Title: Into the Nothing
Series: Broken Outlaw #1
Author: BT Urruela
Release Date: June 21, 2016
Xander Evans has been on the road for many years. Never settling. Always moving from one place to another, unable to let go of his past. He lived a tragic childhood, spending most of those years in foster care. He's never felt like he's had a home. That is until he stops in the small town of Truman Valley, Missouri, where he meets a woman who will change everything he's ever known.
Paige Watson has it all. A loving family, beautiful home, and a great career. The only thing she's missing....is love. After escaping an abusive relationship, she opens her heart up to a stranger. He is unlike any man she's ever met. He came into her life and turned it completely upside down. Everything is perfect. That is, until one fateful night.
A night that would tear the Watson family apart, never to be put back together again.
A night that would send Xander away to prison for life.
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"How about twenty questions?" I ask.
"I hate twenty questions."
"How about five questions, then?"
He cracks a smile and lifts an eyebrow. "How about three?"
"Deal!"
"So, have I mentioned how much I fucking hate Tuesdays?" Brandi's voice cuts right between us. Xander looks relieved.
Me? Not so much. "Damn it, Brandi!"
"What?"
"Oh nothing. Can you grab me Fireball though? Pretty please. Two of them." I look at Xander. "You're taking one."
"Three. I am too, bitch! Fuck Tuesdays!" Brandi calls out from across the bar as she begins filling the shot glasses from the Fireball chiller.
"Question one. You said you’ve been traveling for a while now, right? Do you ever get tired of it? Ever feel like settling?”
"Damn. Starting out with the heavy hitters, huh?" He eyes the shot glasses as if hoping it will somehow make them fill faster.
"Need me to go easier on you? Maybe a finger or two first before I go in with the whole fist?"
He looks at me in disbelief. "Did you really just say that?"
"Just answer the question, two fingers or three?"
Elizabeth's Review
3.5 Stars - Worth A Reader's Time
Review Copy Provided by Author
Into The Nothing is BT Urruela's debut as solo project. It's a good story, with interesting characters and twists that I wouldn't have expected.
I struggled a little bit though in reading the book because it seemed that we spent a lot of time on things that didn't really matter in the end. About 2/3 of the book chronicles the short relationship between Xander and Paige. We see them drink a lot, run ins with ex-boyfriends, creepy friends, troubled brothers, but we also see them starting to fall in love with each other. I didn't 100% buy the romantic connection between Xander and Paige. I got that they were attracted to each other and comfortable with each other, but the "love" vibe just wasn't there for me.
Tragedy strikes Paige's family and we fast forward three years. As much as the early parts of the book dragged on occasion, it felt like parts of the later chapters rushed. There were places where more information would have been useful, but it wasn't there. Some loose ends were tied up, but others were left hanging.
There was a definite twist to the ending that made the struggles to get there worth it. But, the epilogues left me a little confused. I get the feeling that Paige and Xander's story is not totally resolved and that there may be more twists and turns in their future.
Into The Nothing is a darker type of story for me and while I didn't love it, I did enjoy it. The fact that it is a debut project leads me to have great hope for the author's future efforts.
BT Urruela was an infantryman in the US Army from August 2004 until February 2011. At the end of a year long tour to Baghdad, Iraq, his vehicle was hit by two roadside bombs, which took his right leg below the knee and the life of his commander. He was awarded a Purple Heart for his wounds, an Army Commendation Medal, and Combat Infantryman's Badge. He medically retired from the Army in 2011 and moved to Tampa, FL where he currently works as a Director and Brand Ambassador for VETSports, a veteran community sports nonprofit he co-founded in 2012. He also conducts motivational speeches, works as a cover and fitness model and he's a personal performance trainer. He co-wrote the military romance novel A Lover's Lament and will be releasing his debut solo novel, Into the Nothing, on June 21st, 2016.
