BLURB:
Her life changed in an instant. And he's the only one who could have prevented it. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Pact and The Lie comes a new standalone contemporary romance about those McGregor men. Jessica Charles shouldn't have even been in London when the unthinkable happened. She should have been back at home in Edinburgh, perhaps hanging with her boyfriend, having drinks with her sister or doing yoga with her group of friends. She should have been going on in her normal, dependable life as always. But on that fateful day in August, when a mentally-ill ex-soldier opened fire in public, Jessica's world changed forever. Now single and crippled from the gunshot wounds, Jessica finds herself scared and alone, losing faith in herself and humanity with each agonizing moment that passes. That is until a stranger enters her life. A stranger who makes her live again. Keir McGregor has always been the strong, silent type. Throw in tall, dark, and handsome and you've got pretty much the perfect Scotsman. Except Keir is anything but perfect. He's got a past he's running away from and a guilty conscience he can't seem to shed. But the more time he spends with Jessica, the more he falls in love with her. And the more his secret threatens to tear them apart. He may have been a stranger to her. But she’s never been a stranger to him.
PURCHASE HERE:
Review by: Amy C
"I want to succumb to a man who will take charge and protect me, who will do the thinking for me and leave me to just feel ".... SOOOOO MANY FEELS FROM THIS BOOK. I was able to feel, see and hear everything that Keir and Jessica were experiencing. I could relate to the story and its entirety. These stories just keep getting better and better as they progress & I am convinced that Karina can write no wrong. She has the capability to bring out feels that I didn't even know I had and make me crave more and more of the story. This one was no exception...LITERALLY CRAVE IT!!!!
Keir is mysterious and complex, while Jessica is more of an open book. I love how both of these radically different characters became so intimately entertained that their differences became their similarities. They were beautifully messed up yet randomly perfect. I loved this story from the elaborate description of setting making me feel like I was with them on their Scottish journey. I loved the simplicity of an old fashioned road trip that was theirs for discovery of land but actually became theirs for discovery of each other. Again...brilliant!!!
I seriously did not want this book to end. From the beginning, my heart felt everything for theses two. I wanted their own messed up universes to collide and mash together and for them to find ultimate sinful happiness together. Believing that the soul is attracted to its perfect other half. Theirs was a journey full of freak.n road blocks and detours but their unending want to figure it out together was EVERYTHING.
Fantastic book, best scenery, magnificent characters & beautiful story. I loved the enter-twinning characters from previous books so much!! My need to know what happened to them was quelled a little with their cameos. I completely recommend is story and pretty much anything Karina writes. Heart stopping journey and inspiring read.
5 Stars
Review by: Gina
Wow! Just WOW! Karina Halle takes us on a very emotional rollercoaster ride! From the very beginning I was hooked. I author gave us the BAM! OMG! moment from the start and it just continued from there.
Jessica and Keir are two very complex characters. Both had went through so much in their lives but they never gave up. They used each other as strength to keep moving forward and because of that you can see the character development in both of them. That made for a wonderfully written novel.
I've read several books from this author and I think, this one, is the most emotional story that I have read from her. It plays into some emotions that revolve around current headlines that we see in the news today. It makes it seem so real! I found the story to be well written, the story flowed nicely and kept me engaged throughout the story. There was just one scene that started out really sweet but then went kind of weird to me. It could just be a personal preference, but I wasn't feeling it.
Overall, this book was amazing! So much emotion!!! The storyline was really great. Two "damaged" people who are able to over come their fears and move forward with their lives. It sends a great message about courage. This book is a standalone. While characters from previous books are mentioned, they are not pivotal to the story. Pick this one up, it is a must read!
4.5 Stars
EXCERPT:
“You’re not going anywhere,” he says. “Sit. I’ll get you another drink.” “It’s getting late,” I say feebly but I sit down anyway, my leg giving a protest of pain. “You need something for that?” he says, noticing my wince. “The scotch will do fine,” I tell him quickly, not wanting him to make a fuss. “But really, I should go.” “Why?” he asks from the kitchen. I hear the top pop off the bottle, the slosh of liquid in the glass. “Where do you have to be?” I have to think about that for a moment. He comes over and holds out the glass. “I won’t keep you here if you don’t want to be here. But if you do want to be here, you don’t need to make any excuses.” I take the glass from him, holding it delicately in my fingers. He stands over me, a massive wall, waiting for some kind of response. “I just…” I begin. “I…” I take a sip for bravery. Swallow. “I’m not very good at this.” “Good at what?” “At…this. Being with a man.” When he doesn’t say anything to that, I look up at him. He’s got a peculiar smile on his face, his brows raised. “You call this being with a man?” I clear my throat, feeling my cheeks grow hot. “I mean. I’ve told you before –” “Yes, how you don’t do relationships, how you don’t do sex.” “I never said I don’t do sex,” I remind him quickly. His eyes never stop searching my face. “Then what is it? What are you afraid to say?” I have the sudden urge to flee and I know it must show because he suddenly points at me and says, “Don’t you dare say you have to go again. I want you to go back to what you said, that you’re not good at this. What is this? Us? You and me? There’s nothing mystifying about you and me, Jessica. You know quite well how I feel.” I stare at him in shock. I do? “How?” He looks off with an air of impatience. “I invited you to dinner, you turned me down.” “But then you said just as friends.” “And I meant it. But there are different types of friends. It’s up to you to decide what kind we are.” I put my drink down with a clunk. “Holy pressure.” And now it’s not just my face going hot but my entire body, flushed from head to toe. “You’re on fire, little red,” he says, his gaze skirting over my limbs in such a hungry way I can almost feel them on my skin. “I have to say, I like this look on you. Hot and bothered.” “Back with the innuendos again,” I comment but my voice is weak. “No, no innuendos this time. You came looking for me tonight not because you wanted to confess but because you want something from me. What is it? What do you want from me? What do you think I can give you?” Jesus. This is so utterly unnerving. His words slice right through me, his eyes still peeling under the layers, trying to get at something I’m not even sure of myself. If I lie, he’ll know. I can only be honest with him. “I want…” I take in a deep breath, my eyes breaking away. “I want…company.” “Company?” He sounds surprised. I nod. “That’s the truth. I’m lonely. And I’m afraid. And I’m tired of being both those things. I want to be with someone who makes me forget who I am. You make me feel fearless in a way I didn’t think possible.” There. That’s the truth. Most of it. It hangs in the air, thickening the tension like flour to stock. He sits down next to me, has a mouthful of Scotch. “Wow,” he says, running his hand over the beard on his jaw. “And here I was thinking you wanted my cock.” I burst out laughing. So does he, a big wonderful bellow. The tension in the room eases up a notch. “Sorry,” I tell him when I catch my breath. “I guess they can both mean the same thing.” He sucks in his lip briefly, his eyes taking a lustful turn. “If you want it to.” We stare at each other for a few heavy beats. Then his focus trails back to my gaze and he says, “Why don’t you stay over?” And there I have it. The chance to know what those full lips would feel like on mine, what his skin would taste like. I swallow hard.
Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of The Pact, Racing the Sun, Sins & Needles and over 25 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books. Halle is represented by the Waxman Leavell Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK. Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook.
