Fractured Souls by Jessica Sorensen

Shattered Promises #2

Summary Via Goodreads:

     "Gemma thought she had said her good-byes and had felt every possible emotion she could before her soul was detached again. Deep down inside, she hoped she’d never wake up from it because, in her eyes, life without emotion and memories isn’t worth living.

     But she does wake up and discovers she can still feel and remember everything she experienced over the last few months. Alex is also telling her that everything’s okay, that he didn’t betray her, and that what she thought happened really didn’t. 

     Gemma isn’t sure if she can trust Alex, so she tries to keep her distance from him, even though the electric connection and her desire make it nearly impossible. The only person she can trust is Laylen, but even that becomes complicated when the lines of their friendship begin to blur.

     While Gemma struggles with her emotions and relationships, she searches for her mother, entering a dangerous world of secrets, seduction, and evil. The further she digs into her mother’s secrets and past, the more she wonders what waits for her at the end of her search and if maybe some things are better left in the dark."

As sequels go, this is possibly one of the better ones I have read in a New Adult kind of series, that also involves magic.

This book picks up right where the last left off, and Gemma is nothing but pissed at Alex. And she has every right to be. When he had given her pretty much nothing but lies when all she wants are answers. But since currently the only emotions she knows are anger and lust, she seems to get over it fairly quickly. But a wrench was thrown into that when Laylen, sexy vampire that he is, is forced to drink Gemma's blood as a price to get information about her mother's location.

The vampire bite makes Gemma and Laylen's already obvious sexual tension get worse for a few chapters. There is less sexual stuff in this book and far more plot, which I prefer. Also, I still like Laylen's character more than Alex. The circumstances of his vampirism are revealed in this book. As well as numerous other things including more about Stephan and what exactly he is planning.

After a bunch of shenanigans they get Gemma's mom back. After a large info dump, Gemma is captured by Stephan and... weird cliff hanger. I am going to finish this series, because it is interesting, even though there are still some weird moments.

The gripes I have for this book are mostly biased on the often awkward dialog and the random info dumps. The info dumps added pages to the book, but really slowed down the story. The first half was really good and engaging, but then everything slowed down.