Ballad of the Broken

Ballad of the Broken
By Laura Carpenter

Some love stories are inked in blood, sealed with silence, and buried beneath the weight of what was never said.

When Maeve Keegan left behind the Irish coast she once called home, she thought she’d buried the heartbreak, the headlines, and the boy who shattered her. But the past has a cruel way of rising — and so does the truth. Ten years later, Maeve is a rising artist on the cusp of international acclaim, hiding behind color and canvas. When tragedy pulls her back to her family’s crumbling estate, she finds the ghosts of her former life waiting—one of them in the form of Seán Devlin, the man who once swore he loved her... then disappeared without a word.

But Seán has his own scars. His silence wasn’t betrayal. It was survival. And now that he’s back, the secrets between them are darker—and more dangerous—than either of them ever imagined. Because someone has been watching Maeve. Following her. Obsessing. And the truth about their past may be the key to stopping a new tragedy before it begins.

Tangled in grief, passion, and the echo of everything they lost, Maeve and Seán must face the wreckage of their history—before it consumes what’s left of their future.

Raw, romantic, and layered with suspense, Ballad of the Broken is a story of fractured faith, forbidden love, and the kind of second chances we only get when the truth finally rises. For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Colleen Hoover, and deeply emotional Irish-set fiction, this is a saga you’ll carry in your bones.

💔 From award-entered author Laura Carpenter, whose Devlin Grove saga has captured over 21K loyal readers on Instagram and counting.
✨ Ballad of the Broken is part of her sweeping collection of emotionally rich novels, perfect for fans of poetic prose, slow-burn romance, family legacy, and atmospheric suspense.

📚 Discover the full Laura Carpenter catalogue now on Amazon — including The Ties That Made Us, Velvet, and Daughter of the Morrígan.
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This is not just a story.
It’s a ballad.
It’s a reckoning.
It’s the ache between what broke… and what might still be saved.