Broken Pieces - by Abby Shrewsbury (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Some people spend their whole lives learning how to survive. Sam Reynolds is still learning how to live.

Sam keeps her world small on purpose - she leads a quiet life at a coffee shop, owns a loyal dog, cherishes her found family in Bill and Jessa, and has a long list of unspoken rules that attempt to keep panic from swallowing her whole. After a traumatic upbringing and a life spent stitching herself back together, safety isn't just a preference. It's a necessity.

Then Elliot Flint walks into the café with perfect gray-blue eyes, a crooked smile, and a way of seeing her she's not at all ready for. He's steady where she's skittish, gentle where the world has been cruel, and persistent in ways that terrify her. When an unexpected moment shatters the distance she's so carefully kept, Sam is forced to confront the truth: healing doesn't happen in isolation. And being known - truly known - might just be the riskiest thing she's ever faced.

As Sam navigates resurfacing trauma and the fragile hope of something good, Elliot must decide whether he can love someone still learning how to love herself. But rebuilding a life from broken pieces isn't simple, and what grows between them will test the limits of trust, vulnerability, and resilience.

Told through raw emotion, soft humor, and intimate character moments, Broken Pieces is a contemporary novel about finding safety after fear, choosing love after loss, and learning that the bravest thing a person can do is stay.

Perfect for readers who love:

- Slow-burn emotional intimacy

- Found family and quiet acts of care

- Trauma-informed storytelling

- Tender but complicated romance

- Characters who feel achingly real

A story for anyone who has ever felt broken - and hoped they weren't beyond repair.