Come To Me Quietly
(Closer to You Series #1)
by
A.L. Jackson
(Closer to You Series #1)
by
A.L. Jackson
 |
Release Date: January 7, 2014
Genre: New Adult Romance
|
From
the acclaimed bestselling author of Lost
to You and When We Collide
comes a new adult novel of one woman’s
obsession: a man who’s as passionate as he is elusive—and as tempting as he is
trouble…
~ Synopsis ~
Aleena
Moore is haunted by Jared Holt. It’s been six years since she’s seen her
brother’s best friend, the self-destructive bad boy she secretly loved in high
school. As the years pass, she knows it’s time to move on. Time to decide
between a practical nursing degree and her true dream as an artist. Time to get
over Jared and give another guy a chance…
Just
when she opens her heart to her friend Gabe, Aly returns home to find Jared
sleeping on her couch. The teenage boy she loved has grown into a man she can’t
resist. Covered in tattoos and lost in rage, he’s begging to be saved from his
demons—the memories of the day he destroyed his family. As the two reconnect,
their passion is hot enough to torch Aly’s judgment. But can she risk her
future for a man who lives on the edge of destruction?
~ Excerpt ~
I rubbed a nervous hand across my tense jaw, listening as
the shower in Aly’s bathroom sprang to life.
God, the girl was dangerous. A minute ago she had quietly
slipped across the hall from her bedroom to the bathroom, shooting me a shy
smile as she passed. Crimson colored her
face with a ridiculous blush, and her hair was all a mess because my fingers
had been tangled in it all night. She wore the same tank and shorts that had
been discarded on her floor.
My knee bounced because I was thinking about Aly peeling
them from her body before she climbed under the hot sheets of water in the
shower.
Closing my eyes, I fought for restraint.
It was Saturday, which meant no work for me, and I had no
idea what I was going to do with my sorry ass all day. Aly had to work. How pathetic was it that I didn’t want her to
go?
The shower shut off, and a few minutes later Aly emerged
from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She rushed to her room and clicked the
door shut behind her.
I shot off the couch and sought the isolation of the
bathroom. I didn’t think I could handle sitting by Christopher any longer,
hanging onto this secret that felt like a million tons on my shoulders. So much
of me wanted to shout it, to scream out that I had touched beauty, that for a
few minutes I had felt more than the nothingness that was my life. Years of
isolation did that to a person, and when emotions were freed, it was hard to
keep them contained.
But instinctively I knew to keep my mouth shut.
When I left, I wouldn’t leave Aly ashamed, couldn’t bear to
shed light on the sickness I was tainting her with. This would be our secret, our fantasy, and
for just a little while, I was giving in to it.
Steam filled the small space, and the mirror was coated,
hiding me in the misty haze. I swept my hand across the surface and looked at
my reflection in the foggy mirror.
Hate spun through my insides and throbbed down my limbs.
What the hell did she see?
When I heard her bedroom door open, I quickly opened the
bathroom door, wanting to catch a glimpse of her before she left for the day.
Feigning apathy, I slowed when I stepped out into the hall.
She stood at the bar, gathering her things.
“Have to work today, huh?” I asked. As if I didn’t already
know.
She dropped her face, looking all shy and innocent and
perfect, and then shoved her wallet into her purse. “Yeah. I’m just working the
short lunch shift, though, so I’ll be off a little after one.” Gathering up the
mass of dark hair from her neck, Aly twisted it into a ponytail. “It shouldn’t
be too bad,” she said.
She glanced up at me with awareness in her eyes, as if she
knew exactly what I was thinking, that I couldn’t stand to watch her leave. She
knew I was going to be counting the hours before she returned and she even knew
how much I absolutely hated the fact that I would be. The thing that twisted me
all up was Aly looking as if she felt the same, like she was dying to bury
those fingers in my skin.
I fisted my hand. It took everything I had not to push her
up against the wall and kiss her senseless.
Considering Christopher was sitting on the couch playing
video games, I figured that was a really fucking bad idea. I sat back and
played it cool.
“I guess I’ll see you later,” Aly said as she heaved her
ridiculously huge purse onto her shoulder.
I barely lifted my chin, blithe and indifferent. “Sure. .
.drive safe.”
She turned away, stole a glance back at me, then turned to
leave. “See you after work, Christopher.”
Furiously he thumbed at his controller. “Bye,” he said as if
he couldn’t be disturbed long enough to notice she was there.
Aly walked away, her dark ponytail swishing along her back.
She opened the door and bright sunlight burst around her frame as she stepped
out into the day.
I inched forward to the end of the hall. I realized I was
standing there like an idiot, watching the space she’d just taken up as she
snapped the door shut behind her.
Shit.
“You better watch yourself, man.” The warning dripped low
and slow through Christopher’s lips, hardness coiled tightly in the words.
Taken aback, I blinked hard and turned my attention to where
he sat with his focus trained entirely on the TV. I swallowed down the pool of
saliva that gathered at the back of my throat. “What are you talking about?”
Incredulous laughter seeped from Christopher, and he slowly
shook his head in disbelief. “You think I haven’t noticed the way you’ve been
looking at my little sister?” He cut his eyes to me, scrutinizing me in clear
disgust, before he tore them back to the TV. “I wasn’t joking when I said her
room was off limits. I just didn’t think I’d have to spell it out for you.”
I tried to rein in the panic that jack-hammered in my brain.
Guilt hit me hard, but not hard enough to keep me away from Aly. My body still
burned with the residual of her touch. Nothing would stop me from going back
for more.
Just a little more.
I shook my head and forced a frown that could only speak of
my own distaste. “We’re just friends, Christopher. We’ve always been. You know
that.” The words pushed out with the force of my faked revulsion, blended with
the solemn oath. “She’s like a sister to me.”
My tongue burned with the lie, and this time the guilt was consuming.
I was just going to stand here and lie straight faced to my
best friend?
He
will hate me before I’m gone.
~ Links to Buy ~
Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iTunes ** Kobo
Smashwords ** Indie Bound ** Books-a-Million
Smashwords ** Indie Bound ** Books-a-Million
~ Review ~
I was so excited to have the chance to read this book
prior to release! A.L. Jackson has a way of drawing you right into the story
so you feel every ounce of pain, suffering, flutter of love and emotion that
the characters experience. That being
said if you are a fan of unrequited love, second chances, a damaged bad boy and
the road to redemption you have found your book!
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this story! I was truly
captivated by Jared and Aly’s story. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to
see what was coming next. I shed quite a
few tears along the way for Jared and Aly as well.
Jared Holt is damaged.
He wears his pain for all to see.
Driven from the place he once called home he suddenly finds himself
drawn to the place where his pain is
most prevalent. When a chance encounter
reunites him with an old friend Christopher Moore, little does he know his life
is about to be turned upside down.
Aleena a/k/a Aly lives with her brother Chris and has
secrets of her own. She’s going to
college and works but has no love interest. It’s hard to give yourself to another when
your heart has been held captive for years by someone else. What do you do when that someone appears like
a vision in your own home?
“Do you remember Jared
Holt?
The name was enough to
knock the breath from my lungs. Did I remember him? When I look back now, I wondered how it was
possible for a heart to be broken at fourteen.
But my heart had, because it’d broke for him. ~Aly
The story flips between the past and present and you
can see early on that Jared and Aly had a connection from when they were
children.
“Don’t worry, Aly Cat, I
won’t leave you behind.” ~ Jared
But their connection is so deep it’s as though they can
see right through one another. You come
to see that Aly has loved Jared every day since she was a child. In spite of himself, Jared cannot help but feel
things for Aly that he doesn’t feel he deserves or is entitled to.
"It
was always you, Jared.
Always.
I can't remember a day
in my life when I didn't love you." ~ Aly
As the story progresses we watch
Jared come to the realization that Aly has saved him in more than one way. He can no longer deny what he feels but will
it be too late? Will there be any happiness
for Jared and Aly? Can they mend the
broken pieces of themselves and finally become whole?
This book is an emotional roller coaster. It is not a hearts and flowers book. It is emotional, gut wrenching, painful and
beautiful all rolled into one. I couldn’t
put it down and was drawn deeper into the story with the turn of every
page. I will definitely be looking
forward to the next installment in this series, Come To Me Softly, releasing July
2014.
~ Rating ~
~ About the Author ~
A.L.
Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Take This Regret and Lost to
You, as well as other contemporary romance titles, including Pulled, When We Collide, and If
Forever Comes.
She
first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college
student. She filled the journals she
carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the
difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.
Years
later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest
friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length
novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives
with her husband and three children.
Look
for Come to Me Softly, book two in
the Closer To You Series, coming July 1, 2014
~ A Rafflecopter Giveaway ~
And don’t miss the DAILY blog tour giveaways on A.L. Jackson’s Facebook accounts! All kinds of fun stuff will be given away ~ ebooks, gift cards, and much more! EVERY DAY from January 7th – February 7th!! https://www.facebook.com/aljacksonauthor
Blog Tour hosted by:
Shh Moms Reading, Literary Mania Reviews, and Brandee’s Book Endings
No comments:
Post a Comment