I was looking for a job, not a Romeo… because everyone knows how that story ends.
Broken Romeo, an all-new enemies to lovers, second chance romance, and the first book in the Shattered Hearts series from USA Today bestselling author Katana Collins is now available!
I’ve got three hundred bucks left in my bank account, two jobs, and one final chance to make it as an actress in New York City.
After years of being a chorus girl, I arrive at my first Broadway audition for a leading role thinking I finally have a shot at making it…until I come face to face with the director, Holden James—the rich quarterback from college who broke my heart and stabbed me in the back three years ago.
But I’m not the same girl I was in college. And unlike three years ago, I now know just what—and who—I’m dealing with. This time, I know how to play the game. In this cutthroat business, I need to remember the truest theatrical lesson of all:
For never was a story of more woe… than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
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My shoulders go rigid. I have thirteen missed calls.
Thirteen.
Most days, I get one or two calls tops… and they’re usually spam.
Not only do I have thirteen missed calls, but I have thirteen new voice messages. All from the same 516 area code.
I press play and hold the phone up to my ear.
Holden’s voice filters from the speaker. “Kate, it’s me. Look, we need to talk. I don’t want to have this conversation over the phone—”
She wasn’t exactly memorable back then. The echo of his voice roils my stomach, and I pull the phone away from my ear to look at the phone number he called from.
The same number as the other twelve messages—Holden’s number.
Holden called me thirteen times.
My breath catches. I haven’t known his number for years. I haven’t known how to reach him, despite the multiple pissed off speeches I’ve memorized through the years. Speeches I thought he’d never hear because I never had a way to contact him…
Until now.
The power of that makes my heart patter against my ribcage with the speed of a hummingbird’s wings.
It’s a power I shouldn’t be trusted with.
I delete the messages and shove my phone back deep into my pocket as Jill gives me a questioning glance. “Who was that?”
My throat tightens. She’s the one person I can’t lie to. “It was him.”
Her eyes go wide, filling with hope. “Maybe—”
“No,” I cut her off.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say!”
Curt finishes taking an order and scribbles some initials onto a cup, then thrusts it at me to make the iced matcha latte. I bend, retrieving the green powder from its container, and toss a scoop in the bottom of the cup.
“Fine,” I concede, uncapping the almond milk.
“What were you going to say?”
“Maybe he’s calling to offer you the part—”
“No,” I answer again, shoving the ice scoop into the bin.
“But how do you know?”
“I just do.” I dump the ice into the tea shaker, then push the lid on top. Giving it a good shake, I speak over the clatter. “If you’re being offered a role, the director isn’t the one who calls you. The casting director calls your agent. Then your agent calls you with the contracts that you comb through before there’s any formal acceptance.”
I hate the deflated look on Jill’s face. In some ways, she’s taking this even harder than I am.
Or I’m just that good at shutting off my emotions.
Which is the exact reason I didn’t get the part. Because Holden knows me too well. He knows I have trouble connecting, exposing my vulnerable side. Especially with him.
“The only reason Holden would call me himself is if I didn’t get the part, and he thinks this somehow makes him the hero to tell me in person.” I stare into the frothy light green beverage and snap the lid on top, avoiding Jill’s pitying stare.
A deep voice speaks up, resonating over the ambient noise of the coffee shop. “Maybe if you returned my calls, you’d know what the hell I wanted.”
My breath stalls halfway out of my lungs, and I snap my gaze up.
Holden.
For more information about Katana Collins and her books, visit her website:
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🎬Review🎬
Kate has always wanted to be an actress, but it is proving much more difficult to follow her dreams than she expected. She has reached a crossroads where despite working multiple jobs, she may have to follow another path if she isn’t chosen for the next role she is auditioning for. That task is about to become much more difficult when the director happens to be someone she knew in the past that didn’t end well.
Holden is an accomplished actor who is now transitioning into directing. He regrets the events of the past and even though he wants things to be different both in the past and in the present that means he has some choices to make.
The chemistry and connection between Kate and Holden is as strong as ever but there is so much unresolved between them that must be dealt with first and I am looking forward to seeing what happens to this couple in the next book of this series.
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