The Driven Trilogy Review
Kristy Bromberg
Reading has always been the light at the end of the tunnel for me. It can take me out of a dark place and brighten my world. It sends me on a journey of self-discovery, it feeds my desire to experience other lives. I read because I want to, but I also read because I have to. It is much a part of me as breathing or eating. When I read a book there are so many hungers it must fill. I must feel anger and passion. I must laugh out loud, shed tears....and become lost in the characters world. - Ebony
The Driven Trilogy filled every need, stroked every desire and completely turned me inside out. I was lost in the world of Colton and Rylee. I truly felt their pain, understood their hurt. I wanted to comfort them, to yell at them, to shake reality into them and I did. That is credit to K. Bromberg.
She took her words, her imagination and created the greatest erotic romance I have read to date.
Colton: Demons fill him, self-hatred consumes him, trust escapes him, love evades him. He takes what he wants, when he wants and how he wants, but has nothing to give in return. He immerses himself into empty sex and moves on to the next. His early life was harsh, unforgiving and volatile. The ultimate bad boy. And then he meets her.....
Rylee: Loss controls her, pain surrounds her, memories protect her, love evades her. She lives in the past, suffers in silence, accepts mental debasement. She has closed herself off from the world except for her boys. They are her salvation. Her saving grace. A good girl who meets him.....
Together: Colton and Rylee find each other and what starts is a roller coaster ride of emotion, self-discovery, anger, forgiveness, passion, erotic sex, trust, sensual love making and the list could go on and on. The energy, the arguments, the pushing away, the stubbornness, the jealousy, the silence among these two.....LOUD!
K. Bomberg has a way with words that amaze me. They flow like a river, they edge into your soul, they take over your mind, they place you where she wants you to be.
I felt every emotion this series encompassed. I felt every thrust from Colton. I felt all the anger from Rylee.....I felt!
I felt every emotion this series encompassed. I felt every thrust from Colton. I felt all the anger from Rylee.....I felt!
If you have not read this series, I implore of you please do so. I can assure you, you will not be disappointed. I was left wanting more and that is the sign of a best seller.
THE DRIVEN TRILOGY
KRISTY BROMBERG
E&I: Give us some
insight on Kristy Bomberg the person and Kristy Bomberg the author?
KB:
With me, what you see is what you get really…for both personas. Kristy as a
person in real life is a little more
reserved to those who don’t know me. I fret about a lot of things, know I yell
too much at my kids and swear at least once a week I will try to do it less
from now on. I don’t like change much and in all honesty, probably only 20% of
the people I know, know that I am an author.
Kristy as the author is the same person but a little more comfortable
being in front of people, a little more confident, and a lot more unabashed.
Both sides of me are extremely meticulous, always worry about something, and
continually wonder how I can do whatever task at hand better.
E&I: If you could have been the original author of
any piece of literary work ever published what would it be and why?
KB:
Wow. That’s a difficult question. I don’t think I have an answer to it because
if you think about it, every author puts a large portionof themselves into
their work. If I were to write a literary work, it would have turned out
different than what we ended up with…so, there are many
I’d like to claim as my own, but then they wouldn’t be the same…(like the
evasion there? Haha)
E&I: What are your thoughts on social media as an
author and as a way to promote your books?
KB:
Social media is a necessary evil.
I
love that it connects me to readers, gives me a channel to meet and talk and
discuss the things I hold so dear to me, my characters. At the same time I
think it’s an author’s worst nightmare. We hear constantly that such and such
an author is this accessible so you feel like you have to be the same way….and
at some point you cross the line where your work suffers because you are always
trying to keep up. When I started this
journey a year ago, I never expected all of this. I created my Driven group so
that I had ladies to talk with that loved the people in my head since no one in
real life (vs. book life) even knew them…I was in the group all the time, I
have met wonderful friends in there, and now that I’m busier with the demands
that success has brought, I can’t be in there as much. I’m in a constant worry
most days that I’m not spending enough time, answering emails fast enough, etc.
because I don’t want
to let down my readers that have gotten used to me being so accessible. So it
is a constant battle, the merry-go-round of family, writing, and social media…and
I’m not proud to admit that many days the one that should be number one
isn’t.
With
that said – the negatives of social media – there are also incredible
positives. I have a strong group of readers that have been able to take this
incredible ride with me. It’s not just mine…in a sense it’s theirs too so they
have an investment in my characters, my stories, and my future. It is an
unbelievable feeling to log onto Facebook, go into my group and see members
greeting new members and asking if they’ve left a review for
the series and how did they like the books. Members will post a poll for say a book
boyfriend contest so that others can go and vote for Colton. And more important
than these awesome members wanting to help me get the word
out for the books is the friendships I’ve seen form between sets of people.
E&I: Do you read much and if so who do you consider
to be your all time favorite author?
KB:
Not much nowadays. It’s really quite sad. I love to read but writing kind of
forces you to focus on only what you are working on. The constant re-reading of
what you’re writing, etc. Also, this sounds kind of ridiculous, but I will
stand by it, I don’t read or if I do, I don’t advertise what I’m reading so that
I can’t be accused of copying it at some later point. I mean there are only so
many situations that can be written, so similarities between books are bound to
come about but I feel that it’s easier for someone to point a finger and claim ‘copy’
if I have the book they want to compare it to sitting on my Goodreads shelf. I
hope that makes sense.
My
favorite author is hard because there are so many incredible ones nowadays but
growing up, it was definitely Sydney Sheldon.
E&I: How do you think you have evolved creatively
since your first book?
KB:
Creatively I think my evolution stems from the confidence I’ve gained. I don’t
think I ever would have attempted to write UnRaveled if I hadn’t gotten that
self-assurance the trilogy’s success gave me. As far as my writing, I think it
has grown leaps and bounds in the last year. I can pick up Driven and then pick
up Crashed and see the change in my style, my structure, and my voice.
E&I: Why do you write?
Because
I need to. It’s how I express myself best. What used to be a hobby has turned
into a daily type of release that I need. It’s now part of my day, part of my
mindset, and the way I can pour any varying emotions I’m having that day out
onto a page.
E&I: Colton Donovan is such a strong, damaged
soul. Was he based off of anyone in
particular or just the creation of an awesome imagination?
KB:
Colton is 100% a figment of my imagination.
E&I: How much have your books been compared to FSOG?
KB:
Driven was compared to FSOG A LOT…and
honestly, rightfully (and wrongfully) so. I was this person who on whim decided
to see if I could write a book. I’d read all of thee books and saw the pattern
of the successful books – damaged alpha and innocent ingénue – so why stray
from what works? That comment just expresses my complete naivete in this
publishing world and I did get slammed for it quite handily. But my thought was this, reel people in with
the tried and true story line that people have shown they like, prove to them
that this new author can write, draw them in and then make the story line
completely mine for books two and three. And I think I accomplished that but it
doesn’t mean that I don’t regret in hindsight owning the story myself from the
get go…but, you live and learn.
E&I: Will there more of this trilogy, spin-offs,
novellas, extensions of storylines?
KB:
In a broad stroke of an answer, yes. I am working on two spin-offs currently
that you’ll see within the next twelve months plus a few little Driven extras
to ease the wait for my readers.
E&I: Colton and Rylee have been through hell and back
individually and together. Do you think their damaged psyche can and will
survive?
KB:
Not a doubt in my mind. They were made for each other – my damaged alpha and my
heartbroken heroine. They were made to help the other heal and learn to live
again and to feel…when you’ve been to hell and back and find the one that helps
you hold onto the light, you never let go.
E&I: I love Rylee. Her take no nonsense attitude, her
strong demeanor, but yet her gentle spirit. Is there much of your persona in
this character?
KB:
If you ask my husband, yes. Ha. When he read Driven he just said it was weird
to hear my voice in someone else’s head. With that said, we also had a few
fights over the fact that Rylee fell for Colton and does that mean since Rylee
is me in his eyes, that I secretly want a bad boy, too. I told him that being
jealous of a fictional character was just ridiculous … (a little white lie
never hurts anybody, right? Haha).
E&I: The Driven Trilogy is the best erotic romance I
have read to date. Do you think you will write more books in this genre?
KB:
Thank you. That’s a huge compliment. I most definitely will write more in this
genre. It’s funny because people tell me all the time that the series should be
under contemporary romance instead of erotic romance and that’s each person’s
perogative. When I started this all, I just grouped it with books it was
similar to and paired with its explicit nature, thought it deserved the erotic
romance category. I definitely have other ideas in other genres thought that I
might tackle at some point for a challenge.
E&I: Is there anything else you would like to share
with us?
KB:
I’d just like to thank everyone who has read the trilogy for all of their
incredible support over the last year since I started this journey. You guys
have really been an inspiration to me to keep going when words wouldn’t come,
people tried to hate, and everything imaginable tried to get in my way. I know
all authors say this, but I truly feel that I have the most amazing readers out
there.
I’d
also like to say this, I was sitting on the opposite end of this last year. I
was a reader thinking ‘Hm, maybe I should take a shot at this writing thing.” I
was scared to death and insecure as hell. To the twenty plus emails a week
asking me how I did it or what to do…the first thing you need to do is write.
And then write some more. And then write some more. It’s a continuous learning
curve.
E&I: How can readers contact you?
I
love to hear from my readers. My social media links are:
@KbrombergDriven
Thank you so much for taking the time out to
get to know me better. Thanks for reading and I’m so glad you enjoyed the
series!
Kristy Bromberg - what a woman. I've read lots in this genre and enjoyed most of then but the Driven Trilogy and for different reasons UnRaveled are the ones I always turn to for a re-read or to listen to the audios. Then again Kristy's FB page is brilliant
ReplyDeleteKristy you Rock! Keep writing these amazing books so that we can read them. This trilogy was the best ever, Thanks for pushing the publish button so we all had a chance to share Colton and Rylee with you.
ReplyDelete