Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Leave All the Lights On - Lori's Review of WHATEVER IT TAKES by J.M. Stewart

Title: Whatever it Takes (Morgan Family #2) 
Author: J.M. Stewart
Publisher: Intermix
Publication Date: 12/2/2014
Source: ARC from publisher through Netgalley


Synopsis:
She’s been dying to hear the words…

Walking away from her husband was the hardest thing Becca Morgan has ever done, even if it was the only way to save her heart from being broken by a loveless marriage. Still, when a terrible accident forces her to stay at her ex Jackson’s house for a few days, emotions she thought she’d buried long ago start coming to the surface—and, to her surprise, seem to be reciprocated…

…he just doesn’t know how to say.

Jackson Kade has never known love like he knew with Becca, but his cold upbringing left him unable to show her how deeply he feels. When Becca winds up under his roof once more, he knows it’s his only opportunity to prove his devotion—and passion. But old habits die hard, and even one mistake could shatter their last chance at love.



JM is a multi-published author of passionate, heartfelt contemporary romance. She’s a wife, a mother, a spiritualist, and lover of puppies, and happily addicted to coffee and chocolate. She lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest with her husband, two sons, and two very spoiled dogs. She’s a hopeless romantic who believes everybody should have their happily-ever-after and has been devouring romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing them has become her obsession.


I'll start out by saying that WHATEVER IT TAKES is actually book #2 in the series, but I didn't really notice that.  At times I did notice some things were alluded to from the first book, but I never felt like I was missing information as I read Jackson and Becca's story.

After a few years of being married to workaholic, Jackson, Becca decided she could no longer chase after the ghost of love.  As a matter of fact, Becca was no longer sure if she hadn't deluded herself into believing that there had ever been love there at all.  When the house that she and their daughter have rented burns down, Becca is left with nothing except for an offer from Jackson to move back into the home they once shared.

Jackson was devastated when his wife left him and took their daughter along with the best part of himself with her.  With her house and life up in flames, Jackson sees an opportunity to get Becca and Allie back under his roof where they belong.  Now it is up to him to prove to Becca that he loves her and that she is the most important thing in his life.

I'm a sucker for 'second chance' stories and I enjoyed this one.  I love the depths of emotion that were explored in this story.  Jackson is filled with regret and longing to have Becca come back.  Becca's mind is fraught with confusion and doubt.  What if she had made the wrong decision all those months ago?  I enjoyed meeting he rest of the Morgan clan.  There are some really fun characters there.

The thing that kept this from being 5 stars for me, was that there was a lot of emotional or monologue type passages.  I understand that this is necessary at times for a book like this, but I often felt like I spent more time learning all of the different ways each character felt and could restate their feelings than actually moving the story forward.  I missed the forward movement and seeing all of these feelings in action.

3.75 our of 5 stars


A Day to Remember - Leave All the Lights On

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