On this week of #ThrowbackThrusday I bring to you an emotional story of broken man (Jared Holt) consumed by an enormous guilt for ruining his family and his journey towards forgiving himself, accepting and moving on all because of an beautiful angel (Aleena Moore) in his life, who loved him ever since they were kids.
Title: Come to Me Quietly
Author: A.L. Jackson
Series:Closer to you #1
Genre: new adult, contemporary romace
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…
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?
Amazon US | Amazon UK
SANDY’S REVIEW
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
My emotions right now...
*Lot of Quotes ahead*
Jared Holt was volatile, irrational, ashamed, consumed by grief, guilt and rage. Living his life is a punishment, on a course of self destruction until he reunites with his former best friend Christopher and his sister Aleena after six years and agrees to stay in their apartment.
Aly and Jared grew up together, living in the same neighbourhood, he was her hero, her biggest crush her biggest secret.
“I guess I liked the way you followed us around. I liked that you couldn’t keep up and that I had to take care of you. I liked standing up to you. Protecting you. I liked the way you looked at me like I really mattered. I liked that when I thought back about you and Christopher after I was gone, I was thinking about the good times I had in my life.”
Everyone’s life changed with one mistake one moment of reckless mistake which haunted Jared for rest of his life.
One thing Jared was determined that ‘he ruins everything he touches’. He knows it was a mistake to come back to his home town but the minute he laid eyes on Aly he didn’t want to leave their place surprisingly he spends a lot of time with Aly and Christopher. He didn’t see Aly as his best friend’s sister anymore but a beautiful young lady, she evoked so many feelings and desire in him which he thought never existed or died the day he stopped living.
“Her presence was like this balm I didn’t understand, solace in the insufferable night.”
Aly sees past his mistake and still loves him, their love was overpowering, intoxicating, somewhere deep down she never forgot him even after years of staying apart her feelings towards him never changed, she’d been saving herself for him because part of her had always believed that one day he would return. He thought he was not good enough for her that he doesn’t deserve to be loved and that he doesn’t have anything to give her but pain!
“once I’d promised that I’d take him any way I could have him. That I would take any piece he offered. Willingly, I’d submitted to the risk. Somewhere inside me, I’d always known I would lose him.”
All she wanted for Jared to see that he is still the same caring, kind person he once was and that he was worthy of loving.
“Worse was knowing how the guilt had destroyed him ever since that day. I wanted to take it away, show him he was worthy of being loved-that I loved him and always would.”
When everyone accused him of destroying his family she was terrified for him she saw what he really felt she saw him being scared, haunted, hurt and broken.
“It was always you, Jared. Always. I can’t remember a day in my life when I didn’t love you.” “You were my first crush.” She sobered, her voice strained as sincere green eyes slanted up to me. “And my only love.”Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, almost painfully. “I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”
They were so many beautiful moments my favorite being their goodnight means ‘please come’. I loved how they created their own world behind the locked doors of Aly’s room. It was just him, her and their Love not judging, not worrying just laying in each other’s arm and letting the solitude of night consume them.
I couldn’t stop my tears every time read this scene between Aly and her mom when she shows Aly the picture of her, Jared and his mom when she was just a baby.
“From the minute I brought you home, you were always his baby. He would run in ahead of Helene, calling for you. He could barely talk, but there was no mistaking him saying your name.”
“You don’t know how happy it would make her to know you love her son the way she always hoped you would... how happy it makes me to know you’ve found someone to love this way.”
I loved the way author has written Jared’s character defining his beauty beyond his imperfections, you just can’t help but fall in love with him. Her writing is soul touching I could feel their emotions, Jared heart wrenching life, there were times when I wanted to reach out to him, hug him just so that I can take his pain away. Happy that I got glimpses of their childhood to see their developing friendship, and actually see gleeful Jared for a change. I was anxious to know what the one incident that made him regret his existence building up the suspence, but the author never revealed it until almost the end. Holy Hell!! The way she explained that incident from Jared eyes was the most painful thing I felt while reading. Boy! A.L. Jackson does know to take your breath away with just her words!!
I Admired how she maintained the originality of the character-She didn’t make Aly Fix Jared at any point, or just taking his pain away rather she made Aly his safe haven a sole reason for him to live again and give second chance to his life.
“All that I had left were pieces, and even those were broken. But those pieces, belonged to her, and just maybe we could find a way to make a life from them.”
Just teeny tiny hiccups in this novel-Transition between the scenes were not clear!
No comments
Post a Comment