt from Torn by Carian Cole

I visibly shuddered reading this line. This is hands down one of the creepiest, predatory romances I’ve read in a while. Toren, Kenzie’s dad’s best friend, is older than her by fifteen years and her godfather. He practically helped raise her. And they’re also madly in love?? Yuck nasty no no no.

This book is also incredibly misogynistic.
"How old were you?"
"When?"
"Your first time."
"That's different, I'm a guy." (my commentary: LIKE, WHAT???!??)
"Well how old was she, then? The girl you did it with?" —
Excerpt from Torn by Carian Cole

The author also kept inserting flashback scenes where Kenzie was a toddler (literally two years old) and being affectionate to Tor and kept trying to make it seem like romantic love between the two of them. Hold on while I vomit.

I like taboo romance and even father’s best friend romance, but when that best friend has changed the FMC’s diapers and compared themselves to being her actual dad and not in a sexy way? I’m gone. Like so quick you won’t even see me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Toren & Kenzi

"I have no past without him, and no future without him." -Kenzi

Amazing!!!! Can't get enough of Carian Cole's stories. Age gap with a taboo twist. Loved every word. JP

Dads Best Friend ✔️
Age Gap ✔️
Forbidden Romance ✔️

The way I devoured this book! Absolutely loved Kenzi and Tor!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!

There’s a lot of things about this book that did not jive well with me. Age gap is one thing. I don’t mind it at all, but when you have a 17 year old girl who ends up in a relationship (right after her 18th birthday but things start just before it) with her dads best friend and her godfather who helped raise her. No. Just no.

Add in the fact that at the beginning of every chapter starts with a flashback to their lives when she was little and memories they have together from newborn and on. I just couldn’t get over it. It just didn’t sit well with me.

I can see how some would have loved the story. The characters were actually pretty good. Which is why I gave it two stars vs one. I just couldn’t get over the whole storyline and plot though.

⭐️ ARC Review ⭐️

Torn
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Torn is a dual-POV age-gap romance. It features Kenzi, a young woman who has been madly in love with Toren since she was 5 years old. Unfortunately, Toren also happens to be 15 years older than her, her father’s best friend, and a man who is practically family. Navigating a romance is next to impossible, even if it’s what they both want.

I love age-gap romances where everyone is of legal age… and this one technically fits the bill. However, nearly half of the book is while Kenzie is under age and, while nothing really happens during that time, it gave me pause. The first half of the book felt very slow and was filled with Tor making arguments about why they shouldn’t be together- well-written and well-said arguments that made me agree with him so much it was hard to change lanes and root for them! 😹

All-in-all though, it was a well-written, emotional story and I’m very much looking forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to @netgalley , @readforeverpub and Carian Cole for a chance to read this touching and emotional romance

Read Dates: 01/15/2024- 01/17/2024
Goodreads review: 01/17/2024
Instagram review: 01/18/2024
Blog review: 02/20/2024

Let me start by saying age gap is my least favorite troupe, it just feels super icky to me. And this one adds on a layer that just felt super duper icky.... so I had a real hard time getting past that.

However, the characters were fantastic! The writing was engrossing! And it had seamless pace and page turning!

So if it was any other troupe I would have loved it but man, age gap just isn't for me.

This book was quick to get through! This was more taboo than I was expecting. Like, the relationship between Kenzi and Tor was something to get used to. It’s not something I would typically choose to read. It had a steady pace, which I liked. I’m glad they got their happy ending, but what a ride! I’m glad they weren’t ACTUALLY related. I’m not sure I could have read it if they were. Like reading Credence all over again, with less men.

I DNF'd at 50%. I couldn't get into the characters or story.

The main characters were people I couldn't care about.

This book was completely addicting in every way. I couldn’t put it down & that’s saying something because it was *not short* lol. The taboo aspect for me was really not what made the story so good, nor was being reminded that the FMC was “so young” over and over, but the love between the main characters was truly on another level. The way they cared for each other was so beautiful, and their love was so special in that it could only be had by them. I really loved Toren and how the mere thought of being with Kenzie just tore him apart for the majority of the story. I also felt that Kenzie was so mature to realize the way she was feeling about Toren and to fully commit herself to him even before her feelings were being completely reciprocated. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and found it very well written & an absolute page turner!

Arc review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed reading Torn by Carian Cole. It's my first read by Carian and I couldn't put it down once I started. This book was an emotional rollercoaster and I loved every minute of it. I love how family oriented Kenzi is. Both of these characters will always have a place in my heart. Tor is a caring,supportive, and understanding man. I loved how Tor and Kenzi would both save and rescue dogs together. Kenzi and Tor's love story is one my favorite's. I'm so happy that Kenzi's father came around and accepted their love and relationship. The epilogue even had me tearing up especially about Kenzi's mother.

I am looking forward to reading more books by Carian Cole!

One of the best age gap, taboo/ forbidden romance I have read.
Carian Cole is a master when it comes to angst, and it was so well delivered in this book.
Toren and Kenzi’s relationship growing from one point to crossing that thin forbidden line was exhilarating to read.

I am a huge fan of this trope, and absolutely enjoyed the ride.
10/10 recommended to everyone who loves age gap and a little taboo in their lives.

I love nothing more than a good forbidden romance and boy did this one not disappoint.
I really enjoyed how this story was told. You get a dual POV, but with flashbacks over the years to show how their relationship started and changed.
You could definitely feel how much of a struggle Tor felt over his feelings for Kenzi. He was so aware of the repercussions of following through on them with regards to how people would view them, especially his best friend/Kenzi's dad Asher. Yet, he knew she was the one for him so he leaves it all on the line eventually.
Kenzi is so naïve in the way that teenagers are when it comes to first loves. She thinks that love will be enough and learns that sometimes you need more.
I loved how soft Tor is for Kenzi. I love how the compliment each other so much.
Despite it all, love prevails.

Talk about slow burn romance! This book has several tropes: age gap, friends to lovers, unlikely love, and a slow burn romance. Kenzi has always know what she wants. She’s written as wise beyond her years. Toran needs a change in his life. They’ve known each other since Kenzi was a baby, but it took one look to change it all. The author’s writing is fantastic. I did feel like a lot could have been cut from the book, but that could also compromise the story a little. The ending did feel very rushed and that disappointed me. I would have rather some of the other relationships have been cut out and we see more of Kenzi and Toran’s story. All in all, still a book I would recommend!