Broken Beyond Repair

A Sapphic Celebrity Ice Queen Romance (A South Downs Romance, Book 1)

By: Emily Banting

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

An age gap, celebrity ice queen romance that will pull at the heart strings—even the icy ones!

Sydney MacKenzie, personal assistant to the rich and famous, is looking forward to a well-earned break to go travelling in her beloved VW camper van, Gertie. That is, until Gertie cries off sick. When her boss calls in a favor, one that will pay Sydney handsomely and put Gertie back on the road, she can’t refuse.

Internationally renowned actress Beatrice Russell—adored by her fans and despised by those that know her—is splashed across the tabloids, all thanks to her broken leg. She limps back to her palatial English country estate to convalesce for the summer, where she finds herself in need of yet another new assistant.

Enter Sydney, who doesn’t take kindly to the star’s demands, attitude, or clicking fingers—much less her body’s own attraction to the gorgeous diva. If not for that and Gertie’s worn-out engine, she would leave tomorrow. Or so she tells herself.

As the summer heats up, the ice queen begins to thaw, and Sydney glimpses the tormented woman beneath the celebrity bravado, drawing her ever closer to the enigmatic actress— sometimes too close.

Can Sydney reach the real Beatrice and help heal her wounds before the summer ends and she returns to filming in the States, or is the celebrity broken beyond repair?

©2022 Emily Banting (P)2023 Emily Banting

Critic reviews

Goldie Winner 2023: The Ann Bannon Popular Choice Bronze Award

Goldie Finalist 2023: Contemporary Romance Long Novel

Winner of The Lesfic Bard Award 2022: Romance

Winner of The Lesfic Bard Award 2022: Cover Design

Winner of The Queer Indie Awards 2022: Contemporary Romance

More than I expected

I really liked this story. I listened to the audiobook. Angela Dawe is amazing, as always. It's a fun book, although not without trauma and more serious topics. It's hard to judge the writing with an audiobook, but I didn't hear any errors. I wasn't a fan of some of the sex scenes because I thought they were a little too much too soon, especially the first one, but they didn't make me love the story less. It's a very British story, but definitely understandable to this American. There's a lot happening in this book, and it makes for a very entertaining story. I liked all the characters, main and supporting.
The main characters had chemistry, but that could have been better, on both the emotional and physical fronts. I wish we had seen them interact more except over the autobiography, although that definitely helped them get to know each other. It was still a better book than I had expected. This might be a frequent listen, once I can find the audiobook on sale!

Nice surprise

Brought this book on a whim and what a delightful surprise. Well written and beautifully performed. Recommend.

Another Classic

Amazing narration by the marvelous Angela Dawe. Two women wounded by their lives. Beatrice is a Hollywood star with a broken leg due to a stunt gone wrong. Returning to her home she is greeted by Sydney her new personal assistant. As the ice queen heals they begin to find a healing path while writing Bea’s bio. Love the author.

Now I want a Gertie!

This book is funny and sweet. The 2 main characters are believable. The side characters are great. But Gertie? She made the book.

Wow! Wanted more

Enjoyed the book so very much the MC’s where great! Was left wanting more in end.

# out and proud

Great book! Great narrator (as always). I hope there is a third book in this series.

Very Good!

What can I say the narrator as always was flawless. usually I have to follow along in my kindle copy. When Angela reads it's fantastic. The story was well done the reading of it even better. Glad this ended up in my recommendation column.

I loved it !!!!

Beautiful and real story of closed hearts opening and fears overcome for Love .
Also it’s hot !!

Well Written Love Story With Interesting Characters!

Loved the various and main characters of this story. It’s a fun romantic story with a few twists and turns. I’m a sucker for a happy ending though in life that doesn’t always happen that’s why it’s fabulous to escape into this storyline. Narrator (Dawe) has a smooth tone which is fantastic to listen to.

Wonderful - loved it!

The hype was certainly warranted for this book and I'm so happy that Banting went with the Legendary Angela Dawe for the audio version!

I love a good celeb romance and this one felt unique. While "hard" ice queens aren't uncommon in sapphic literature, A-list actress Beatrice Russell felt like a new take somehow. She treats people rudely, runs off all of her assistants, appears to be distant with her teenage son and is generally disliked. After an on-set accident requires her to lay low and heal for several weeks, she heads home to her English estate and hires a new temporary assistant while she's there. Sydney McKenzie is between PA jobs and was hoping to take some time off to work on a book she wants to write. But when her beloved VW bus named "Gertie" needs some major maintenance repair work, Sydney has no choice but to take the job.

While she's not someone who follows pop culture or is on social media, she certainly notices how stunning the 50 year-old actress is. And while she has been prepared that the woman is "difficult," it's not like she hasn't dealt with that before. In her mid-30s, Sydney is a bit older than most assistants so maturity has allowed her to develop processes and tools to be successful in her job.

Sydney is one of the best melters in sapphic fiction. Patient, kind, uber competent, strong and even heroic, it's impossible for readers not to fall in love with her. While that's not as easy with her closeted charge, I really appreciated the circumstances that allowed Beatrice to reveal more of herself to Sydney - which provided a much better picture of who she was than the diva she appeared to be.

While on the surface this would seem like a story that's been told before - it hasn't. At least not in this way. I thought it was quite special indeed.

Narrator Angela Dawe was the perfect choice to do this book. When she’s given great material to work with, there’s nothing better. I highly recommend this one!