4.5 Stars |

Review: Come to Me Recklessly by AL Jackson

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Amy-OUABB

His heart was turned off…

Until she turned him on…

Christopher Moore gave up on the idea of love years ago. Now, his life is an endless string of parties and an even longer string of girls. Enjoying the physical perks with none of the emotional mess, hes convinced everyone that hes satisfied—everyone but himself.

Samantha Schultz has moved on with her life. Finishing her student teaching and living with her boyfriend, shes deluded herself into believing shes content. But there is one boy she never forgot—her first love—and she keeps the memory of him locked up tight. She will never allow any man to break her the way Christopher did.

When Christopher’s sister and her family move into a new neighborhood, Christopher is completely unprepared to find Samantha living at the end of the street. Memories and unspent desires send them on collision course of sex, lies, and lust. But when guilt and fear send Samantha running, Christopher will have to fight for what has always been his.

My Review

Finally, we get Christopher’s story. We first met Christopher in Come to Me Softly and I’ve been dying to know more about him ever since. Come to Me Recklessly is Samantha and Christopher’s story. Christopher gave up on love many years ago. After some events took away everything that he cared about, Christopher went to a very dark place. He spent his years drinking, partying and going through girls like crazy. Never letting anyone get close to him and never opening up his heart. The last thing that he ever imagined was having Samantha walk back into his life.

Samantha is just coasting through her life. She’s desperately trying to convince herself that she is happy with the decisions that she’s made and the person that she is with. She’s spent years just trying to move on. However, her heart will always belong to one person, Christopher. Christopher is one person that she does not allow herself to remember. He broke broke her heart in a way that can never be repaired and now she guards her precious heart.

Fate, however, has other plans. When Samantha runs into Christopher’s sister, Aly, all bets are off. They have an instant connection, like they are meant to be apart of each others lives. As the days pass, Samantha finds herself more invested in Christopher’s family and then the moment that she has been waiting for/dreading happens. She sees Christopher for the first time in years. All those old fears, doubts and feelings come to surface. A second chance is now being presented to Christopher and Samantha. Can time really heal old wounds? Will Christopher fight for what should and has always been his?

“What does it take to delete the past? A thousand apologies?
A million regrets?
A litany of prayers?
If I shouted them, would you hear? If I whispered them, would you believe? If I fell at your feet, would you forgive? If I asked, would you start again?”

I am a big fan of the Closer to You series and loved being a part of this world again. Being with Christopher, Jared and Aly again, felt like no time has passed. I was hooked on this story from the first page. The love and feelings that Christopher and Samantha shared were so real, so raw and it was torn away from them so quickly.

“Falling in love with you? That was the best gift I’ve ever been given.”

My heart broke for them and all the years that they missed together. Their push and pull was so amazing. It was like gravity. No matter how hard you fight it, you just can’t. Come to Me Recklessly is told from dual pov’s and it worked so well with this story. It really helped give me perspective and understanding for all the events that happened in the past and led up to where we are right now.

Come to Me Recklessly is a great story of young love, misunderstandings, second chances, fighting for what you want and never giving up. This story was well written, and heartfelt. The characters are real, they are flawed, so perfectly imperfect that you just want to know more about them. I loved the angst/drama, the romance and the friendship. This book made me laugh, brought tears to my eyes, frustrated me and made me swoon. If you are a fan of AL Jackson, you will not be disappointed. I highly recommend checking this one out!

*I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Review: The Hazards of Sleeping With A Friend by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Amy-OUABB

Synopsis

Warning: Sleeping with a friend might change your life forever.

Sleeping with Kyle was never in the plans. Pretending to be his girlfriend was one thing, but letting our relationship become anything but platonic was another. The problem with mixing friendship with sex is that inevitably feelings get involved, and when that happens there’s no turning back.

When Kyle’s life fell apart around him, I needed to help, but doing that meant opening myself up to the most terrifying thing in the world—falling in love.

My Review

The Hazards of Sleeping with a Friend follows the story of Kyle and Jade. Jade has always had a crush on Kyle, but never planned on acting on it. One night, a friendly conversation gave way to an unlikely proposition, one that Jade never planned on accepting. As fate would have it, things are about to get more interesting for Kyle and Jade.Thanks to Kyle’s brothers meddling, Kyle is now forced to vacation with his family and bring his girlfriend along. The only problem, he doesn’t have one. He’s always had more than friendly feelings for Jade, so she is the perfect person to ask to be his fake girlfriend. However, pretending to be in a relationship when real feelings are involved is a lot harder than it seems. Will Kyle and Jade give into their feelings and take a chance on building something real? And when tragedy strikes, will Kyle lean on Jade or push her away? Will they open themselves up to the love that is right in front of them or will they be over quicker than they started??

The Hazards of Sleeping with a Friend was such a great read. The idea of a pretend relationship was so fun. This story was well written and you could feel the chemistry between Kyle and Jade from the beginning. It was so fun watching the two of them interact. I loved their banter. They connected so easily together. I just couldn’t wait to see where their relationship would go. You knew it would only be a matter of time before they both realized that they were destined to be more than just friends and it was so great watching them fall.

Jade was not an easy sell for pursuing a relationship. She had been hurt deeply in the past and poor Kyle had to work hard to make her see that he was worth taking a chance on and that he would protect her feelings. Kyle was a great guy. He was funny, and charming. You could tell that he cared deeply for his family, even if they drove him nuts. And Jade brought out a side of Kyle that no one really had seen. He just radiated happiness when she was around.

The Hazards of Sleeping with a Friend was a quick and enjoyable read for me.The characters were fun and easy to connect with. I just adored Kyle’s mom. She was so sweet and so accepting. This book made me laugh, smile, swoon and there were a couple of moments that just broke my heart. This book had the perfect balance of humor, romance and angst. An overall, really great read.

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