#DGRFave & Review: Because of Her by Jewel E Ann

November 2, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

BECAUSE OF HER
Series: Jack & Jill #6
Genre: Romantic Suspense, Contemporary
Author: Jewel E. Ann
Release Date: November 2, 2023

“If sin weren’t pretty, it wouldn’t be so tempting.”

I was an accomplished music professor.
Happily single.
Perfectly content.

Now, I’m unemployed.
Pining for a dark, brooding guy named Jack who lives in a garage with a piano.
And I’m plotting to seduce a married man because his daughter is responsible for my nephew committing suicide.

I don’t know why teenage girls are so mean.
I don’t know why rich men cheat on their wives.
And I don’t know why Jack has serial killer vibes, even though he leaves me speechless every time he speaks.

All I know for sure is that I feel safe in a stranger’s arms and understood by someone I don’t understand.

“You should be a little scared of everyone because humans are unpredictable.”

How far will I go for revenge? More than that …
How far will he go to save me?

*This book contains material involving sexual assault and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.

 AMAZON 

Revenge won’t fill the holes. But a new chapter can begin because the previous one has ended. And he will do it all … because of her.

First of all, if you haven’t read this series yet, what are you even doing? And second of all, if you have read this series, this book is the most perfect conclusion you can ever imagine or dare hope for.

I’ll scream,” she whispers. Jackson’s lips twitch while his fingertips skate up her bare arms. “I don’t doubt that.”

Frankie is easily one of my most favorite FMCs I’ve read to date. But I’ll get to that in a second. What I will say is you want to go into this book blind. Trust me. If you’ve read this series, do yourself this favor. Do not read the reviews. Do no look for spoilers. Just read it knowing that it will fix every hurt and pain that Out of Love may have caused. If you haven’t read this series, I highly recommend you read it in order. Or at the very least, you start with Out of Love. You simply need to appreciate the full circle moment of perfection that is this story, and you can’t do that if you don’t understand the backstory of Jackson.

I have a Ph.D. I don’t get on my knees for anyone. I’ll sit on the bed.” He ducks his head and kisses me. It’s good. Really good. But a woman needs standards and limits. I undressed and played his piano yesterday. That’s my limit…
Again, he kisses me. “A goddamn queen,” he murmurs along my jaw to my ear.
I lower to my knees, but I don’t look at him. “I’m only doing this because someone has to guard the door.”
My feminism is still intact. Sort of.

Frankie is in town to settle the affairs of her brother and his family. A terrible tragedy to lose your brother to suicide. But the debilitating pain to lose your nephew and sister in law to the same is something more. To learn that your nephew’s girlfriend may have driven him to his fate? Well that’s something else entirely. Frankie is dead set on revenge and making the girlfriend and her family pay. What she doesn’t know is just how dark and deep the roots of this family and their influence really go.

Frankie is in her early forties and is a career driven woman who never wanted marriage and a family. But when she meets the mysterious man living in the garage with his piano, the connection between them is instantaneous. The unspoken connection driven from a shared pain of loss is even more so. Jack has dark secrets and everything about him is a mystery. Frankie is undeniably drawn to his dangerous allure. But she’s no naive ingenue, this is a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it.

When I tell you I loved this book, I mean I lived and breathed this story as I read it. I mean, it will become my entire personality for the foreseeable future now as I finished it. I mean it was one of the most unforgettable stories of suspense, second chances, loss and love that I have ever read. It was beautiful. It was emotional. It was unforgettable. It was everything I didn’t know I needed and MY GOD did I need this conclusion. The intricate details woven in to the story were everything. I also found myself falling in love with some previous characters all over again. If you know, you know.

But I digress. I’m pretty sure I didn’t get a wink of sleep because I couldn’t put this book down for even a second. The beginning to end was a complete blur of tears, happiness, pain, and nail biting, edge of my seat suspense. I loved every page, every chapter, and I simply cannot recommend the series enough.

Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today best selling author a with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance.

Connect with Jewel 

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram | Twitter  |Bookbub | Pinterest

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Review: Pieces of a Life by Jewel E Ann

September 13, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

PIECES OF A LIFE
Series: Life Series Duet #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jewel E Ann
Release Date: September 13, 2022

The summer before fourth grade, Colten Mosley moved into the house across the street from mine, and we became inseparable.

He played the piano and baseball.

I had a penchant for dead things while at the same time imagining what it would be like to kiss Colten.

We were filled with curiosity and overly active imaginations.

We were also forbidden to be more than friends.

But that didn’t stop us.

Weeks before graduation, he annihilated my heart, and it’s been seventeen years since the day I knew I’d hate him forever.

Now he’s back in my life—a single dad and a homicide detective looking over my shoulder while I perform autopsies as one of Chicago’s most gifted forensic pathologists. Then fate throws us a curveball.

Colten saves my life, but he can’t erase the images that now keep me awake at night. And I can’t explain them.

Am I still the girl he’s always loved? Or nothing more than pieces of that life?

*This story contains sensitive and graphic content.

AMAZON

I don’t remember falling in love with Josephine Watts. I just remember the day we met and the day I let her go for good. For me, she wasn’t really my girlfriend. She was my everything.

There are three things I love; second chance romance, suspense, and Jewel E Ann books. So when those three things combine into one addictive read, you know I’m here for it. And what a ride this one was!

Certain feelings, deep emotions—the haunting kind—can’t be outrun. Colten has been the unshakable shadow of my existence since the day I met him.

First, I love a sex positive heroine, who doesn’t spend the years away from the hero in a second chance romance pining in celibate sorrow. Josephine spend more years away from Colten than they ever did together, but she’s never managed to move past the heartbreak. They grew up together, and had a tumultuous on again off again teenage relationship, until he broke her heart. She’s now a successful forensic pathologist, who isn’t interested in any entanglement outside of the satisfaction of a warm body next to hers. She’s not interested in marriage or happily ever afters. She has her career and that’s enough. Until the man who so thoroughly broke her heart makes a sudden reappearance in her life as the detective on a case she’s also working on.

I lived wholly, eternally, unequivocally for Josephine Watts. Why didn’t I tell her when it mattered the most?

The story is told in a combination of past and present. I’m not a reader that loves too many flashbacks, and while the pacing was great, the flashbacks did still take me out a bit. Perhaps the way they transitioned? That aside, I loved getting more details on how these two fell together and then fell apart. I loved that Josephine was a bit of a hard ass and didn’t just forgive and forget. She made Colten work for it and boy did he work for it.

Colten was this wonderful combination of alpha and cinnamon roll. He worked so hard and lays himself bare for her. At times I almost found Josephine to be too much of a hard ass, but it just worked. But the show stopper was definitely that ending. Holy mother of plot twists, that ending. I think my heart may have stopped beating when I read that last sentence. If I don’t have the next book in my hands immediately, I’m going to riot!!!

Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance. 

Connect with Jewel

Website: https://www.jeweleann.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7505427.Jewel_E_Ann
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jewel-E-Ann/e/B00IJYHDIG/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjeweleann
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/485996228236493
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjeweleann/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JewelE_Ann
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jewel-e-ann
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jeweleannauthor/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeweleannauthor

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Review: What Lovers Do by Jewel E Ann

March 24, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

WHAT LOVERS DO
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jewel E Ann
Release Date: March 24, 2022

From bestselling author Jewel E. Ann comes a hilarious secret lovers story that redefines the meaning of friendship.

Shep’s found the female version of himself … and he thinks she’s perfect—perfectly unavailable.

Everyone loves Shep, the charismatic employee at Scottsdale’s newest pet store. He has shared custody of his two dogs with his annoying ex-wife and a smile that can disarm most women.

Except … Dr. Sophie Ryan.

What starts out as a disastrous first meeting, involving a coffee catastrophe and mistaken flirting, turns into an unconventional friendship.

Fake phone sex.
Dog park dates.
And eighteen holes of golf.

The problem? Sophie’s taken herself out of the dating pool for a mysterious reason, imprisoning Shep in the friend zone for eternity.

As their competitive personalities hit a boiling point, the gloves come off and so do their clothes. When Sophie’s “real” life threatens their relationship, can Shep let go of his past to chase the one that might get away?

AMAZON 

This is messy. We are tangled in every way, and it’s going to be hard to untangle from this mess we’re creating without pieces of my heart ripping, without exposing all the parts I don’t want him to see.

Jewel E Ann books are my happy place. And while I’m not usually a romcom girl, this one sure changed my tune. It was this lovely combination of laugh till you have tears humor, incredibly relatable characters, emotion, and a slow burn romance that was simply to die for. I adored it. I adored it beyond reason.

Sophie is my friend. A friend who I love. She’s taken up residence in my head and all four chambers of my heart.

When a meet cute is so uncomfortably embarrassing that you experience second hand embarrassment from reading it, you know you’re in for a fun read. And the way Sophie and Shep meet was anything but forgettable.

Having just broken up with, if you can even call it that, with her boyfriend, Sophie’s life is…complicated. Her ex boyfriend refuses to accept the break up or leave her house, and she has a secret that she’s keeping from him and her family. When she meets the charismatic dog store employee with a flirty smile and dreamy eyes, the last thing she needs is that complication.

Shep is a recent divorce that didn’t let his divorce turn him bitter. He’s instantly drawn to the beautiful and awkward Sophie and refuses to take no for an answer. When I tell you that I loved the way he came at her, it’s like she never sees him coming until he’s full embedded under her skin. He doesn’t ask her for anything more that friendship, and the way it all develops is both heartwarming and hilarious. Admittedly I did have my moments when I wanted to shake Sophie to get her to wake up and just have a conversation. But it was also super fun to watch the awkward. I also spent many a pages yelling at Jimmy through my kindle because no fictional character should be that thick headed. But even that was fun.

Then there’s one particular scene where I thought I would pee myself laughing that was so relatable, I don’t think I’ll forget it so long as I live. All I will say is Chapter 29. Just trust me on this.

I fell for these two so hard. I loved their unconventional friendship turned romance. Sophie fights it so hard, but Shep is just that irresistible. It was this endearing combination of laugh out loud humor, swoony romance, and life drama. And that epilogue? Sheer perfection. If you’re looking for something a little different, packed with laugh out loud moments, do yourself a favor and read this book.

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Review: The Lost Fisherman by Jewel E Ann

October 14, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

THE LOST FISHERMAN
Series: Fisherman #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jewel E Ann
Release Date: October 14, 2021

It’s been five years since I’ve seen him.

 

An unexpected event takes me back to the place where it all began.

But I’m no longer the naive young woman he once knew.

 

 

And he’s no longer the man who took nearly everything from me.

 

Can this be our time?

 

Or is it too late?

 

Did I find myself only to lose him?

AMAZON

I love you today.

Did I feel like I may pop a blood vessel in my week long wait until book two? Yes.
Did I start this book the second it landed on my kindle? Yes.
Did I stay up until the buttcrack of dawn finishing it? Also yes.
Do I have any regrets? Absolutely not!

I thought we were strong enough to make it through. I thought it was finally our time. I thought wrong.

So how do I even begin to review this book when one of the most integral parts of the story is a huge spoiler? Well, I don’t. I’m not going to tell you much details beyond what you can gather from that blurb, and you’ll thank me for it. Trust me.

What I can tell you, is this book takes place five years after the first one. It’s one of my now favorite second chance romances. And I devoured it in one sitting.

I fell hard for Fisher and Reese in The Naked Fisherman. I loved Fisher and his unapologetic crudeness. I loved the way that Reese got to see a side of him that no one else saw. Fast forward 5 years, and I think I loved these two even more. Reese is now a young woman rather than the naive child she first met Fisher as. She’s seen the world. She’s lived. She’s experienced. She knows her mind and isn’t afraid to speak it or go for what she wants. Her personality really shone through this story. She was more self assured. She also just grew into her own in a way that she never could have as an 18 year old girl.

The romance element was one of my favorites. It still echoed a bit from the forbidden parts of book one, but in a different way. I lived for the angst. I loved the emotion. And I died for the chemistry.

So why not 5 stars even while I clearly loved it? Well, I couldn’t help but feel like there was just a little something missing for me. I wanted to know more about Fisher, and while I get the POV is constructed the way that it was for a very specific reason, I still couldn’t help but wish for more. Yes, we got to learn him through Reese, but I would have loved to be in his head just a bit more than what we ultimately got. Now the part that we did get was extremely potent, but still.

That very minor detail aside, I loved this duet. I loved the feels, the chemistry, the once in a lifetime love. It was as beautiful as it was painful and I devoured every page.

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Review: The Naked Fisherman by Jewel E Ann

September 30, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

THE NAKED FISHERMAN
Series: Fisherman #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jewel E Ann
Release Date: September 30, 2021

It’s official.

I’m eighteen and a young woman with endless possibilities on my way to reunite with my mom in Colorado after five years apart—she had a little weed incident in Nebraska.

At the airport, she springs the news on me … she’s leaving for a month of job training.

And me?

 

I’m left on my own in the basement she’s renting from the fisherman, aka her landlord who lives upstairs.

 

He’s ten years older than me. Never wears a shirt.

 

And makes it hard to remember all the things I learned at Christian Academy.

 

Did I mention he’s also my new boss?

AMAZON

I thought you were a gentleman,” I mumbled, making the walk of shame to the stack of drawers and hunching down instead of bending over to retrieve a towel. “Why did you think that?”

So first of all, this cover is incredibly deceiving, I swear. I love it, don’t get me wrong. But this is so much more than a cute contemporary and I fell head over heels for Fisher and Reese. It’s not often I get a heroine who by any other author I would quite honestly hate to read about, but was totally in love with in this book.

Reese is an 18 year old girl who has both experienced a lot and nothing in life. Her mother went to prison 5 years ago. Her father passed 3 years ago. And she grew up with her deeply religious grandparents knowing not much about life outside of the preaching she got at home. Suffice it to say that this girl is the epitome of naive ingenue. And yet, where this normally would have annoyed me, I loved this in her. I loved the way that Jewel packed so many layers into her character. This is a young girl that’s hungry for life and also scared to experience and ask for what she wants. She has a chance to reunite with her mother now that she’s out of prison, yet she feels so removed from her because of what her father and grandparents made her believe about her.

Fisher Mann, yes, that’s really his name, is her mom’s friend and landlord. He’s handsome, charming, cocky, and known womanizer. They shouldn’t have anything in common. Yet when her mother leaves them alone to travel to California for work related trip, these two realize the one thing they have in common is undeniable chemistry.

I loved Fisher’s unapologetic personality. He’s not afraid to push every button Reese has. But this is also a man that clearly has many layers, and with each one that slowly gets peeled back, you fall more and more for him. This book definitely spent more on the development and growth of Reese. Though there’s clearly only so much growth she can have in this book. I’m super excited to see what book two brings. What I really loved is the chemistry between these two and how they both try to fight it in their way, Reese definitely more than Fisher.

There’s a bit of a forbidden element because Fisher is older, more experienced, and her mom’s friend. He’s 28 to her 18 but in life experience he’s definitely even older.

I devoured this book. I loved the build up these two had. I loved the growth that Reese had, though I have a feeling it would be much more satisfying in book two. Now to just gather up the patience in my rabid need for conclusion.

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#DGRFave & Review: For Lucy by Jewel E. Ann

May 23, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

FOR LUCY
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jewel E. Ann
Release Date: May 23, 2020

From USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jewel E. Ann comes a novel so heartfelt and real it redefines the meaning of love. I’m the wrong guy in the right place the night I steal Tatum Bradshaw from another man. When she mistakes me for her blind date, I decide she deserves a man who shows up on time … like me. Emmett Riley, Mr. Punctual. Once I confess my true identity and convince her I’m not a creep–just a thief–it’s only a matter of time before my sexy smile and quick wit claim her heart, her hand in marriage, and the perfect life. Unfortunately, perfection is an illusion, like the promises of our wedding vows. No one can prepare for the unimaginable–the heartbreaking exception to all the rules in life. When thirty seconds destroys everything, I have to find a new existence and keep my promise to always love our daughter, Lucy, the most. For Lucy, I will keep a secret, and I will watch my wife drift into the arms of another man. Given the chance … can I reclaim my wife and the pieces of our life? *This story contains sensitive subject matter.

 AMAZON

It’s never been my hands keeping her hostage. I’ve always loved her with open arms. My love has never been forced. It’s always been free. She’s the one who cannot walk away. And she knows she needs me to take the blame for that too. So I do. Because that’s how I love her

This. Book. It emotionally eviscerated me. I was sobbing into my pillow at 2 am, completely incapable of setting it down, and totally wrecked by the story. This was a second chance romance unlike any I’ve every read. It was raw, devastating, heart wrenching, and so full of depth I felt like I was drowning in it. I think what struck me the most is that you can easily see yourself in the couple. In the devastation and what ifs that they go through, you feel it on a soul deep level that just stays with you and burrows so deep, it hurts even when you finish.

No matter how hard we try to be perfect, we are not. No matter how hard we try to do the right thing, the wrong thing manages to trip us up. No matter how undeserving one might feel of forgiveness, no one is unworthy of it.

While I’m not usually a fan of time jumps, it’s done absolutely flawlessly here. Jewel effortlessly weaves the past into the story where it doesn’t detract from the time line but adds a morsel of understanding with each new detail of their past that gets unveiled. I’m not going to tell you what the story is about. Read the blurb and go in with just that. Trust me on this. This a book that you simply need to experience blind. What I will tell you, is that I already somewhat knew what I’d be getting into and avoided starting it for that reason. I wasn’t sure I was ready for the type of feelings I knew it would invoke. However, the author handled the incredibly delicate subject matter so incredibly well, that I kicked myself for waiting to start. She gives details without going into too many details. I can’t tell you more so as to not ruin it, but I’ll say that the way it was written was sheer perfection. It was depth without being too much that I would be bawling my eyes out. All the while I still bawled my eyes out, but for other reasons.

Emmett?” “Hmm?” “Thank you.” “For what?” “For being in my corner.” Swallowing my pride, my pain, and a lifetime of emotions, I nod several times. “Always.”

When Emmett met Tatum, he knew she was the one. And no it wasn’t the corny insta love sort of thing. It could have easily been that way. But instead it was endearing and emotional and oh so good. The book is told entirely in Emmett’s POV which I really loved. Being in his head was unlike anything I’ve experienced. The man is flawed but also perfect. He loves selflessly. He gives everything. And he’s impossible not to love wholeheartedly. The story spans years, the majority of it in the present, where Tatum and Emmett have been divorced for 5 years, still dealing with the fallout of their marriage. I hated Tatum for a good portion of this book. While a deeper part of me understood her, I still couldn’t help but hate her for the things she says and does. Emmett is just so flawed yet perfect, that it was impossible to hate her a little being in his head, even though he loves her selflessly through all of the pain.

You can’t love me,” she whispers. “You can’t tell me who to love.”

The story is incredibly emotionally charged and raw. It’s full of love and pain, mistakes and forgiveness. If you’re looking for a second chance romance that will own you, heart and soul, look no further. Dare I say this may have been my favorite Jewel E Ann book to date.

Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today best selling author a with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance.

Connect with Jewel 

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram | Twitter  |Bookbub | Pinterest

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Review: Not What I Expected by Jewel E Ann

December 8, 2020 by ·

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jewel E. Ann
Release Date: December 6, 2020

Are humans meant to mate for life?

After four kids and an unfortunate but fateful end to her twenty-two-year marriage, Elsie Smith meets the new guy in town.

Kael Hendricks is … a little younger, a lot sexy, and too confident for his own good. He also doesn’t believe in marriage and all that goes with it.

And …

He’s just opened a new business that threatens the livelihood of Elsie’s family’s store—just in time for the holidays.

The problem?

There’s an undeniable attraction that leads to out of control situations, a loss of inhibitions, and a lot of small town gossip.

As Elsie tries to redefine herself and convince her family she isn’t having a midlife crisis, she’s forced to answer the biggest question of all …

Can she love an enemy who will never surrender?

 AMAZON 

He made me feel like a horny teenager. He made me feel drugged without a reason to ever be sober again. He just made me feel

Wow. I’m going to get super corny for a second and just say, this book was not what I expected. Ha! See what I did there? Oh whatever! My humor has a COVID delay. Leave me alone. GOD!

It’s charmingly unique, realistically poignant, and triggering in a way any married person would relate to. As a matter of fact, I recognized myself in so many of the hilarious and sometimes hard to swallow situations depicted here. If you’re a female, this book would speak to you in a way that will make you feel both understood and uncomfortable. I loved that Jewel actually pulled from readers actual experiences and you really recognize that here. This was unlike anything I’ve read in a long while. It was so different but yet so relatable. A charming, emotional, and unforgettable story of falling out of love and finding yourself again. It’s about personal growth and inner strength. It’s all of the things and so much more. It’s definitely not your typical older woman younger man sort of romance. Add a little bit of spice to that, and that’s what you get here.

Elsie Smith is a heroine that’s impossible not to relate to or love. Her quirks and insecurities are something any woman has experienced at least once in her life. After her marriage of 22 years comes to an end, she’s left discovering herself. She’s been a mother and a wife, but somewhere along the way she lost herself and her needs and desires took a backseat to her life. She’s a wonderful mother and a loyal friend. But as a woman, she’s discovering she’s grown in what she wants.

Kael is younger and a free spirit. He’s been the complete antithesis to what Elsie’s life has been. He doesn’t believe in marriage. He doesn’t settle in any one place for too long. And he doesn’t deny himself. When he sets his eyes on Elsie, she fights their connection with everything that she’s got…until she can’t deny it anymore.

He willingly became my addiction—the needle, the narcotic.
He fed it. He jumped off every cliff with me. He was my highest high … and my lowest low.

This was not your typical romance. It was more. It was a little raw and a lot real, and oh so good. It’s a bit out of the box and I loved it for that reason. Jewel painted a romance as messy and real as life is, and my god, it just spoke to me.

I loved the banter between these two and their push and pull. I loved Elsie’s inner strength and seeing her grow into her own and allow Kael to help her discover herself. She’s independent and fierce and so relatable. Kael is charming and sweet. Everyone in town loves him. He’s a free spirit and cares deeply, and it’s impossible not to fall for him. I loved watching him bring Elsie out of her shell.

If you’re looking for something unique and different, look no further. This book will speak to you in a way not many others could.

Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today best selling author a with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance.

Connect with Jewel 

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram | Twitter  |Bookbub | Pinterest

· Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance · Tagged With: , ,

Review: Out Of Love by Jewel E. Ann

September 30, 2020 by · 2 Comments

OUT OF LOVE
Series: Jack & Jill #4
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jewel E. Ann
Release Date: September 27, 2020

Conspiracies. Corruption. Serial killers.

You name it–I’m fascinated by it. My mom always blamed my overly curious and highly suspicious mind on my dad.

My incredibly overbearing dad.

Mr. No One Is Good Enough For My Daughter has been terrifying my dates since I turned fifteen.

College is my chance to be free from his control and date any guy I want.

I’m absolutely certain he would hate Slade Wylder–almost as certain as I am that I do too.

Since when have I shied away from trouble?

Slade fascinates me. He lives in a house I’m certain is haunted. His dog is trained as well as any guard I’ve ever seen. Rumor on campus is that he deals drugs. It would explain a lot.

But it doesn’t explain why he saves me from my darkest moment.

It doesn’t explain why I can’t stop thinking about him.

And the explanation I finally discover is far more dangerous than any rumor.

 AMAZON 

After their kissy-huggy greeting ended, they walked toward the house with Jericho in tow. I waited for him to glance back at me. He saw me. There was no way he passed me a few seconds earlier on the street and didn’t see me. Yet, he made no attempt to acknowledge me.Until …

My boy Jerry stopped abruptly and turned like he caught whiff of my scent. All the warm fuzzies filled my chest. A dog gave me more feels than any man had given me in a long time. Maybe ever.

Jericho liked me. Hell, maybe he loved me.

He protected me.

He smiled when he saw me—tongue out, tail in a low wag. I continued my way up the sidewalk, feigning surprise when he trotted toward me in spite of Slade barking his own command.

“Hey, Jerry.” I squatted down to give him double the love Miss Sophisticated gave him … and I had a treat in my pocket because part of me anticipated—hoped for—a chance encounter. “Oh, buddy … I love you too.” I closed my eyes and turned my face side to side while he showered me with kisses.

Slade cleared his throat.

I opened my eyes—noticing his friend must have gone inside. “Sorry.” I stood, sliding a treat into Jericho’s mouth along the way. “I know it’s hard for you to know he likes me more.” On a shrug, I bit my lips together to keep my shit-eating grin under control.

“Inside,” he said to Jericho while looking at me.

Jericho turned and headed to the back door.

“If you have a job to do … Jerry can hang with me tonight. I’m alone this evening.”

“Jericho. And he doesn’t need a babysitter.”

“Maybe I do.”

His brow tensed a fraction, contemplation settling into a slight frown for a few seconds, before he whistled and Jericho came running. “Send him home when your friends get back.”

Why was the only word that sat on the tip of my idle tongue? Why protect me?

“What are you going to do?” Okay, apparently “why” wasn’t the only word on the tip of my tongue after all. Six other words were in line first.

“Does it matter?”

Letting my gaze settle over his shoulder to the firehouse and images of Miss Sophisticated waiting for him, I lifted a single shoulder. “No. Just curious. Is she your girlfriend?”

“Does it matter?”

“I hate you.” I rolled my eyes. “Worst communication skills ever.”

“Good. Hate me. I prefer it.”

I recoiled. I didn’t really hate anyone. It wasn’t my personality to be hateful, vengeful, or hold grudges. Why did Slade Wylder want me to hate him? It was a joke. I hated his lack of sharing information.

“If you’re selling her some shit that will ruin her life, may I suggest you rethink that? Not cool, Wylder.”

“Noted.”

Tipping my chin up, I gave him several tiny nods. “Okay then. I’ll take Jerry to my house and spoil him. Maybe he comes back to you … maybe he doesn’t.”

Slade let his gaze slide down my body, a slow and easy trip. He didn’t do that when we met. Somewhere along the way, he decided it was okay. I wasn’t sure what reaction he desired from me.

Maybe nothing.

Maybe he did it out of pure selfish desire.

“I’m only allowing this because I love Jerry.”

Curious eyes met mine, slightly squinted.

I smirked. “Stripping me with those eyes of yours.”

Moments …

I collected moments in my mind, my heart, my soul, like Aubrey collected rare coins—my mom dying, my dad spending a few years thoroughly drunk. Mostly bad moments—permanent scars.

That moment I tucked into my memory forever as one of the first truly great moments.

Wylder …

The corners of his mouth quirked into pure sin. If Satan was hot as fuck, his name would have been Slade Wylder, and I would have been in a whole helluva lot of trouble.

Either you die, or you’re born again. But you’re never the same.”

Actual footage of me while reading this book:
Holy mother of all plot twists, what did I just read?!

So first of all, confession time. I’m a little nervous here because I know I’m going to get side eyes from all of you judgy jundgersons, but it is what it is. It’s been years since I’ve read a Jewel. E. Ann book. *hides* I’ll give you a minute to contain your shock. I know. I know. I don’t even know why myself. But just know that I’m already kicking my own ass for this sin. Because that’s what it was if this is the kind of books I’ve been missing out on.

Now I did go back and rectify it by reading the Jack and Jill series. Which is the world this book is set in. But that’s the only thing I’ll tell you about the connection. You’ll have to read the rest for yourself. Trust me on this.

Livy is one of the most vivacious, sexually positive heroines I’ve had the pleasure to read recently. This is a woman that’s not afraid to want what she wants and to go after it. And the second the grumpy and mysterious Slade and his dog appear in her orbit, nothing will ever be the same. Sade hates her at first sigh. He doesn’t exactly hide his hatred either. He barely spars her a glance and calls the cops on her on one occasion. This was enemies to lovers on a whole other level, people.

Slade Wylder reminded me of the Grim Reaper—minus the scythe—cloaked in black, right down to his car and its windows. Eyes so dark they appeared hollow from a distance.

But Liv is nothing if not determined, and she’s determined to wear the man down. What begins to unravel is one jaw dropping page after another. There’s plenty of secrets buried and when they begin to surface, you won’t have time to pick your jaw off of the floor before another one comes at you.

Live was this beautiful free spirit that loved and loved hard. Her over protective father did nothing to deter her from her boy chasing ways. But Slade is definitely not a boy and he’s certainly not at all what he seems.

I don’t even know what else to tell you about this book aside from the fact that I couldn’t put it down. The angst, the secrets, the suspense. All of it masterfully crafted and interwoven between one unforgettable romance that should have never happened but did. I’m desperately hoping that we’ll be getting more books set in this world because there’s one thing that is left hanging that I need a resolution for. Not even need. DESPERATE for.

Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today best selling author a with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance.

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