Review: When We Collide by A.L. Jackson

William walked away from everything he’s ever known and loved. For the past six years he’s taken on a cold persona; nothing like the man he once was. He tries to block out his past. The hurt that made him the way he is today. But, recently he’s been plagued by nightmares and the suffocating feeling of being trapped in this life. When a family emergency calls him back home, he sees it as an opportunity to break the cycle he’s been in and to reclaim himself.

Maggie is ruled by fear. Life has dealt her a crap hand. Her one shot at happiness and love was torn from her. For the past six years she has succumbed to terror. Her dreams are her only escape. There she remembers what it was like to be loved and treasured. She doesn’t need to have nightmares…she’s living one.

This one had my stomach in knots. Maggie has been abused her whole life. She went from her childhood home filled with cruelty only to end up married to a miserable heap of a man that treated her with malice. She could have had a happy ending sooner in life had she not been ashamed and filled with guilt. If only she had the strength to tell the one person who truly loved and accepted her what had happened, she could have been free. If only…

William never expected to fall for Maggie. But he did and he fell hard. He felt an unexplainable connection to her the first time he laid eyes on her. He wanted to protect her. Love her. Earn her trust. Slowly over one summer he did all that. Just when he’s ready to take her away from the nightmare that is her life, she destroys his heart sending him running from his home and family. Years later William finally returns only to learn that the girl he fled from still owns his heart. This time, however, he’s determined to rescue her once and for all.

When We Collide stirred so much emotion in me. I was on pins and needles to the very end. While Maggie and William do get a happy ending it’s not without much cost and sacrifice. Sadly Maggie’s story does happen to real people. I think that’s what hit me the most when I stopped to think about it. There are women out there going through what Maggie did. I can only pray they find the strength and the help to get out.