Broken Windows by SaritaDreaming
Review by Maxandmo
Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Suspense
Characters: Edward/Bella
Summary: When Bella arrives at Masen Island to finish her manuscript, she's faced with the resurgence of dreams and memories of the beautiful boy who glared at her in HS 4 years ago. Can she solve the mystery of Edward Cullen? 2ND PLACE WINNER PICK A PIC CHALLENGE
Broken Windows begins four years after Bella graduates from Forks High. She remained in Forks and attended community college. Her passion is writing, so on a whim she sends her unfinished manuscript about the boy from high school to the elusive Masen Foundation.
In a moment of sheer insanity, I'd written an essay and submitted my as-yet-unfinished piece. It was a chunk of my very soul put to paper, and once I'd dropped the package off at FedEx, I had a major panic attack when I got back in my car. What had I done? I'd cringed inside, just knowing that someone at The Masen Foundation would be laughing their ass off at my ridiculous attempt to gain entry to their exclusive program.
She is shocked to learn that she's been accepted into their program and will be flown to their private island to complete her novel. The island's location is secret, and once she gets there she notices the similarity to Forks. The weather is gloomy, and the vegetation is rich. The house she is staying at is absolutely breathtaking. SaritaDreaming does an excellent job describing the island and the house in such perfect detail.
Bella is told that Mr. Masen is in residence and that she may or may not meet him. She's instructed to never set foot on the third floor, as that is where he spends his time.
Mr. E.A. Masen reads her manuscript and is curious to know more. They begin to interact through notes they leave for each other and email. His questions and suggestions lead her to dive deeper into her own thoughts about the boy who she thinks hated her in high school.
Good evening, Bella. I've been reading more of your work, and I have many questions; some of them are questions for you to mull over. Have you ever considered that Brad (is this the boy's real name or a pseudonym?) did not hate you? Some of the behavior you refer to is common on school playgrounds and in classrooms everywhere—boy picks on girl because he likes her and doesn't know how to deal with it.
During her stay, thoughts of the person she's been writing about consume her. She dreams of him in a way that seems so real, freshly igniting the passion that she's tried to keep under wraps the last four years.
The first chapter ends with a resolution of sorts, and the next two chapters are in Edward's point of view. The story goes full circle and is very well written.
Will Bella meet E.A. Masen, or will she leave the island only ever wondering about the man who is making her rethink everything?
Nice review. Been reading this story since she first posted it. Absolutely love it!! Every update makes me happy.