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Give Me a Reason by A.L. Jackson
Release Date: August 30th 2021 by A.L. Jackson Books Inc.
Series: Redemption Hills #1
Pages: 418
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
From NYT and USA Today bestselling author A.L. Jackson comes a single-dad, enemies-to-lovers stand-alone romance about a jaded club owner and his son’s teacher…
Eden Murphy came into my club looking to make some extra cash.
A girl like her didn't belong in a place like this.
She'd get ripped to shreds.
Most likely by me.
There's nothing but sweetness dripping from her sexy little body, and I'm the monster who's salivating to get a taste.
Trent Lawson is the last man I should want.
Dark.
Dangerous.
So wickedly gorgeous he makes my knees weak.
He's also an arrogant jerk who happens to be my new boss.
When I discover his adorable son is also in my kindergarten class, I know I have to keep my distance.
But neither of us can ignore the attraction that flames.
One glance, and our hearts race.
One touch, and we’re aching for what we can’t have.
One night, and we’re falling fast.
Dragging her into my sordid world is wrong.
It doesn’t matter.
Eden Murphy is mine.
My Review:
At the beginning of the story we are introduced to Trent Lawson, owner of Absolution, a biker bar in the small town of Redemption Hills, California. His hard work has paid off and he has been able to grow a very successful business that attracts many people in search for a job. But there are certain people that can handle the clientele that frequent his bar. So when his manager tells him that a server candidate has been waiting and refusing to leave, Trent is intrigued. Then he stops when he sees her looking out of place and he immediately knows that she is going to get torn to shreds in a place like his. But he admires her tenacity, despite Trent trying really hard to get her to leave.
There is an urgency in Eden that makes Trent give in and gives her the job. Aside from being attracted to her, he is willing to give her a chance. Little did he know that his life would change forever the minute he finds out that Eden also happens to be his son’s teacher. Now he is not only seeing her at the bar, but she will be a constant in Gage’s life, his sole purpose that keeps Trent fighting to give his son the life that he deserves. Yet, things get complicated when they give in into their connection and their pasts come to haunt them down threatening their chance at a future together.
The minute Eden Murphy walks into Absolution, she knows that she doesn’t belong there. She is a private school kindergarten teacher that really needs the extra money in order to help the ones who mean the world to her. If it means stepping out of her comfort zone, then Eden is willing to do it. Even if she has to work for her gorgeous new boss that she can’t stop thinking about. There is something about him that keeps calling out to her. No matter how dark Trent’s past is, Eden sees beyond his pasts actions if only she could convince him that he is worthy of forgiveness and a shot at relationship.
I throughly enjoyed reading Give Me a Reason, Jackson had me hooked from beginning to end! I was invested in the characters and their growth. There is so much that both of them have been through in the past and they have been given a shot at a forever with each other. Trent’s son, Gage was such a cute little boy. He made the story that much more adorable and sweet to read. I was not expecting the plot twists that we got and they worked well in the story. I do wish the author could have elaborated on a few details in the story a little further at the end. All in all, the very end fit their story perfectly and I would highly recommend checking it out. I cannot wait to read the upcoming books in the series! :)
**I received an advanced copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own***
My Rating: 4.5/5
{EXCERPT}
“I don’t,” I told him. Honestly. Truthfully.
I didn’t want any trouble, and he clearly had plenty of it to offer.
I just wanted a job.
No matter if he made my belly quiver and my fingers tremble. No matter if he stirred something inside me that had been dead for a long, long time.
His gaze raked me again.
Calculating.
Analyzing.
Then he jutted his chin. “Follow me.”
Spinning on his heel, he started across the bar without further warning.
This guy gave me whiplash.
I scrambled to follow. “Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he parted the crowd as if every person there felt him coming.
I tried to keep up as we crossed the bottom floor of the bar that was completely packed.
Anticipation high. Inhibitions freed. People letting go while salivating for the band that was setting up on stage.
I peeked to the side as if I were looking for a buoy. For a raft in the middle of a stormy, toiling sea.
My attention landed on the bartender who’d let me set up post for the entire day. He’d been kind to me, but right then, he was grinning the smuggest grin I’d ever seen.
The kind that screamed, sucker.
I didn’t know if it was meant for me or the man who cut a path to the opposite end of the bar.
Mr. Lawson hooked a left into a narrow, dank hallway. There was a sign at the side that read employees only. I skated around the sharp corner, clutching my purse to my chest and rushing to keep up while my heels slid on the slick concrete floor.
Great.
Scoring all the points.
A second later, he suddenly stopped to toss open a door to the right. He held it open as he spun back to look at me.
On a gasp, I skidded to a stop, unable to keep up with the turbulence vibrating through the dense air.
Still standing in the dim shadows, he quirked a brow. “So, tell me Eden Murphy, is it the thrill or the money? Trying to piss off your daddy?”
Those sooty eyes gleamed and glowed with the challenge.
Wow. I wanted to tell this guy where to shove it.
The only reason I was there was because I was trying to save my daddy.
My daddy who was in dire straits.
And I would do absolutely anything to help the man who’d sacrificed so much. The one who would do anything for me. Lift me up. Support me. Hold me.
Now, it was my turn to return the favor. But this jerk didn’t deserve an explanation, no matter how gorgeous he was.
I gulped down the irritation and anxiety.
“I told you I needed this job. The answer to that should be obvious.”
“And I also told you that you don’t belong. Plenty of other jobs in the city.”
Hurt curled through my senses. Of course, a guy who was clearly rolling in it would spout it as truth.
“Are there?” I couldn’t help but sneer it.
Those fierce eyes sheared through me as if I were standing there bare, dragging from my eyes and down my quivering throat to where my trembling hands were clutching my purse.
Down, down, down, along the length of my legs exposed by my pencil skirt, to my heels, before he was somehow both leisurely and voraciously dragging them back up.
Shivers raced beneath the unabashed perusal, my stomach churning with a mix of revulsion and fascination.
The man was nothing but a smolder when his gaze met with mine.
“I’d take you as the type who’d show more…caution.” He said it like an insult.
“You think you scare me?” I spat the words like they could become steel around me. A hedge of protection.
He suddenly reached out and fluttered the tips of his tattooed fingers across the erratic thunder at the pulse point in my neck.
A wild, reckless pound.
Shivers raced and my knees nearly buckled.
He tilted his head. “Don’t I?”
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, and FALLING STARS novels. Watch out for her upcoming stand-alone, GIVE ME A REASON, releasing August 30th!
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
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