Blurb
A dare.
A dying wish.
Fate...
After years of loneliness, widowed Gabriella is ready to fill the void—as long as
she doesn't have to give her heart to another man.
Caleb's screwed himself right into a dead-end existence. Faced with an
ultimatum, he's hell-bound on changing his reckless ways.
A chance meeting has these two instantly attracted to one another, but when
their paths cross again—this time as professor and student—the roles reverse on
Professor Edwards as Caleb teaches her how to feel again.
Excerpt
As I stretch my vision past Aubrey, to another group of barely-dressed girls, I
notice her. Long, coffee-brown hair falling down her back and almost
touching her perfectly rounded ass. The ass that’s encased in a skin-tight black
number and silky legs accentuated by heels that look dangerous. It’s a sin that
someone who looks like her should have her eyes focused on the ground.
Focus them on me, I will her. A package as beautifully put together as
she is deserves attention—my attention. If only she knew she blows
every woman in this room away. And not just because of how striking she is. There’s
something about her, something different. This woman is a rare find in a room full of
cookie-cutter imitations.
Her shiny waves cascade over her shoulders, bouncing as she walks in my direction. The deep chocolate hue compliments her radiant olive skin tone and her glistening green eyes. This woman is fucking gorgeous. Not the kind you take home to screw, the kind you take home to Mom . . . or, er, Grandma.
“Caleb. I was talking to you.”
I snap back to find Aubrey’s hands around my waist. “Conversation’s over. There’s someone I need to talk to.” I walk away, not even glancing back at Aubrey. I need to know who this woman is. I’m not a spiritual man, but she just might be sent from heaven. She’s the type of woman who could change the whole game. At least that’s the vibe I’m getting.
As I escape Aubrey, it’s as if I’m being magnetically pulled toward the woman now sitting at the bar. I watch her from afar at first, gauging her body language. Her fingers tap on the marble bar top as she waits for the bartender’s attention. She’s new to this. No regular waits for her order to be taken when she looks the way she does. Dude, I want to scream at the bartender, how can you not see her? She’s . . . God, not only is she gorgeous but there’s something about the way she’s fidgeting that tells me she’s completely out of her element. How could this sophisticated beauty be out of her element in a club full of women who wish they had half her class? And why is she here alone? If she were my girl, everyone would know it. My arms would be wrapped around her, my fingers settling on the small of her back, claiming her as mine.
I watch this classy creature as she plays with the curled edges of her hair, twisting the strands around her index finger. I play with my hair when I’m nervous. Is she nervous or just timid? Either way, I want to know. I want to know everything about this damn woman, starting with her name.
When she orders herself a Ketel and Seven I decide to be brave. “Make that two,” I add, getting comfortable in my stool.
At first she eyes me like I’m some creep, but then . . . shit! When our eyes meet it’s as if the universe has made up for every shitty thing that ever came my way.
Her shiny waves cascade over her shoulders, bouncing as she walks in my direction. The deep chocolate hue compliments her radiant olive skin tone and her glistening green eyes. This woman is fucking gorgeous. Not the kind you take home to screw, the kind you take home to Mom . . . or, er, Grandma.
“Caleb. I was talking to you.”
I snap back to find Aubrey’s hands around my waist. “Conversation’s over. There’s someone I need to talk to.” I walk away, not even glancing back at Aubrey. I need to know who this woman is. I’m not a spiritual man, but she just might be sent from heaven. She’s the type of woman who could change the whole game. At least that’s the vibe I’m getting.
As I escape Aubrey, it’s as if I’m being magnetically pulled toward the woman now sitting at the bar. I watch her from afar at first, gauging her body language. Her fingers tap on the marble bar top as she waits for the bartender’s attention. She’s new to this. No regular waits for her order to be taken when she looks the way she does. Dude, I want to scream at the bartender, how can you not see her? She’s . . . God, not only is she gorgeous but there’s something about the way she’s fidgeting that tells me she’s completely out of her element. How could this sophisticated beauty be out of her element in a club full of women who wish they had half her class? And why is she here alone? If she were my girl, everyone would know it. My arms would be wrapped around her, my fingers settling on the small of her back, claiming her as mine.
I watch this classy creature as she plays with the curled edges of her hair, twisting the strands around her index finger. I play with my hair when I’m nervous. Is she nervous or just timid? Either way, I want to know. I want to know everything about this damn woman, starting with her name.
When she orders herself a Ketel and Seven I decide to be brave. “Make that two,” I add, getting comfortable in my stool.
At first she eyes me like I’m some creep, but then . . . shit! When our eyes meet it’s as if the universe has made up for every shitty thing that ever came my way.
Review
Laura's Review
Gabriella’s life is upturned in a matter of minutes and is never the same again. Ten years later, she is still learning to live without the love of her life, while those around her don’t consider what’s she’s living to be much of a life at all. Her family challenges her to step out of her comfort zone, take a chance and let someone in, even if it is only for one night.
That someone is Caleb, who has lived much of the past few years without direction or drive. His grandmother’s dying wish and a condition added to her will has pushed him to make some life changes. With everything else going on, the last thing he’s thinking about is his romantic future. Until he sees Gabriella.
Faith has a way of writing that makes you see and feel everything without drowning the reader in words. I hesitate to call it simple, because that would imply that writing that way is easy, when in fact, it takes skill that not all writers have.
I have to be honest and tell you that the prologue gutted me. Gabriella’s husband was in one of the Twin Towers on 9/11. I am originally from the tri-state area (NY-NJ-CT) and was living there at that time. It happened in my backyard. I was lucky enough not to lose anyone that day, but the stories of those who did suffer a personal loss were on my television in the weeks and months afterward. So the depiction of their last conversation...well, it still gives me chills just thinking about it. Knowing that Tommy died that day helped lend to understanding the extent of Gabriella’s grief and how and why she handled it the way she did. She moved to the opposite side of the country with her children and got as far away from every reminder that she could, because staying in New York would be a constant reminder of what and who was missing. I know this goes beyond the scope of the story, but the thought of Gabriella being at Ground Zero for the memorial ceremony each year, when they read the names of those lost and ring that bell, or watching it on TV (I don’t know how they do it in other parts of the country, but in that area, the ceremony is televised) makes me hurt for her. This is when I have to remind myself that Gabriella is a fictional character.
Which leads me to another aspect of Faith’s writing that I really enjoy. She writes characters who are all very real….even the ones that are cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs have something about them that makes them relatable. Every one of her books that I have read had characters that I felt I could have bumped into in real life. She’s created some of the best book boyfriends around, and Caleb is no exception Heck, if I had a shot with a guy like Caleb and he was 12 years my junior, I’d hop on that bus to cougar town!
If I have any complaint, it is that a character who shall remain nameless in order to avoid spoilers does not get his/her comeuppance before the book ends. I have heard from a little birdy, though, that this certain someone will be included in a future book focusing on two characters from Feel Again. So the Jersey Girl in me is holding out hope that there might be an ass-beating of some sort, even if it is only of the non-physical variety.
Purchase Here
Amazon/B&N/Google Play/Google books/iTunes
About Faith Andrews
Faith Andrews lives in New York where she is happily married to her high
school sweetheart. They have two beautiful daughters and a furry Yorkie son, Rocco.
If she isn’t listening to Mumford and Sons or busy being a Dance Mom, her nose is in
a book or her laptop. She’s a sucker for a happily ever after and believes her
characters are out there living one somewhere . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment