Come to Me Quietly by A L Jackson
| Come to Me Quietly by A L Jackson | |
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| Category: Women's Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
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| Summary: A redemptive power of love story ultimately let down by the fact I felt the main character didn't much deserve to be redeemed. Really enjoyable most of the way through, but a jarring reveal at the end left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Borrow, don't buy. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 384 | Date: January 2014 |
| Publisher: Piatkus | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0349403304 | |
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Aleena hasn't seen Jared for six years. Not since he hit the very bottom of his downward spiral and ended up in prison. She's trying to move on, let go of the boy she secretly loved all her life. Just as she's starting to make progress, Jared reappears.
Jared, angry and scarred still from the night he destroyed his family, isn't sure what he's doing back in his hometown, but he never imagined Aleena would grow up quite so much. No longer the kid who trailed him and her big brother around, she's a woman who is all gentle kindness and dangerous sex appeal. But Jared won't let himself get close to Aleena - he doesn't deserve it. Everything he touches turns bad, and he's not going to let that happen to Aleena. But Aleena isn't going to let him slip through her fingers once again.
Come to Me Quietly is quite a dark book for what is an unabashed romance novel. A drug addict love interest (clean now, but as he puts it, still an addict) is a difficult one to get behind, but to be fair to Jackson, I was rooting for Jared to overcome his demons for the better part of the book (more on that later...)
The story doesn't throw up many surprises - it follows the pattern of all 'redemptive power of love' stories. Boy meets girl. Boy wants but won't allow himself to have girl. Girl slowly breaks down his walls etc. But, the characters are well drawn and the writing is good - the right balance of sensual and emotional detail, without overdoing it - so I found myself quickly sucked into their relationship and wanting them to work their way towards each other.
The thing that prevented this from being a four, or even five star read for me in the end was Jared. While I can get behind the tortured bad boy thing most of the time, I just felt that when I found out what had happened, the big mysterious event that explains all of Jared's troubled past, that he was kind of right. He did deserve everything he got. Characters kept saying things like 'it wasn't his fault', 'it could have happened to anyone' but... The way it was described left me with a sour taste in my mouth thinking 'I don't like this guy any more.'
It was a real shame to get 90% of the way through a book and suddenly change my mind about the lead character. Maybe I'm just being ungenerous - I'm sure many others will read and feel the same about the incident as the characters do - but for me, I can't fully recommend this. Great most of the way through, but a little too jarring at the end.
My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy.
Fans of New Adult Romance might enjoy Up In Flames by Nicole Williams.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Come to Me Quietly by A L Jackson at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Come to Me Quietly by A L Jackson at Amazon.com.
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