The author of the acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series returns with her latest novel featuring an exciting heroine with a lethal hidden talent....
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Mar 27, 2009
Julie (jjmachshev)
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"Made to Be Broken" is a taut read by Kelley Armstrong. It's book two in her series about a female contract killer and is a far cry from her 'Underworld' paranormal urban fantasy series. These books are a combination of murder, mystery, action, and suspense that grab you from the first page and carry you along as you delve into, not just the mystery, but the psyche of the lead characters and their decision-making processes. As a fan of her 'Underworld' books, when I picked up "
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Nov 25, 2011
Lynn
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The second Nadia-Stafford-book, and I loved it as much as I loved the first one. It has equally great storytelling, equally great worldbuilding, very nice protagonists and...
Okay, it's as good as the first one, now let's cut that stuff and talk about the love triangle.
Nadia and Quinn. Quite nice, the two! An intelligent, caring, good-looking, interested guy, well educated, well mannered - and they are so alike!! Same character treats, same thinking, same hobbies, same anythin More...
Okay, it's as good as the first one, now let's cut that stuff and talk about the love triangle.
Nadia and Quinn. Quite nice, the two! An intelligent, caring, good-looking, interested guy, well educated, well mannered - and they are so alike!! Same character treats, same thinking, same hobbies, same anythin More...
Mar 30, 2011
Kathy
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Second in the Nadia Stafford suspense series, the title is a theme, which runs throughout the series and particularly applies to this installment.
The Story
The disappearance of a local young girl and her baby triggers a flashback and the need to know for Nadia. The girl is not from a respected echelon of society and she can’t get the cops interested enough to look into it even though there are just too many clues indicating foul play. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough of the right More...
The Story
The disappearance of a local young girl and her baby triggers a flashback and the need to know for Nadia. The girl is not from a respected echelon of society and she can’t get the cops interested enough to look into it even though there are just too many clues indicating foul play. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough of the right More...
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Jun 26, 2010
Molly
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I actually liked this better than Nadia Stafford #1 because there was less chance that the utter ridiculousness of a semiromance/supernatural genre author knowing anything about hitman society would come to the fore. The book focuses on Nadia's emotional problems regarding her childhood that make her need to kill rapists/murderers of the innocent, and how she hunts down and kills people who are killing teen mothers in order to take and sell their babies. So it's much more "believeable"
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Dec 22, 2009
melissa
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I have never read any other of Kelly Armstrong’s books, although I am aware of her other world series. It was never my cup of tea, so I never had any interest. In fact, I never realized this was the same author when I brought the first one home. I can’t compare this to her other writing, just the first book in the series. I was attracted to this book at first, because of the female hitman angle. I wasn’t sure how they would keep this up in the second book, especially when it’s based around
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Aug 11, 2011
Cheryl
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This was a great edition to Kelley Armstrong's Nadia Stafford series. In this installment one of her employees, a teenage mother. The very bad part is that the baby is also missing. Despite how hard the employee's life has been she has studied and done everything within her power to be a good mother and ensure she does not end up on government assistance. Unfortunately, everyone in town expects nothing less of Sammi given her and her mother's background. Nadia is suspicious. Jack, Quinn and Evel
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Oct 19, 2009
Robin
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Although there aren't any supernatural elements in the Nadia Stafford books, if you like Armstrong's writing style, you will probably like this series. There are less "rules" to the world to deal with so she doesn't have to spend as much time with that, and she can focus more on the characters. Also, there are fewer characters clamoring for attention so she can fully explore them. If you're looking for resolutions for any relationships in this book, you won't find them. In fact, the
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Jan 25, 2010
Heather
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I liked this one better than book 1. I think it's because the subject matter seems more personal. Not that I even have kids, but the fact that you get a feel for the victim. Also, it's more personal to Nadia and what happens is even more socially taboo than what happened in book 1. The theme makes you become more emotionally involved.
I like Nadia a lot, but I'm getting impatient to see what's going on with Jack. Of course, it's written to make me feel that way. I thought the last chapter w More...
I like Nadia a lot, but I'm getting impatient to see what's going on with Jack. Of course, it's written to make me feel that way. I thought the last chapter w More...
Nov 20, 2011
LL
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This book was the second instalment to the Nadia Stafford series, and I enjoyed this one much more than the last one.
Kelley Armstrong positioned this series as that of the mystery genre, with Nadia as the heroine who struggled with the emotional scars left by her past. The book picked up quickly and early on in the story, with the disappearance of the teenage employee on Nadia’s staff at her lodge business. Nadia enlisted the assistance of her mentor on the “killer-for-hire” profess More...
Kelley Armstrong positioned this series as that of the mystery genre, with Nadia as the heroine who struggled with the emotional scars left by her past. The book picked up quickly and early on in the story, with the disappearance of the teenage employee on Nadia’s staff at her lodge business. Nadia enlisted the assistance of her mentor on the “killer-for-hire” profess More...
Nov 11, 2010
(´*•.¸ღBexღ¸.•*´)
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This is the sequel to Exit Strategy and it is very good. The story picks up a little bit after Exit Strategy ends so it is helpful to have read the first book, but not necessary. Nadia is a lodge owner, former cop, and a hitman (or more technically a hitwoman) for a small crime family. She has her own sense of right and wrong. When one of her employees disappears Nadia takes a personal interest and finds herself in a far more convoluted plot than she imagined. She gets help from Jack, her mentor
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Jan 23, 2011
Rena
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The story is told in the first person. I liked this heroine. Practical, kind, and deadly. An amazing, (okay, maybe unbelievable), woman. Still, I liked how she was made up. Observant, compassionate, and collected.
The story is written for an easy read especially if you’re into suspense but don’t like the extra detail (which is so me). There wasn’t much romance but I hardly noticed because I was just so interested in the way Nadia worked and thought.
I was surprised that in suc More...
The story is written for an easy read especially if you’re into suspense but don’t like the extra detail (which is so me). There wasn’t much romance but I hardly noticed because I was just so interested in the way Nadia worked and thought.
I was surprised that in suc More...
Sep 11, 2011
Grete
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Nadia Stafford, with her dual lives of hitwoman extraordinaire and outdoor pursuits lodge owner, gets worried when one of her employees, a young girl with a baby goes missing. Neither the local police nor the girls own mother seem to care. Jack comes to stay at the lodge after breaking an ankle following a job and he wants to help. Quinn comes on board confusing Nadia further where he is concerned and then Evelyn invites herself into the mix, hinting at a vigilante organisation she thinks Nad
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Mar 01, 2011
Laura
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I just have to say that I absolutely love Kelley Armstrong. I get swept up into her stories. Her characters are complex but not boring. Can't say I love the love interest in this one. Prefer the other relationship, the one that would be a little harder. The one that they both try to deny their feelings for each other. I don't think her love interest in this book will last. The premise of this book was to solve a teen mother murder/baby kidnapping spree. It had a lot of twists and turns. Always k
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Oct 18, 2010
Sandra
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I couldn't quite give this book 5 stars because it's not the best book ever written (and I try to be very stingy with my 5 stars) but it's definitely a strong 4.5 and I LOVED it! I can't even really say why. It's pretty long so you would think it drags at some point, but I was constantly involved and interested without it being non-stop action. The story/mystery portion in this book and the first one were extremely well developed (did not see where they would end up) without being overly conv
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Nov 19, 2009
Ali1849
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 03, 2011
Jeremy
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While I like the premise of the series, I didn't think this was particularly strong. The villains, other than the initial one who was dispatched early, were bureaucrats - faceless and not all that compelling. The "love" "triangle" just isn't holding up for me, and the main character's deep dark subconscious secret was so obvious that it took me a book and a half to realize that it was supposed to be a secret. It is nice to read a noir-ish thriller written from a feminist per
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Apr 16, 2010
Stella
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This is the second novel in Kelley Armstrong's new series about ex-cop turned hitwoman Nadia Stafford. It is even better than the first book, Exit Strategy. The writing flows more smoothly and tt is obvious Kelley Armstrong has found her voice and became more comfortable in Nadia's skin.
- Armstrong's characterzitaion is always one of the strongest and best traits of her novels. Her characters in Made to Be Broken are no exception. Those who read Exit Strategy couldn't wait to see Na More...
- Armstrong's characterzitaion is always one of the strongest and best traits of her novels. Her characters in Made to Be Broken are no exception. Those who read Exit Strategy couldn't wait to see Na More...
Mar 15, 2011
Jill
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This is an unexpectedly charming and engaging book about a 33-year-old former policewoman, Nadia Stafford, who now operates a vacation wilderness lodge in Ontario, but works as a contract killer for extra cash.
The characters in this book are incredibly interesting and appealing, and yes, make me want to be a contract killer when I grow up! The plot has a nice mix of serious issues, humor, and romance, without going overboard on any of them. I was pleasantly surprised and definitely w More...
The characters in this book are incredibly interesting and appealing, and yes, make me want to be a contract killer when I grow up! The plot has a nice mix of serious issues, humor, and romance, without going overboard on any of them. I was pleasantly surprised and definitely w More...
Feb 04, 2011
Alicia
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Highly enjoyable romantic suspense with a chilling yet believable plot centered around black-market adoptions. Dealing with themes of slut-shaming, teen pregnancy and how rape culture influences the justice system, there was far more substance in Made To Be Broken than there was in the first Nadia Stafford book, which had a less original plot involving the standard thriller fare of psychotic serial killers.
Nadia's gentle sarcasm and her banter with Jack and Quinn just manage to ke More...
Nadia's gentle sarcasm and her banter with Jack and Quinn just manage to ke More...
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Jan 21, 2011
Jennifer
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Nadia is a genuinely unique character, a female assassin who occasionally manages to show a little weakness. She has her own demons, as most assassins (especially female ones) in novels do, but she often thinks about her cousin's rape and murder instead of pushing it aside. She seems less hardened than other characters in the same types of books.
Nadia's relationship with Quinn progresses slightly further but she is also beginning to view Jack as a potential love interest. When consider More...
Nadia's relationship with Quinn progresses slightly further but she is also beginning to view Jack as a potential love interest. When consider More...
Aug 13, 2010
Nancy
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Nadia Stafford spends most of her time working as a nature lodge owner in Canada, but twice a year she moonlights as a hitwoman, taking down gang members for the Tomassinis. She manages to keep both parts of her life nice and separate until one of her employees, a teenage mother from a bad family, goes missing. After looking at the facts, Nadia knows that Sammi has been kidnapped, but the local police, giving the girl's background, refuse to take it seriously. Nadia, with the help of her mentor
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Nov 28, 2010
Shelley
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Nadia Stafford isn’t your typical nature lodge owner. An ex-cop with a legal code all her own, she’s known only as “Dee” to her current employer: The Tomassinis a New York crime family that pays her handsomely to bump off traitors. But when Nadia discovers that a troubled teenage employee and her baby have vanished in the Canadian woods, the memory of a past loss comes back with a vengeance and her old instincts go into overdrive.
There are an assortment of characters in this book. Ja More...
There are an assortment of characters in this book. Ja More...
Apr 14, 2009
I just finished Made To Be Broken (Bantam, $6.99), second in the series by Kelley Armstrong and it just knocked my socks off. I loved the first one, Exit Strategy (Bantam, $6.99) that introduced us to Nadia Stafford, ex-cop who is now owner of a hunting lodge that doesn’t do very well, and who funds her lodge by being a part-time hit woman. Person. Whatever.
In the latest installment, Sammi, a new employee of the lodge -- a young, single mother – doesn’t show up for More...
In the latest installment, Sammi, a new employee of the lodge -- a young, single mother – doesn’t show up for More...
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Feb 21, 2011
Lc16
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I really like this series and hope Kelley writes more. I read her other series and know they are hugely popular but the paranormal romance market is flourishing while I can't think of anything else like the Nadia Stafford books written by women writers. Luckily Kelley is one of the best writers of 'dark romance' (as bookshops seem to have start calling the paranormal romance genre) so this will just have to keep me going.
Mar 08, 2011
Mike
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In "Made To Be Broken", the second of the Nadia Stafford series, we finally get inside the head of this hitwoman-with-principles. I found this book much more compelling that the first, which had that Series 1 Episode 1 fell to it.
This book reads alound much better than the first, the theme has more emotional impact and the backstory gets some real depth.
I hope that there will be a third in the series soon
This book reads alound much better than the first, the theme has more emotional impact and the backstory gets some real depth.
I hope that there will be a third in the series soon
Nov 09, 2009
Julia
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Not from her Women of the Otherworld, but her Nadia Stafford, hitwoman/ lodge owner series, who are made to be broken are young poor teenage girls who have something that young wealthy middle age couples want: their attractive, white children. When a surly 17 year old who cleans the lodge Sammi disappears with her baby Destiny, Nadia seems to be the only one who cares. Then she involves Jack her “teacher,” who needs somewhere to hole up while he recuperates from a broken ankle and Quinn who’d li
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Feb 04, 2011
Victoria
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Another bril book by Kelley Armstrong. I'd be seriously pleased if she were to write a third to the collection. I'm interested to find out more about Nadia's relationship with Jack. If they remain teacher and student or if they become something more. Will her relationship with Quinn remain the same or will her feeling for Jack over rule. A thrilling read with a thrilling story.
Nov 25, 2009
Christine
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The next in the Nadia Stafford series. Nadia is a female “hit-person”. But she is not all bad! When one of her employees, a young teenage single mother, goes missing Nadia decides she needs to know what happened. This leads her down a road to a hit-man for adoption purposes. It was an interesting concept told in a very interesting and easy read.
Jan 17, 2012
Lina
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Wow, I love Kelley Armstrong's books and have read most of her paranormal series, but this one is strictly thriller/mystery. And it's really good in an "I Love Dexter" kind of way. Her heroine is definitely flawed and very deeply layered. I can't wait to peel off those layers and learn more about her in the next book. Well done, Kelley!
Sep 01, 2009
E.
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Nadia Stafford is a nature lodge owner in Canada who moonilights as an assassin. Or is she an assassin that moonlights as a lodge owner? Her 17 year-old employee, Sammi, is a devoted mother striving to overcome her mother's reputation and earn enough money to get herself and her baby out of the small town that she is trapped in. Nadia knows that, despite her defensive attitude, Sammi would not abruptly quit her job and disappear without a word to anyone but she can't seem to get the police to
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