Title: Pieces of Us Author: A.L. Jackson
Series: Confessions of the Heart #3
Release date: April 22, 2019
(Sub)genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 398
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Maxon Chambers has a way of stealing all the attention.
All my affection, and all my dreams.
What I needed to remember was he’d stolen my good judgment and my virginity, too.
When he broke up with me, I ran across the country and swore I’d never return to Broadshire Rim.
But here I am, thirteen years later.Maxon is all grown up.
Sexier than sin and more tempting than ever.
A detective on the Charleston force, he lives on the outside of safety, devoted to protecting the people of his city.
But with the way he’s looking at me now? I’m pretty sure what needs protecting is my heart.
Can we mend the pieces of us? Or will he leave my heart shattered forever …
Sometimes the past doesn’t stay in the past, and brings back a lost love, hurt feelings and the promise of a second-chance. Pieces of Us tells the story of Mack and Izzy who fell hard for each other as teenagers, and now as adults get a chance at a do-over. I love this emotional story.
“I knew he was more dangerous than any casual passerby could ever be. Dangerous to me. To my heart and my world and everything that remained the most precious.”
Mack and Izzy go way back. As kids they live next to each other, but their lives are very different. Izzy has loving parents, but Mack’s dad is the complete opposite. Of course, the friendship between Izzy and Mack changes into love during their teenage years, but Mack feels he isn’t good enough for Izzy. She doesn’t believe that, until he proves to be the worst and she leaves town. Fast forward thirteen years… Mack is a police detective who doesn’t do commitment, and Izzy returns home for the first time for some much-needed help. The chemistry between them is still there, but our couple has a lot to talk about.
“She’d been my ending. My collision. The breaking point of who I’d been and who I’d come to be.”
Izzy is an independent woman who can takes care of herself and her two boys, but now she needs the help of her parents. Going back to the town where she got hurt so badly isn’t what she wants, but sometimes the support of family is more important than yourself. As a mom I fully understand Izzy; I understand her hopes and dreams for herself and her sons, but also why she is hesitant about Mack. Mack is a ladies-man, but Izzy has always been different. I get where he is coming from, but at the same time I hate what he did to her. Izzy and Mack still love each other, but the road to their HEA isn’t the easiest.
Pieces of Us is the third book in the ‘Confessions of the Heart Series’ and brings the reader back to Charleston. Mack and Izzy are the main couple of course, but the couples from the previous books are present as well. Pieces of Us is a second-chance story; Izzy and Mack had a true love as teenagers, but forces beyond their control pulled them apart. I was so happy when all was out in the open, and that Izzy and Mack are finally able to have the love of a lifetime.
“Until we were flying. High, high above the trees. Where we’d always belonged. Where he was my forever. Endless.”
Excerpt
Izzy – 4 years old
“I’m not gonna let you fall,” he told her, his voice sounding like laughter, climbing higher and higher, propelling himself up with his hands and feet, so fast she thought he might be flying.
He made it all the way up to where she was, and he looped an arm around her waist and hauled her up so she could sit on a branch, freeing the weight from her arms. And it felt so good and hurt all over and she was crying again.
Relief.
She wanted to hug him and hug him and hug him.
“What you cryin’ for, Little Bird?”
Hiccupping, she wiped the tears and the snot from her face. “Cuz I didn’t wanna die. You saved me.”
He laughed. “I wasn’t gonna let you die, silly. I heard you, and I came running. That’s all you gotta do. Just start yellin’, and I’ll know when you need me to save you.”
She sniffled a little, a smile pulling to her face. “Okay. But what if you’re not strong enough?”
Except, he seemed pretty strong. Maybe even stronger than her daddy. Brave to come rushing right up that tree like it was nothin’.
“Psh. What are you talkin’ about? Don’t you know I’m a dragon?”
He flexed his scrawny arms, his biceps the size of tangerines.
“A dragon?” she asked, curiosity making her eyes pinch.
“Dragons are the strongest and the fastest and the fiercest. So scary. Just like me. Except you don’t gotta be afraid because I’m a good dragon. Even my mama says so.”
“Okay,” she agreed super fast because that sounded just fine to her.
Then he smiled softer. “Little Bird, Little Bird, stuck in a tree.”
She giggled, her heart feeling light. “Dragon, dragon, come and rescue me.”
He grinned so wide that she couldn’t help but laugh again. “That’s right. Just like that.”
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