Blog Tour: Unraveled by Jen Frederick {Review, Excerpt, + Giveaway!}
Welcome to my stop on the Unraveled blog tour hosted by TRSOR Promotions!
Today I am excited to share my review, as well as a giveaway with you all!
Unraveled (Woodlands #3)
by: Jen FrederickPublication Date: Jan. 20, 2014
Publisher: Pear Tree, LLC
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC provided by TRSOR Promotions and the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 280 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Apple | Smashwords | ARE
My Rating: 5/5 stars
Twenty-five-year-old Sgt. Gray Phillips is at a crossroads in his life: stay in the Marine Corps or get out and learn to be a civilian? He’s got forty-five days of leave to make up his mind but the people in his life aren’t making the decision any easier. His dad wants him to get out; his grandfather wants him to stay in. And his growing feelings for Sam Anderson are wreaking havoc with his heart…and his mind. He believes relationships get ruined when a Marine goes on deployment. So now he’s got an even harder decision to make: take a chance on Sam or leave love behind and give his all to the Marines.
Twenty-two year old Samantha Anderson lost her husband to an IED in Afghanistan just two months after their vows. Two years later, Sam is full of regrets—that she didn’t move with her husband to Alaska; that she allowed her friends to drift away; that she hasn’t taken many chances in life. Now, she’s met Gray and taking a risk on this Marine could be her one opportunity to feel alive and in love again. But how can she risk her heart on another military man who could share the same tragic fate as her husband?
Twenty-two year old Samantha Anderson lost her husband to an IED in Afghanistan just two months after their vows. Two years later, Sam is full of regrets—that she didn’t move with her husband to Alaska; that she allowed her friends to drift away; that she hasn’t taken many chances in life. Now, she’s met Gray and taking a risk on this Marine could be her one opportunity to feel alive and in love again. But how can she risk her heart on another military man who could share the same tragic fate as her husband?
Oh my, my, MY. Jen Frederick ladies and gentlemen. I didn't honestly think it could get any hotter than Bo Randolph. I WAS MISTAKEN. Gray Freaking Phillips will rock your world. And make you so hot you will curse your single status and force you to drown your sorrows in white wine. Errr. Anyways.
Not only does Jen know how to write STEAMY, delicious love scenes, but she certainly knows how to create an engaging storyline that will leave you desperate for more. Even though I have never lost a husband like Sam or been cheated on like Gray, I can still empathize with these characters and feel connected to them. My heart ached right along with Sam and Gray and whenever a book does that to me, I know it's a job well done.
I love how big of a role the secondary characters play in this book. I am always glad to see the main characters from previous novels make an appearance. And let's not forget the other Woodlands boys! I am so excited to see whose novel we will get next!
I have to first discuss the camaraderie between Gray, Noah, and Bo. It is absolutely incredible. I love how these guys interact with one another. All having served in the Corps together, it really left them with a sense of brotherhood and they always have each other's back and watch out for one another. Now that Bo and Noah have settled down and are in serious relationships, they definitely have more wisdom and advice to offer. However, I think Jen does such a great job of capturing the male voice in her novels. These guys are Marines for pete's sake. They don't get fluffy and spout pretty words at each other. They tell each other how it is and deliver the hard truths. Literally, one second they can be on a more serious tangent and the next one of them is bound to say something sexual, ridiculous, or flat out goofy. I absolutely loved them together. I cracked up reading about how they just decide to construct a slip and slide. That sounds like something quite a few Army boys I know would do....
On leave for 48 days to basically figure out what he wants to do with his life, Gray is just looking for someone to hook up with while he's hanging out with his friends. After having been burned in the past by the first girl he ever loved, he is very anti-cheating and really just prefers no strings sex. Seeing Bo and Noah with their girls really makes him long for someone of his own, but knows he could never do a relationship while deployed again. I hated that Gray became so jaded to women because of one bad one. His ex may claim she loved him, but that's a bunch of crap. She played serious head games with him by trying to make him jealous by hanging all over other guys. Gray didn't see that for what it was until later after the damage had already been done. From the minute he laid eyes on Sam at the bar, he never expected she would be the one to break down his heart's defenses.
I really liked Sam's character. At a young age, she knows grief and loss after losing her husband overseas. Since he passed, she has not really allowed herself to venture out and experience new things. She hates being seen as the Widow by everyone in town and she is tired of being lonely. My heart broke for Sam. She wants to move forward, but still hasn't been able to bring herself to remove her wedding ring or put her late husband's combat boots and such away. I also didn't like that Will's mother put so much on Sam. I don't think it was intentional, as the woman is a wreck over losing her son, but it definitely stifles Sam and puts her in a rather precarious situation.
She never thought she'd find herself attracted to someone like Gray, but from the moment he zoned in on her and then kissed her, she knew she was a goner.
These two have some serious chemistry! When Gray isn't acting a fool, that is. I swear.... there were a couple of points where I wanted to knock him upside the head for being so stupid. He definitely didn't handle some situations with Sam very well and I really wish he would have just opened his mouth and used his words! Because I did NOT like seeing her hurt at all. However, he more than made up with it with his actions. And my goodness that man is such a dirty talker! Seriously. It's like 20 degrees here and I felt it was 100!
Both Gray and Sam have some tough decisions to make, as the more time they spend with one another, the more they realize what was only supposed to be 'temporary' is turning into a hell of a lot more.
“I’ve been watching you all night.” His mouth was right
above the tip of my ear and I felt something crack inside me, a fissure was
forming in the mask I’d donned earlier today or perhaps his breath, his touch,
his words were simply hastening the demise of the barriers I’d held between
myself and everyone else for two years. Because inside my body, it felt like
there was an awakening and every fiber of my being reached toward him, upward
and outward as if I was a flower on the first day of a spring rain. I lifted my
head to gaze up, wide-eyed and anxious with anticipation.
Some part of my brain was telling me that the storage closet was just two steps to my right at the end of the hallway and the exit door was just beyond that. My Rover was outside and all three were safer than standing here almost in his embrace but I couldn’t hear the warning over the pounding of my heartbeat. He bent toward me, his face serious and even in the low light of the corner I could see the gold flecks feathering out from the center of his eyes.
“I'm going to kiss you now.” His voice was deep, rough and matched the rest of his thoroughly masculine body.
“I know,” I whispered back. And I wanted that kiss from Gray who ordinarily wouldn't be my type at all. I wanted it more than I wanted to breathe. When his mouth molded against mine, it felt like bliss as if my whole cold body had been submerged into a warm bath. If I thought I was engulfed before it was nothing like I felt at that moment. My entire world—my thoughts, my feelings, my senses—were full of him. I tasted the mint and hops on his tongue. I inhaled the cinnamon, bergamot, ocean of his faint cologne into my airways. I felt the calloused palm on my waist and then lower against the exposed skin of my thigh. His dense muscles were drawn tight under his skin and the fabric of his t-shirt and he felt as strong as a citadel. The moan that had been building since he first backed me into the wall escaped. It had been so long since I’d had the touch of a man’s hand on any part of me and I nearly wept at the pleasure of it.
Some part of my brain was telling me that the storage closet was just two steps to my right at the end of the hallway and the exit door was just beyond that. My Rover was outside and all three were safer than standing here almost in his embrace but I couldn’t hear the warning over the pounding of my heartbeat. He bent toward me, his face serious and even in the low light of the corner I could see the gold flecks feathering out from the center of his eyes.
“I'm going to kiss you now.” His voice was deep, rough and matched the rest of his thoroughly masculine body.
“I know,” I whispered back. And I wanted that kiss from Gray who ordinarily wouldn't be my type at all. I wanted it more than I wanted to breathe. When his mouth molded against mine, it felt like bliss as if my whole cold body had been submerged into a warm bath. If I thought I was engulfed before it was nothing like I felt at that moment. My entire world—my thoughts, my feelings, my senses—were full of him. I tasted the mint and hops on his tongue. I inhaled the cinnamon, bergamot, ocean of his faint cologne into my airways. I felt the calloused palm on my waist and then lower against the exposed skin of my thigh. His dense muscles were drawn tight under his skin and the fabric of his t-shirt and he felt as strong as a citadel. The moan that had been building since he first backed me into the wall escaped. It had been so long since I’d had the touch of a man’s hand on any part of me and I nearly wept at the pleasure of it.
For four years, Grace Sullivan wrote to a Marine she never met, and fell in love. But when his deployment ended, so did the letters. Ever since that day, Grace has been coasting, academically and emotionally. The one thing she’s decided? No way is Noah Jackson — or any man — ever going to break her heart again.
Noah has always known exactly what he wants out of life. Success. Stability. Control. That’s why he joined the Marines and that’s why he’s fighting his way — literally — through college. Now that he’s got the rest of his life on track, he has one last conquest: Grace Sullivan. But since he was the one who stopped writing, he knows that winning her back will be his biggest battle yet.
Noah has always known exactly what he wants out of life. Success. Stability. Control. That’s why he joined the Marines and that’s why he’s fighting his way — literally — through college. Now that he’s got the rest of his life on track, he has one last conquest: Grace Sullivan. But since he was the one who stopped writing, he knows that winning her back will be his biggest battle yet.
Whore. Slut. Typhoid Mary.
I've been called all these at Central College. One drunken night, one act of irresponsible behavior, and my reputation was ruined. Guys labeled me as easy and girls shied away. To cope, I stayed away from Central social life and away from Central men, so why is it that my new biology lab partner is so irresistible to me?
He's everything I shouldn't want. A former Marine involved in illegal fighting with a quick trigger temper and an easy smile for all the women. His fists aren't the danger to me, though, it's his charm. He's sliding his way into my heart and I'm afraid that he's going to be the one to break me.
Impulsive. Unthinking. Hot tempered.
I allow instinct to rule my behavior. If it feels good, do it, has been my motto because if I spend too much time thinking, I'll begin to remember exactly where I came from. At Central College, I've got fighting and I've got women and I thought I was satisfied until I met her.
She's everything I didn't realize I wanted and the more time I spend with her, the more I want her. But she's been hurt too much in the past and I don't want to be the one to break her. I know I should walk away, but I just can't.
I've been called all these at Central College. One drunken night, one act of irresponsible behavior, and my reputation was ruined. Guys labeled me as easy and girls shied away. To cope, I stayed away from Central social life and away from Central men, so why is it that my new biology lab partner is so irresistible to me?
He's everything I shouldn't want. A former Marine involved in illegal fighting with a quick trigger temper and an easy smile for all the women. His fists aren't the danger to me, though, it's his charm. He's sliding his way into my heart and I'm afraid that he's going to be the one to break me.
Impulsive. Unthinking. Hot tempered.
I allow instinct to rule my behavior. If it feels good, do it, has been my motto because if I spend too much time thinking, I'll begin to remember exactly where I came from. At Central College, I've got fighting and I've got women and I thought I was satisfied until I met her.
She's everything I didn't realize I wanted and the more time I spend with her, the more I want her. But she's been hurt too much in the past and I don't want to be the one to break her. I know I should walk away, but I just can't.
Jen
Frederick lives with her husband, child, and one rambunctious dog. She's been reading stories all her life but
never imagined writing one of her own. Jen loves to hear from readers so drop
her a line at jen@jenfrederick.com.
12 comments
Gahh I never gave this series much thought for some reason, but your review is making me question that because clearly it is awesome! Gahhh more books for my TBR!!!! Amazing review Jessica
ReplyDeleteAww! NO. Give them a shot! The first was kind of meh for me, but they keep getting better and better!!
DeleteGreat Job!!! Can't wait to get my hands on this!
ReplyDeleteThx,
RO
A Bookish Escape
Thanks Ro! I can't wait for you to read it! Gray is awesome!
DeleteYou think Gray is hotter than Bo? Hmm tough call. I think Bo exuded sex more but Gray does have that dirty mouth. I'll take a Bo, Noah, Gray triple decker sandwich : )
ReplyDeleteBo definitely takes the win for hottest and sexiest, but I think I got really distracted by Gray's mouth. LOL. And I will also take one of those sandwiches!
DeleteAwesome review girl! I was all about Bo baby but then Gray came along and swept me away with his dirty little mouth :-) I loved this book so much!
ReplyDeleteThanks girl! I still love Bo the most, but holy crap, I didn't see Gray coming!
DeleteI really liked this one but Bo and Unspoken is my favorite. Looking forward to the next book and I want Hamilton to get his own story.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree! I do love Bo and Unspoken is also my favorite. I also would like to see Hamilton get his own book!
DeleteI loved this one too! And while I don't know that I'll ever not claim Bo (or Noah) as my favorite, Gray was badass. And I loved Sam too. Great review!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm glad you loved this! Jen is freaking awesome! I'm so proud of her! Watching her books grow and develop has been awesome!
DeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.