All of me belonged to her because before her, I'd been nothing. Nonexistent. Worthless. Now I meant something to someone. Someone was relying on me, and that reality f***ing terrified me. 

He is such a tortured hero with his armor of pain tattoed on his body, demons in his soul, and very little self forgiveness. He feels so unworthy, but knows he cannot live without Aly. But then feels guilty for needing her so much. He just wants to move forward, but is still consumed by guilt and pain that he tries to keep buried. He just wants to focus on Aly and their future, but his pain, anger, and loss from the past is still buried deep and eats away at him. He can't avoid the past forever or truly be free until he faces the past and lets it go. But he is not sure he will ever be ready. It is difficult, challenging, painful, and gut wrenching. I could feel it every time a piece of his heart broke as he thought of what he did and it kept sneaking up on him to affect his present happiness. 

I thought maybe...maybe I could change. That I could shove it all down. Hide from it. But it always just came looking for me. Didn't matter what I did, I ended up on destruction's path. I always ruined the good. 

But Aly is strong and a fighter and she knows him better than he knows himself. She has committed herself to this damaged man and is willing to push him past his comfort zones. But sometimes it backfires on her as he cannot face all that he has been through. I liked that she understood him and did not expect perfection, but she just wanted him to be whole and as happy as he could be. She was the perfect match for him: tough, intuitive, loving, nurturing, accepting, and devoted.

Even as damaged as I knew he was, this gorgeous man was my perfection.

Their second chance (or maybe even third chance by now) love story is poignant, intense, deep, and beautiful. In their little bubble they are happy and content, but when the outside influences or the past infiltrates it then they struggle. Their lives are unpredictable and full of challenges that they do their best to navigate, but sometimes find themselves spiraling into unchartered territory.

One day the burdened weight Jared carried on his shoulders would cause it to snap and both of us would fall. I just didn't know where we would land. Secure and whole and in each other's arms. Or shattered. I knew in my heart the impact would crush us both and neither of us would survive. 

This is Jared's continuing journey towards hope, love, forgiveness, self worth, and redemption...the repairing of a broken boy piece by piece. It is definitely not easy and is full of set backs. It is heart breaking and heart warming at the same time. It kept me enthralled and in anticipation the entire book. I could feel the tension building and knew that my heart was going to be shattered.  But I also knew that somehow, someway, this couple just had to find a way to make it work since it was obvious that they were soul mates despite all of the tragedy they had been through. 

When beauty breathes life into the broken.

These characters are so full of depth and emotion that they feel real. Their lives are so interwoven in history, love, loss, and pain that they have a connection that cannot be broken. It was told in both Jared and Aly's points of view allowing us a window into their fears, insecurities, worries, and pain. Even though this book was emotional, it also had moments of happiness and comfort. It hit up all of my emotions and made me feel. It made me smile and laugh, sometimes frustrated me, then made me cry and feel pain, and also swoon. It had me invested from the first page and did not let me go til the very end. And even then I was not ready to let these characters go and  I am highly anticipating the next book about her brother and his best friend, Christopher titled Come to Me Recklessly. I loved his close relationship with both Aly and Jared. He is also a character that puts on a facade and holds himself back from true connections. I want to know why and am looking forward to his story. This series has become one of my favorites of the year. It should not surprise me because A. L. Jackson is always an amazing, heart felt storyteller, but these characters have just burrowed into my heart and have proven it to me once again.

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review. Quotes are from Advanced copy and subject to change.