Blog Tour and Review: Drowning To Breathe by AL Jackson

The danger in pretending is it becoming real…

Sebastian Stone, Sunder front man and guitarist with a rap sheet about ten miles long, escaped to Savannah, Georgia, to get away from the trouble he’d caused.

Not find more of it.

The moment he saw Shea Bentley, he saw beneath all her sweet and innocence to something that went deeper.

Darker.

Their relationship was built on secrets; their love built on lies.

Sebastian never imagined how deep her secrets went.

When the past and present collide, Sebastian and Shea find themselves fighting for a future neither believed they deserved. Their passion is consuming and their need unending.

Now, holding the truth in his hands, Sebastian is faced with sacrificing everything he’s come to love to protect Shea and his family.

Two pasts intertwined.

Two lives bound.

Will their demons drown them or will Shea and Sebastian finally learn to breathe?

Drowning to Breathe is Book 2 in Sebastian and Shea’s two-part duet. Their story begins in A Stone in the Sea.

Goodreads http://bit.ly/DTBGoodreads

iBooks Pre-Order http://bit.ly/DTBiBooks

My Review

“I felt comfort and surety in the choice we’d made. The jump we’d taken. And together, we fell. Fell into the song, our fingers finding their own rhythm on the strings. Fell into the words, our spirts and tounges coming together to tell our story. Fell further into beauty. Fell into a sea of stars that blinded my eyes. Where we floated in a high place that belonged only to us. A place that didn’t belong to the world”

I don’t know about you guys, but ever since I finished A Stone in the Sea, I have been waiting to get my hands on this book. We were left with one crazy, and I mean crazy cliffhanger and I just had to know what happened next.

Drowning to Breathe picks up right where A Stone in the Sea left off. Shea is left reeling after Martin takes Kallie away. Her connection to Martin nearly destroys Sebastian. Of all people for Shea to share a past with, why did it have to Martin? Shea is now in the fight of her life, having to not only get her daughter back, but to also salvage what is left of her relationship with Sebastian. Will Sebastian be able to move past the lies that were told? Will Shea be able to beat her past and finally be able to live she deserves?

Drowning to Breathe pulled me in from the very first page. I got lost in the brilliance of AL Jackson’s writing. Shea and Sebastian’s story consumed me. The pages begging to be read and their story to be told. This book reminded me of why I love AL Jackson’s writing. Her writing and emotions are so real. So much heart and soul went into this story. I have been dying for a good, angsty read lately, and AL Jackson does not disappoint. With lines like these: “This….this was my penance. The payment for my sins. Punishment for every naive choice I had made. For every deciet I had blindly swallowed. For every lie that had fallen from my lips. But every one of them I’d told for her. To keep her safe. To allow us a life he would never let her live. But we can run as hard and as fast as we want, and until we put our pasts to rest, they will always catch up to us. Now mine had us in its grip.” or “I gave you my fucking heart, Shea. All of it. Wanted to claim Kallie as my own. Wanted everything with you, and now it turns out I know nothing.” I was lost. I absolutely did not stand a chance. The angst and the pain just pulled at my heart and demanded to be felt.

I don’t want to say too much, because I don’t want to give anything away. However, I will say this: this book was everything that I was looking for and more. Drowning to Breathe is well written, flawless and spellbinding. This story will pull at your heart. It gave me soooooo many feels. I loved the angst, the romance, the drama and all the secrets and lies. I was consumed with the characters and their story. I fell more in love with Shea and Sebastian, if that’s even possible. And the side characters do not disappoint either.

I loved everything about this book from start to finish and can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.

*I was provided an ARC copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review*

EXCERPT

My heart slammed around in my chest and my sight narrowed on one singular goal.

Her.

It felt like a lifetime to get to her house, and there was nothing stopping me now. Unlocking her front door, I charged up the

stairs. I didn’t pause at her bedroom door. I threw it open. I needed to get to her.

With her back to me, Shea was curled around a pillow on the center of her bed. She startled with the sudden intrusion and jerked up to sitting. Caramel eyes blinked at me through the dim light, confusion and hurt and sorrow.

Motionless, I stood in the doorway as the silence hovered over all our uncertainties.

On all the questions.

But Shea was right.

None of that mattered.

And this was enough.

“Shea.” My voice broke on her name.

I took a step inside and latched the door shut behind me.

Shea’s chin quivered, and she lifted it because I knew this girl wanted to be brave. I knew she was playing through a million scenarios. Mentally going through all the ways I was going to let her go. How I was going to let her down. I knew the words she expected to spill from my mouth because for too long I’d been a coward and a fool, thinking sacrifice was the only way to make this right.

Because every time I turned around, I lost someone I loved.

Not this time.

I swallowed hard. “You want to know what I see when I look at you?”

When the intensity in my voice hit her, Shea choked out a tiny sob.

I took one step closer as I began to speak. “I see someone who’s so fucking sweet and kind that every time I look at her it just about knocks me from my feet, because I’ve had so much bad in my life I don’t know how to stand in her presence. I see 

someone who I know I don’t deserve, so every time I turn around, I’m runnin’ scared because I’m terrified of ruining everything she is.”

Slowly, I approached her, and she watched me in the shadows. Her hands trembled in her lap as I neared.

“I see someone who deserves the greatest kind of joy.”

Another step closer, and Shea crept toward the side of the bed. She drew a single leg up to her chest. Clinging to it as if it could protect her from any more pain. Everything she felt and wanted and feared was exposed in the expression on her face.

I stopped at the edge of the bed and dropped to my knees.

A small cry escaped her mouth.

Reaching out, I gripped her face in my hands, my fingers burrowing in soft, soft hair.

“I see someone, who even though there’s not a chance in this world I could ever be good enough to have her…good enough to hold her…that’s all I want to do. I see someone I want to protect and love and fight for.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks. She edged even closer and let her legs slip over the side.

I settled myself between her knees and met the storm in her eyes.

“I see beauty and light.”

Those eyes flashed, and emotion crushed my ribs. This girl had me twisted up in every way possible.

Shea gasped when I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to me. I shifted so I sat on the floor with my back propped against the bed.

Shea was straddling my lap.

Warmth enveloped me. Her heart was pounding, all tucked up against me, right where she belonged.

Her skin felt so soft. Mine lit on fire.

She searched my face and I kept on.

“I see the most fucking gorgeous girl I’ve ever had the pleasure to lay my eyes on.” My voice dropped as I leaned up so I could brush my mouth across her ear. “The pleasure to touch.”

A shiver rolled through her, and I gathered one of her hands between us, threading our fingers. I studied them as I struggled to form the words.

I lifted my gaze and spoke with the most honesty I’d ever allowed myself.

“When I look at you, I see a future I never thought existed, Shea.”

A STONE IN THE SEA

A Bleeding Stars Novel Book 1

He wanted nothing at all…

Until he found she had everything to give…

Sunder lead singer and guitarist Sebastian Stone has everything—fans, fame, and fortune. He also has a heart full of bitterness and a reputation for a short-fused temper. But an outward reputation rarely reveals the true man inside. Facing assault charges after trying to protect his younger brother, Sebastian is sent to Savannah, Georgia to lie low until the dust settles in L.A.

Shea Bentley is beautiful, kind, and hiding from the very lifestyle Sebastian has always embraced.

When the mysterious, tattooed stranger begins hanging out at the bar where she works, Shea is quick to recognize he is nothing but trouble, but she’s helpless to the way her body lights up every time his intense gray eyes tangle with hers.

They both soon find themselves drowning in a sea of desire and passion that won’t let them up for air.

Sebastian knows firsthand secrets never die, and he’s not the only one who’s hiding them.

Loving someone always comes with a price. But will it be Shea’s past that costs them everything?

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00TWOLMC0

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-stone-in-the-sea-al-jackson/1121263588?ean=2940151484169

iBooks: http://bit.ly/asistsibook

Author Bio

A.L. Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary and new adult romance.

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.

Connect with A.L. Jackson online:www.aljacksonauthor.com

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