When his wife’s life ends in a train crash, Luke Hansard implodes. Helen was his forever love, and he can’t imagine a future without her. To honor her memory, he makes a commitment to deliver a gift that Helen had planned to mail to an online friend she’d never met in person. After perusing the friend’s photography account on social media, he figures out she lives in an old castle, just a few hours away. The castle and its imagery-rich setting in Suffolk County, England, is one of the endearing elements of THE BEAUTY OF BROKEN THINGS.
 
Inside the castle, hidden from the world, lives Orla Kendrick. Once a highly successful model and photographer, she chooses to live alone to avoid the stares and comments that her disfigured face elicits. But the castle’s thick walls do more than hide her; they also protect her from the world and the person responsible for the horrific act that caused her disfigurement. Orla is content to live without human contact…until Luke knocks on her castle door.

"Victoria Connelly’s characters are likable and realistically flawed, with the right amount of good intentions, insecurities, fears and hopes to make them relatable."

Orla initially wants nothing to do with Luke, though his news of Helen’s death breaks her heart. Despite never meeting Helen face to face, she felt a bond with her fellow photographer. When an unexpected situation requires Orla to bring Luke into the castle, she finds herself feeling more comfortable than expected with this man who, like her, is struggling to heal. 
 
Grief, fear, painful secrets and wounded hearts twist into an unlikely bond as Luke and Orla help each other slowly move forward from their tragic events. Sometimes taking two steps back, they encourage each other as best they can in the midst of their own heartaches.
 
THE BEAUTY OF BROKEN THINGS has an interesting premise and a beautiful setting, but its slow pace and predictable plot may not be ideal for some readers. Still, Victoria Connelly’s characters are likable and realistically flawed, with the right amount of good intentions, insecurities, fears and hopes to make them relatable. All in all, it is a sweet story.