Blog Tour and Giveaway: Unspoken: Jen Frederick

by Reviews by Tammy and Kim - Wednesday, September 18, 2013

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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.

Undeclared (Woodlands Book one)
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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.

From the author's website. Tentative release schedule and upcoming books in this series:

*January 16, 2014: Unmarked, Finn’s book
*June 16, 2014: Unsung, Adam’s book <- This title is tentative. I’m not sure it is the right one for Adam’s book.
*November 16, 2014: Undone, Mal’s book

I’ve got an interesting character that popped up at the end of Bo’s book and I might write his novel after Mal’s book. You’ll have to tell me, after you read Unspoken, whether you think this character deserves his own book.

Teaser:

"I didn't know you were into this sort of thing,” he murmured low. He placed my hand on his chest and leaned against the wall, one hand bracing against the top of the barrel right next to my thigh and another against the wall. The vibrations of his words teased me. I wanted to feel him better than through the heavy cloth and, as if my body was controlled by someone else, I unzipped his sweatshirt, just a little. Just enough so that my hand could touch his shirt, so I could feel the flex of his muscular pectorals against my fingers. I ran my fingertips over the ridged cotton of his tank. His muscles flexed and released when I kneaded my fingers against his chest.

"I don't know if I am into this sort of thing," I returned, looking at my hand and his chest and the rise and fall as he simply breathed. Someone jostled the crowd and I was jolted out of my mini trance. I snatched my hand away and looked at Ellie, who was staring at me. Her mouth was open and formed a little O.

I clenched both hands in front of me, grateful the darkness hid the heat in my cheeks. Bo leaned down to my ear. His breath was warm and his voice, deep and strong, raised the hair on my neck. "We'll have to test the hypothesis. I'll ask again when it's over."

Bo is a fighter and a lover, but not usually a boyfriend. AM(AnnMarie) has sworn off campus life and men from her school. She has been the butt of too many jokes and has been unfairly labeled as Typhoid Mary and school slut. A title she did not really earn, but was maliciously spread by the LaCrosse team.

Bo came to Central with his best friend Noah after getting out of the Marines and Afghanistan. He is edgy, unattached, and loves to mix it up in fights legal and otherwise. He has good friends/room mates, but women do not usually hold his attention for long, at least until AM ended up sitting next to him in biology.

He pushes her, she pushes back. They both have the same promiscuous reputation but he gets revered as a sex god and she gets unfairly labeled a slut and Lacrossetitute. She likes order and avoiding conflict. He is impulsive and loses control.

"I'll just assume you're too say or embarassed to admit your adoration of me."~Bo

"I'll just assume you're so insecure that turn random comments into compliments."~AM

"We're getting to know each other so well...This bodes well for our future."

As they spend more time together and open up, Bo finds himself intrigued and interested in trying for more with her. And she knows he is trouble, but he is hard to resist. He is hot, charismatic, funny, and flirty. But he also has his own demons from his past and feelings of unworthiness. She has her fears, insecurities, trust issues, and own issues from her family dynamics. They have oodles of sexual tension, but Bo shows atypical restraint when it comes to AM. She tries to resist her attraction and Bo had a real fight on his hands to win her over and give him a real chance. But once they began to connect, their relationship was passionate, sweet, and nurturing. Together their broken pieces become whole.

"I'm a bad bet, Sunshine, but if you're willing to give me a whirl around the ring, I'm yours. Because you've got me so twisted up inside that I barely know if up is down. I'm so inside my head that I'm coming out of my a**hole. Have mercy on me."

But to be together and move on in a positive was they both have to face the demons of their pasts and conflicts in the present. Together they help each other find the strength to do so.

I wanted to save AnnMarie. I wanted to save myself. Somehow it seemed the same thing at that moment and surely that wasn't asking for too much.

It is a story of facing your fears, opening up, moving forward and finding a true connection. It was painful and hard to take at times, but sweet and heart felt at others. It had a good message about overcoming bullying. I really felt for AM and for Bo in this one. They both had a lot to overcome and deal with and it affected how they viewed themselves and others.

Jen Frederick's writing style is easy to read and she creates complex characters that you cannot help but like and fall in love with. I enjoyed getting both Both and AM's points of view. It was great to see the more vulnerable, deeper part of Bo in this story. I loved seeing more of the Woodland boys we met in Undeclared: Noah, Finn, Mal, and Adam, and also Noah's girlfriend Grace and her cousin Lana. I also liked the new characters Ellie, Ryan, Shana, and Brian in this one. They all had such a bond and support for each other. I look forward to more from the Woodlands group. Finn is up next in Unmarked coming in 2014. I am really interested to get more of his story and he is already one of my favorites.

Thanks to Jen Frederick for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes are based on ARC copy and are subject to change in final draft.

Jen Frederick
Website/Facebook/Twitter/Goodreads

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 jensfrederick@gmail.com.

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Giveways:

(1) iPad mini for US/Canada or Apple Gift Card in the amount of an iPad Mini for International winner,

and (5) Print copies of Unspoken with dog tags - International

a Rafflecopter giveaway