** spoiler alert ** I received a review copy of Breaking Lauren from the author for my participation of AToMR's book tour.

Breaking Lauren is written in a style that I have come to love; every other "chapter" is written from the perspective of Danny or Lauren, the two main characters.

Danny is a modern day thug - "Enforcer" - whose uncle is a bookie. He, his two cousins, and best friend Brandon go around beating up on people who don't pay Uncle John. From the get go you can pretty much tell Danny doesn't like this life and just gets through every day on autopilot.

Lauren grew up as the youngest daughter of a high school sweethearts whose marriage is pretty much over, though they don't want to admit to it. In fact, Lauren's character is somewhat fresh as she was a popular kid until her father cheated on her mother, who was accused of burning down their house. In a bid to save their marriage, they drag Lauren to California to start "afresh".

I would have liked this book so much more if Lauren wasn't such a whineass. I understand that her life has been flipped upside down and she's starting at a new school, but oh my goodness, how could she have been so blind to so much?

Lauren's mother should have been hospitalized; she's a few crayons short of a full box. Through most of the book I wanted to punch her in the face over how she treated Lauren and how wishy washy she was.

Sarah was probably my favorite character of the whole book; her and Jess. I didn't much care for Jenn or any of the new friends Lauren made at her new school and thought that Josh was more of a dictator than a kid. Seriously, the things the football and baseball teams did for him!

I'm looking forward to reading the sequel to this book to see if Lauren finally smartens up.