{"id":63278,"date":"2022-02-02T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=63278"},"modified":"2025-08-29T01:16:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T05:16:20","slug":"blog-tour-excerpt-arc-review-tattered-stars-tattered-torn-1-by-catherine-cowles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=63278","title":{"rendered":"Blog Tour, Excerpt & ARC Review: Tattered Stars (Tattered & Torn, #1) by Catherine Cowles"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Small town romance at its best! Absolutely unputdownable. Cowles grabs you from page one and doesn\u2019t let you go. A brilliant tale packed with heat and heart.”<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2014Adriana Locke USA Today bestselling author<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Tattered Stars, an all new enemies to lovers small town romance and first book in the Tattered & Torn series from bestselling author Catherine Cowles is available now!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Amazon\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Amazon Worldwide<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Apple Books<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Nook\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Kobo<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\n

\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/h4>\n
\n

Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Be brave. Just for sixty seconds. Twenty breaths.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One night changed them both forever.<\/p>\n

Their lives shattered, beyond repair, with jagged edges and pieces askew.<\/p>\n

Now, Everly has a chance to make things right. To bring healing to the place where everything fell apart. But it means facing the family her father almost destroyed, and the\u00a0boy with the dark eyes\u2014now grown\u2014who still haunts her dreams.<\/p>\n

Just one breath away from having your life ripped out from under you.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The last thing Hayes wants is another reminder of all the ways he failed sixteen years ago. When Everly drives back into Wolf Gap, his only mission is to get her to leave. For his family\u2019s sake, and for his own, those demons need to stay buried for good.<\/p>\n

But everything about this woman is a surprise, from her spine of steel to the sanctuary she hopes to create with the land her mother left behind. And Hayes is powerless to\u00a0stay away.<\/p>\n

As a careful friendship sparks into something more, someone watches. And they\u2019ll do\u00a0anything to tear it all apart\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Enter to win a signed paperback of Tattered Stars<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

5 stars!<\/b><\/p>\n

The beginning of a new series from Catherine Cowles, this is a gorgeously emotional and heartfelt story with a beautifully functional romance and a suspense storyline that works so well to bring intensity but not overwhelm the love story. I felt so much for these characters, and I loved this book!<\/p>\n

After a prologue that had my heart racing with excitement for the story to come, we meet Everly as she returns to the small country town that she left as a child. She had a traumatising childhood, and left in horrific circumstances, but she\u2019s taken ownership of her family\u2019s land and she\u2019s determined to face her demons head-on while fulfilling her dreams of creating an animal sanctuary.<\/p>\n

Hayes Easton is the local Sheriff. His whole family was torn to pieces by the actions of Everly\u2019s father, and he wants her nowhere near his family or his town. He\u2019s determined to get her to leave, but there\u2019s something about the vulnerable yet brave woman that he just can\u2019t walk away from.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks for coming back for me.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019ll come back for you anytime you ask, Ev. Or even if you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is chemistry there from the very start, and though there\u2019s a bit of a snarky vibe going on, they are clearly attracted to each other. A tentative friendship soon forms, and Hayes is there in his official capacity to protect and defend Everly when she becomes the target of violent attacks, and their friendship starts to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t get to stop you from finding your peace.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat peace?\u201d I waved my hand around the waiting room, now teeming with officers. \u201cThere is none.\u201d
\nHe gripped my face more firmly, making me meet his gaze. \u201cYou have to fight for it.
\nI let my head tip forward to rest on his. \u201cI\u2019m too tired to fight.\u201d
\n\u201cThen you rest for a little while and pick up the sword again when you\u2019re ready. There are other people who can hold it for you in the meantime.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love these characters, and I love them together! Their shift from friends to more<\/i> is easy and natural, led by Hayes who just makes it happen, and Everly gladly follows. It\u2019s sweet and emotional, and they are such a beautiful couple, and I could feel everything between them<\/p>\n

\u201cYou came in like a flash flood with no warning, and now I can\u2019t imagine my life without you.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the meantime, the suspense part of the story continues to build as Everly is clearly being targeted. The danger she faces brings excitement, and definitely works to move things along in her relationship with Hayes as he goes all alpha protective male (*swoon*). It\u2019s an intriguing storyline that fits seamlessly with the rest of the story, and I really enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

Hayes and Everly\u2019s families are a big part of their story. It\u2019s Hayes\u2019 siblings that will each get books in the series, and I am so freaking excited to read more about them! They have such a fascinating backstory, and some already wonderfully developed dynamics and I loved watching them embrace Everly so beautifully.<\/p>\n

Catherine Cowles has given us another gorgeously romantic small-town love story, and it\u2019s a fantastic start to the Tattered & Torn<\/i> series. I can\u2019t wait to continue on!<\/p>\n

5 stars!<\/p>\n

An Advanced Review Audio Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tattered & Torn<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Tattered Stars (#1)<\/strong> (Hayes & Everly)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Apple Books<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Nook <\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Kobo <\/a><\/p>\n

Falling Embers (#2) <\/strong>(Calder & Hadley)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 \u00a0Apple Books<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Nook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Kobo<\/a><\/p>\n

Hidden Waters (#3) <\/strong>(Beckett & Addie)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon\u00a0<\/a> | \u00a0Apple Books<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Nook<\/a><\/p>\n

Shattered Sea (#4)<\/strong> (Boden & Laiken)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Apple Books\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Nook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Kobo<\/a><\/p>\n

Fractured Sky (#5) <\/strong>(Ramsey & Shiloh)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Apple Books\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Nook\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Kobo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Excerpt<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I pressed on the accelerator to make it past the final rise, and as I did, the property came into view. My heart seemed to take up acrobatics in my chest, flipping and
\ntumbling, expanding and contracting. My hands gripped the wheel harder as my foot eased off the gas.<\/p>\n

The house itself was in worse shape than I\u2019d expected. One of the walls had a gaping hole in it. But the small guest cabin didn\u2019t look too worse for wear. The cottage had been in my mom\u2019s family for generations, but the house had been my father\u2019s construction after they married. She hadn\u2019t stayed long after he went to prison, choosing to move us down to the flats to live on some land my uncle owned.<\/p>\n

While the generations-old construction of the cabin had held steady, the barn and paddocks hadn\u2019t fared nearly as well. The entire structure seemed to lean to one side, and a storm had taken down more than half of the fencing. My back hurt just looking at all the work that needed to be done.<\/p>\n

I sighed and pulled to a stop in front of the cabin, releasing my hold on the wheel. My phone dinged, and I sent up a mental thank you to the gods of technology that it seemed I had service up here.<\/p>\n

Shay: Are you there yet? Text me the second you arrive.<\/p>\n

I smiled down at my phone, feeling a little less alone, knowing that I had someone who would drop anything to have my back.<\/p>\n

Me: Just pulled up outside. Cabin looks okay. The house and barn are a disaster.<\/p>\n

Shay: Are you sure you don\u2019t want Brody and me to come help you get settled? We can be there in two days.<\/p>\n

God, I was lucky to have her as a friend, but I wasn\u2019t ready to open all the doors I\u2019d need to if they came to stay. There were too many skeletons I didn\u2019t want to let out into the light.<\/p>\n

Me: Thank you, but I\u2019ve got this. Let me get settled, and then you can come for a visit.<\/p>\n

Shay: I don\u2019t like that you\u2019re there all alone.<\/p>\n

Me: I won\u2019t be alone for long.<\/p>\n

Soon, I would have this place crawling with animals. It had always been my dream to build a home for neglected or abused animals of any kind. A sanctuary. It was simply coming more quickly than expected.<\/p>\n

I turned off my SUV, rolled down the windows, and the pine air swept in. It was different than any other type, the Ponderosa pines. And as it filled me, tears sprang to my eyes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d missed this, more than I\u2019d realized.<\/p>\n

I leaned back in my seat and pulled out my letter.<\/p>\n

Dearest Everly,<\/p>\n

I know much of this will come a day late and more than a dollar short, but better that than not at all. Even once the doctors told me the cancer had a hold, I couldn\u2019t bring myself to call you, to tell you these things face-to-face as I should\u2019ve. So, I\u2019ll take the coward\u2019s way out. That won\u2019t be anything new. There were so many times I should\u2019ve stood up but didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not you. You\u2019ve always been the bravest person I\u2019ve ever known. Even before that night. I should\u2019ve told you, but I didn\u2019t\u2014I\u2019m so proud of you, beautiful girl. You made yourself into this amazing warrior all on your own, without any help from your dad or me. I wish I had a chance to truly see you shine now. That\u2019s the price for my sins. To miss all of your beauty and light shining on this world. This should\u2019ve come so long ago, but I\u2019m sorry. For not being there for you. For not
\ngetting your father the help he needed. For not taking you and your siblings away when things went sideways. I\u2019m so very sorry that I wasn\u2019t stronger. That I wasn\u2019t more like you.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have much I can give you, but the land\u2019s still mine. I know a lot of pain\u2019s been poured into the dirt there, but there was good once, too. When I spent summers there with your grandparents. As your father and I made it our home. The babies that grew there. The animals we raised.<\/p>\n

Maybe you can find your good there, too.<\/p>\n

I understand if you can\u2019t. Or don\u2019t want to. But I know if one person is strong enough to do it\u2026it\u2019s you.<\/p>\n

I love you forever and always, my little warrior.<\/p>\n

Mom<\/p>\n

A single tear splashed onto the page. She\u2019d been gone before I even knew she was sick. Buried before I even knew she was gone. My family hadn\u2019t wanted me there. Not my brother\u2014who I was sure still blamed me for everything\u2014my uncle, or any other vast network of relatives still rooted in the area.<\/p>\n

To them, I was the enemy, the outsider. And now, I\u2019d returned. The only one who might be happy to see me was my cousin, Addie, but I wasn\u2019t even sure about that. We hadn\u2019t spoken since I\u2019d left. All of my letters came back, marked as Return to Sender in her father\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n

My mother thought I was a warrior, and I hoped she was right. I would need all my armor if I was going to face them again. Because no one would be happy that I was here. And they\u2019d be downright livid when they learned I was staying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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About Catherine<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she\u2019s not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.<\/p>\n

Connect with Catherine:<\/p>\n

Amazon\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Twitter\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Pinterest\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Instagram\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Goodreads\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Bookbub\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Website<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Stay up to date with Catherine by joining her mail list<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check out our Catherine Cowles Author Spotlight<\/a> for more awesome reads!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Small town romance at its best! Absolutely unputdownable. Cowles grabs you from page one and doesn\u2019t let you go. A brilliant tale packed with heat and heart.” \u2014Adriana Locke USA Today bestselling author   Tattered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1548,52,95,9,29],"tags":[59,1218,48,1357],"class_list":["post-63278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-age-gap","category-drama","category-mystery","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-catherine-cowles","tag-review","tag-tattered-torn"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Tattered-Stars.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-gsC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}