Blog Tour ~ When We Collide by A.L. Jackson Review, Excerpt, Guest Post + Giveaway!

When We Collide Blog Tour Hosted by Reading Addiction! 

Follow the full tour HERE 

For my stop today I have a review, excerpt, guest post, and giveaway! Enjoy!

When We Collide by A.L. Jackson

Release Date: November 2, 2012
Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing
Pages: 216
Genre: New Adult Romantic Thriller with Supernatural Twist
Source: Author for tour review
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
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From the bestselling author of Pulled and Take This Regret comes a gripping new tale of loss and love. William has spent six years running from his past and the last eight months trying to rid his mind of the dreams that increasingly haunt his nights. Trapped in a world of false ambitions and feigned affections, William knows he’s reached a breaking point and something’s going to give. Maggie had lived her entire life without hope until one man showed her what it meant to be loved. He’d been her light in a lifetime of darkness. Six years ago, that darkness stole him away. Without him, she’s surrendered herself to an existence she doesn’t know how to escape. When the family William left behind is struck by tragedy, he is called back to the one place he’s sworn to never return to again. In a moment that will change his life forever, William comes face to face with the girl who, with one look, captured his heart. He is unable to ignore the buried desires and the hope for the future they’d once believed they’d have. Now William is ready to fight to take back what had been stolen from him six years before. But he never imagined what that fight might cost him. A.L. Jackson gives you an intimate look into the lives of a family bound by an unseen connection in this contemporary romance with a supernatural twist.

ADD TO GOODREADS

William and Maggie were in love six years ago but then William left her to go back to college. He hasn't returned home since because he can't face the heartbreak she caused him. When his aunt is dying, he returns and sees Maggie and also a shocking surprise. He wants to know why she didn't follow him six years ago and he knows he still loves her and wants to save her. Can Maggie escape the awful pattern of abuse? Alternating POVs and flash backs to six years ago show us how their love almost saved Maggie and how hopefully it will again. There was also a very small supernatural aspect, between a few chapters, that showed William's dreams of future events that come true.

This book was way more intense and heartbreaking than I was expecting. It was so real, raw, and emotional that at times my heart was hurting with the characters and I was near tears. Maggie had been emotionally and physically abused as a child and then got herself into another similar relationship with Troy. Desperate to escape her father she thought Troy would be the better choice. Six years ago William saw how Troy treated her and stood up against him. Maggie continued to see William in secret and they fell in love.

I spent a large part of this book being angry as well as sad. Angry at William for not getting her away from Troy and her father six years ago and then angry at Maggie for not reporting the abuse to the police and for not going with William. The author did a great job in showing just how difficult these situations can be and how broken these characters were that they were too afraid to make a change. Each time I thought I understood, a new layer was peeled back and then I would understand further why Maggie would suffer through. I just wanted to be angry and blame someone but the person to blame was the abusers and that is who I was most angry and disgusted with. Maggie was threatened, so broken and scared, and also wanted to protect her sister and mother. Troy was a big figure in her small town. There is never an easy way out.

Some of the scenes were really difficult to read but there were also wonderfully sweet and romantic scenes between William and Maggie. Maggie was just 18 and William 21 when they first met. Six years later William is not going to let history repeat itself, but Troy, now Maggie's husband, is just as angry, abusive, and even more dangerous than ever. Towards the end I was so nervous and just aching for these characters, but for those like myself, that can't bare a sad ending, I will say that finally in the very end things come together as best they can and there is a second chance at a happy life.


"I will never regret you."

"I reached up to cradle her face in my palm. The six years we'd been apart had wiped out the little innocence she'd had left and added a new darkness I wished I could erase. But beneath it all, I saw she was still the same beautiful girl, the one who'd opened up t me and shared her secret life. The who, as scared as she'd been of it, ha loved me. Tears swam in the depth of her eyes and slid down her face."

Rating: 4/5

Excerpt

Just before ten, I slipped out the back door. Impatience quickened my steps—quickened my pulse. I couldn’t wait to see her.

Mom and Lara had cornered me a couple of hours before, ambushed me with questions about my eye, demanding answers there was no way in hell I was going to give. I’d made up some convoluted story that was barely believable about some guys I’d never seen before at the next town jumping me when Blake and I had stopped for gas. Only after I’d convinced my mom and Lara that I was fine and I’d spent the next two hours listening to them chat over hot tea was I able to escape. I imagined the late hour was my only salvation.

Besides, I figured this town had enough gossips that either of them could have just asked and they’d find the answers to their questions. As it was, I was wondering why they hadn’t already heard. I guessed since the only ones who had been there last night were Blake and his small group of friends and that fucking coward Troy, no one had uttered a word. A part of me wanted the whole damned town to know what Troy had done, even if it meant I would bear the consequences of it, while the other part of me wanted to protect Maggie from any more shame.

I tried to push those thoughts aside, told myself, it’s over…it doesn’t matter. Maggie was mine. Now I just had to figure out how to get her out of that house so she’d be completely safe.

Maggie was already there when I emerged at the outskirts of our refuge. Her head snapped up when she heard me approach, that smile lighting her face when our eyes met. There was no hesitation as I rushed to her. I sank to the ground and pulled her into my arms.

“Hi,” I mumbled between our frantic kisses.

Maggie gasped then giggled against my mouth when I spun her and pressed her into the cool grasses.

“Hi,” she said, grinning when I finally pulled away to let her up for air. The moonlight seeped through the ceiling of leaves and illuminated the joy on her face. That joy faded when she focused on the mark above my eye. She reached out and ran her fingers over it.

I grabbed her hand and brought her fingers to my lips before she could say anything.

“It was worth it, Maggie…you’re worth it. I need you to believe that.” I’d do it a million times over if what happened last night had set her free.

I watched as disbelief and uncertainty twisted her face, and she closed her eyes and seemed to struggle against her past before she nodded her head as if maybe she understood.

Her eyes fluttered open. “I love you, William.”

“Do you know how long I have been dying to hear you say that?” I almost teased as I settled myself between her legs and hugged her closer. I felt the heavy breath ease itself from her lungs and her spirit sink into mine as she relaxed beneath me. She smiled at me, her eyes wide and awakened. I loved the way she looked right then, like the girl I’d fallen in love with over the last three months, although now exposed and without the barriers she’d erected between us.

“I think I’ve known it for a long time,” she finally said, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. “I don’t really know why I felt like I couldn’t admit it.” Maggie wet her lips, glanced into the distance before bringing her attention back to me. “I’m scared of this, of finally having something I’ve wanted so badly, but I’m more scared of losing it.”

I squeezed her, a gentle encouragement. She was never going to lose me.

“I’m not a normal girl, William.” When she said it, her eyes burned into mine, as if warning me, giving me an out.

I brushed the bangs from her face. “You think I don’t know you, Maggie?”

Yeah, I knew she was broken, knew no matter where she ended up in life, her past would always be there to haunt her, knew she had so much to overcome. But I also knew, underneath it all, she was strong. I saw it in her eyes and felt it in her spirit. I knew she was kind and good, knew she was beautiful. And I knew I was never going to stop loving her.

“I fell in love with you.”

A tremor of a smile tugged at one side of her mouth. “I guess that’s the part I really don’t understand.”

“Maggie,” I said as a whisper as I leaned down to kiss her. I pulled back. “You deserve to be happy.” And I’d do whatever it took to be sure she was.

Cupping my cheek, she ran her thumb beneath my eye. “You make me happy.”

I didn’t even try to contain the smile that spread over my face.

A.L. Jackson first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student. She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life. Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three beautiful children. Her favorite pastime is spending time with the ones she loves. 

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Guest Post

 

Why Covers are so Important

Hey All! I’m A. L. Jackson, author of Pulled and Take This Regret. I just wanted to thank Some Like It Paranormal for allowing me to share with all of you today, and on such a cool topic, Why Book Covers are so Important.

So let’s be honest…how many of you have purchased a book based on the cover alone? I have! Most of us are very visual creatures, our attention caught by the beautiful, the unique, and at times, the incredibly strange. We’re drawn to color and style, sharp lines, and bold words.

But what does that mean for covers? They say you only have a few seconds to capture someone’s attention on the internet, and when 80% of books today are sold on Amazon and with the massive number of titles that are listed there, it’s now more important than ever for covers to catch a potential reader’s eye.

There are a few key elements every book cover should have. The first and foremost is it should be pleasing to the eye—something that makes someone browsing titles stop and think, Wow, that’s an amazing cover. This is the point where your cover has done its job in making someone take a closer look at the book itself. The cover should also tell the potential reader something about the story inside, the design consistent with the genre of the book, although it should be unique enough that it stands out from the crowd. It should also give the reader a hint at the amazing story they will find inside.

Covers are so important because it’s the first thing someone sees—the main thing that will tell a potential reader to move or to take a closer look.

So what is it about a cover that draws your attention?

(I just love the cover of this book! It really drew my attention to this book. Covers are an important first impression to give you a quick idea of what the book is about. An interesting cover will make me want to read the synopsis and then hopefully the entire book!)

~Giveaway~

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