Sexy, gifted, and loyal, PI Jacob
Decker is a tall, cool drink of perfection who had Emmanuelle Holmes at
"hello." His relationship with Emme's best friend kept them apart for
years, but things have changed. Now that a case has brought him to Gnaw Bone,
Colorado, the road is wide open for Emme and Deck to explore something hotter
and deeper than Emme dreamed possible. So why is she sabotaging the best thing that's
ever happened to her?
It isn't easy to catch Deck off guard, but Emme does just that when she walks back into his life after nine long years. The curvy brunette had her charms back in the day, but now she's a bona fide knockout . . . and she wants to rekindle their friendship. Deck, however, wants more. Emme's always been the one; she excites Deck's body and mind like no other woman can. But a dark chapter from Emme's past overshadows their future together. Now only Deck can help her turn the page-if she'll let him . . .
It isn't easy to catch Deck off guard, but Emme does just that when she walks back into his life after nine long years. The curvy brunette had her charms back in the day, but now she's a bona fide knockout . . . and she wants to rekindle their friendship. Deck, however, wants more. Emme's always been the one; she excites Deck's body and mind like no other woman can. But a dark chapter from Emme's past overshadows their future together. Now only Deck can help her turn the page-if she'll let him . . .
Review
Alright, so this
one almost lost me within the first chapter. I know, yikes, right? But I’m so
glad I stuck to it. It’s a solid 4 star read for me.
This story was about second chances. How often do we get those? Another shot to get it right. Decker thought he had everything he ever wanted in his ex-girlfriend; too bad she didn’t feel the same. However, there was always someone there in the background. Someone he truly connected with, but sadly didn’t see the possibility till years later.
Emme walking back into Decker’s life is not something he ever imagined. Her best friend mutilated his heart. When that relationship ended, so did his friendship with Emme. But the Emme standing before him now is a changed woman. No longer hiding in the shadows, she’s embraced life. She’s dumped the frumpy clothing that use to shield her in the past and has emerged as a stunning, confident beauty. Decker quickly realizes that the woman for him, the right woman, was always there; he was just too blind to see it before.
Emme and Decker complement each other. He’s this strong alpha man. She’s this tough confident woman who’s never needed a man and he knows it. Yet they fit perfectly. He brings out a passion she’s never felt. She provides a softness that’s lacking in his life. At the same time they challenge each other.
Of course things can’t just be as easy as reconnecting with a lost friend. Nope. You have to throw some bad guys and unresolved issues into the mix. But, hey this all makes for a good read.
This story was about second chances. How often do we get those? Another shot to get it right. Decker thought he had everything he ever wanted in his ex-girlfriend; too bad she didn’t feel the same. However, there was always someone there in the background. Someone he truly connected with, but sadly didn’t see the possibility till years later.
Emme walking back into Decker’s life is not something he ever imagined. Her best friend mutilated his heart. When that relationship ended, so did his friendship with Emme. But the Emme standing before him now is a changed woman. No longer hiding in the shadows, she’s embraced life. She’s dumped the frumpy clothing that use to shield her in the past and has emerged as a stunning, confident beauty. Decker quickly realizes that the woman for him, the right woman, was always there; he was just too blind to see it before.
Emme and Decker complement each other. He’s this strong alpha man. She’s this tough confident woman who’s never needed a man and he knows it. Yet they fit perfectly. He brings out a passion she’s never felt. She provides a softness that’s lacking in his life. At the same time they challenge each other.
Of course things can’t just be as easy as reconnecting with a lost friend. Nope. You have to throw some bad guys and unresolved issues into the mix. But, hey this all makes for a good read.
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Excerpt
I dropped my leg so I was
sitting cross-legged in the couch and leaned into him. “Honey, you remember
everything so I don’t have to remind you I haven’t seen you in nine years. I
dig it that we reconnected and I love having you back.” I again threw an arm
out, this time toward him and back to me. “This is great. You and me spending
time together, shooting the breeze. I missed that. And I get it that friends
make gestures, but this is too much.”
His eyes warmed during
this speech and he took his arms from the couch, bent his legs, leaned into
them, and me, and put his elbows to his knees, never releasing my eyes.
“Baby, I want you warm
and liquid. The first bein’ physically, the second bein’ financially. You stop
payin’ so much for heat, you’ll have more money for the rest of the shit you
gotta do.”
This made sense.
But he’d again called me
“baby.”
And I needed to address
that.
So I asked, “What is
that?”
His head cocked and his
eyebrows drew together. “What’s what?”
I drew in breath and on
the exhale, stated, “You calling me baby.” Then I went on quickly, “Not that I
don’t like it. It’s sweet. It’s just not…” I hesitated, “us.”
Something happened to his
eyes, his face, his whole big body and that something made me brace at the same
time it made my heartbeat escalate.
“You know what it is,” he
said softly.
I didn’t.
“I don’t,” I shared.
His eyes stayed locked to
mine and I knew him relatively well, or I used to. But even if we hadn’t been
separated for years, I still would not have been forewarned to the fact he was
about to blow my mind.
“Before, we had Elsbeth
between us. My head was fucked about that, about her, and it took almost a
decade to get it unfucked. Lookin’ back, havin’ you back, I now know and I
reckon you know, that’s the way it was. She was between us. She knew it too.
And she didn’t like it. But it didn’t matter. My head was fucked so I couldn’t
see clear of her and not doin’ that, I didn’t see you.”
I knew my lips had
parted. I also knew my eyes got big. And last, I had no clue what to say.
So I said nothing.
“Now she isn’t between
us,” he finished.
It was then I knew what
the “baby” business was.
I just had no idea how to
react to it because I never considered it. He was beautiful. He was kind. He
was smart. He was funny and interesting and affectionate.
But he was my best
friend’s boyfriend.
That didn’t mean my mind
didn’t go there in vague ways, not stupid enough to wish for something I could
never have, just silently covetous of what Elsbeth had. And, because of all
that he was and that Elsbeth had it, in the end, infuriated she threw it away.
Angry enough to end an important friendship because of it.
Sitting there, all that
was Jacob, and all that being spectacular sitting across from me, holding my
eyes, I finally understood that the reason I was angry at my friend was
because, in throwing Jacob away, she took him away from me.
And now I had him back,
but also, he was saying I’d always had him a different way, we just didn’t go
there and he was going to take us there.
Yes. I had no clue what to
say but my body had a clue how to feel. Warm and there were a lot more tingles.
“Jacob—” I started on a
whisper.
But he interrupted again.
“You saw me, asked me out
to dinner that same night, no fuckin’ around. Since then, you’ve called twice
for no reason except to connect, and, baby, before you freak that I noticed
that and what it said, I’ll tell you, I’m fuckin’ glad you did and I’m also
fuckin’ glad about what it said. The boyfriend you were on the fence about, you
got off the fence in less than twenty-four hours after seein’ me again and
decided to get shot of his ass. And you didn’t waste any time gettin’ me right
where I am tonight. That is not friends reconnecting. You know it. So do I.”
“I—”
“Don’t deny it.”
I shut my mouth.
About the author:
Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, and has lived in
Denver, Colorado, and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to
have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least)
but loopy is good when you want to write. Kristen was raised in a house
with a large and multigenerational family. They lived on a very small farm in a
small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew up listening to the strains of
Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon, and
Whitesnake. Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love
was a good way to grow up. And as she keeps growing up, it keeps
getting better.
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