Blog Tour and Giveaway: Accept Me: J.L. Mac

by Reviews by Tammy and Kim - Sunday, February 02, 2014

Accept Me (Wrecked #3)

J.L. Mac

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For the first time in her life, 25-year-old Josephine Geroux has a future worth looking forward to. She has her beloved bookstore, she has all the comforts that money can buy, she has found the love of her life, and most importantly, she has found hope where there was none for 16 long years.

After the tragic deaths of her parents and her troubled life as an orphan, she met Damon Cole, a man who has everything to do with it all. He’s part of the reason for her wrecked life, but he’s also the reason that her heart has been restored. He’s her future and the exact reason that she’s so willing to fight the demons from his past that threaten the very future that she so desperately seeks.

In the final book of the Wrecked series, Jo is confronted with a turbulent history that has her negotiating the twists and turns that end up being far more difficult to handle than she ever could have anticipated. Jo’s relationship with enigmatic Damon is delicate at best, especially after she inadvertently discovers details about his life that may have been better left buried.

Since Damon’s dark past has remained hidden for so long, Jo’s investigation puts her dangerously close to jeopardizing her already fragile relationship with the man she loves.

Jo has a promising future at her fingertips; she must decide if revealing the truth to Damon is a gamble she’s willing to take. With so much at stake, acceptance proves to be Jo’s greatest battle to date.

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It was Damon who recognized how important the bookstore was to me and Damon who saved the store that spared me from homelessness over seven years ago. He was there when I found Captain on his living room floor. He was there in the hospital when I said goodbye to the man who was like a father to me. Captain was a crotchety old bastard but he was mine and watching him slip away in that hospital bed destroyed the heart I didn’t think I had. Damon stood watch as I mourned. While the initial burn of heartache has waned, I still ache for Captain, and Damon sees me through it. He always has.

Months ago, on June 8th, I stared at my reflection in my tiny bathroom mirror, thinking about how shitty that day was going to be. The anniversary of my parents’ death was like doomsday every year. If I had known that was the day I would meet the love of my life… again…I would have gone to work early and maybe taken more time doing my hair and makeup.

He poured into my life like the sunshine that followed him into the store that morning and I’ve been his ever since. I’ve been his the entire time, really, almost as if it was by design…like I was never even my own to give.

I’m not the type to believe in bullshit fairytales, but I do believe in what’s tangible. I believe in what I can see and touch, and what I have with my Big Man is real. It’s raw and so damn powerful that it took my miserable ass and shook me down to the frame, leaving me stripped and ready to rebuild. Four months ago, he came walking into my life and I had no idea what was ahead of me. Before Damon, I was alone in every sense of the word. We both went out on a limb to give our relationship a shot. Relationships were an unexplored frontier for me, but I was ready to map it out with Damon. Damaged or not, he was worth the risk. Given our respective histories filled with loss and disappointment, making a go of it was more difficult than I could have imagined.

Damon and Jo have had many struggles in their four month long courtship. There were linked tragedies in their pasts, trauma, loss, guilt, and secrets. They have almost lost each other several times, but are now engaged, moving into a new house, and trying to move on. But Jo still has a couple of big secrets that could really upset Damon who has just recovered from one ordeal.

And there are bad influences in their lives that would like nothing more than to ruin them both.

Damon is still all kinds of domineering, charismatic, sexy goodness. He is protective, loyal, and devoted to Jo and Grams. But he can also be secretive, mysterious, and can be unforgiving and act strongly when he feels betrayed. And he can act like a total ass at times.

Jo is spunky, strong, and knows that Damon is it for her. She has been through so much tragedy in her life, but is finally happy with how her life is going. But she knows more about Damon's past than she should. She is trying to protect him in her own way, but it may backfire on her. There was a little inconsistency with Jo in this one because she is usually such a fighter and at times in this one, I thought she gave up a bit easily.

There are surprises, twists, and a bunch more drama in store for these two. Just when you think something else can't go wrong for them, it does. It was tense, frustrating, suspenseful, and dramatic. There were times I wanted to shake them both for their behavior. Eventually the past and present all come face to face making their entire future questionable.

I enjoyed getting more of Damon and Jo's continued story. I still love his flamboyant assistant, Brian and her sweet older friend, Noni. And Grams still rocks my socks. She is just hilarious. She is a sassy, feisty senior citizen with a sparkling personality, attitude, and big heart. She makes me laugh out loud in almost every scene she is in. We also met Brian's sister, Lindsay and Jonathon who will be showing up in the companion novel Reach Me.

There were villians that made me want to growl and throw my kindle. There were some sweet, sexy moments and some other ones that annoyed and agitated me. There was guilt, loss, anger, danger, and heartbreak. And it all comes together in this fast paced story that more like a novella. It was told in Jo's point of view, which helps keep some of Damon's secrets but at times it made me really want to hear Damon's voice. Sometimes it seemed like we got more internal dialogue than interaction between them. I would have liked a little more time with Damon and Jo together especially towards the end, and maybe a bit more into their future. I was worried about forgetting some from Restore Me since it had been awhile since I read it, but the author reminded me enough so that I caught back up easily. This was not my favorite of the series (Wreck Me still is the one that gutted me), but I enjoyed being back with the characters and this was an easy read for me.

Thanks to JL Mac for providing me with an arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wreck Me (Wrecked #1)

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Kim's 5 star review and Tammy's 4 star review

Life can be cruel. People can be ruthless and evil. The world can be cold and uninviting. No one knows these things better than Josephine Geroux. By her own definition, she is a twenty-five year old “nobody with nothing,” and she is content to stay that way. Growing up an orphan has made her tough and indifferent to the people around her until she meets a strangely familiar man with a face that haunts her for reasons she can’t understand.

Despite the pain that will inevitably ensue, she makes it her mission to discover what parts of her tragic puzzle she is missing. On her journey to discovering why the she feels an alarming connection to an absolute stranger, her greatest fear is reawakening the demons and darkness from the past that will surely overtake her if she lets her guard down.

Little does Josephine know that the past should be the least of her worries. She is toying with a man who has already broken her heart once. She just doesn’t realize it. Although she makes it a point to avoid interactions with others, Josephine’s life becomes entangled with the enigmatic stranger. Before she realizes it, she has given herself over to the one person who is close enough to wreck her.

Restore Me (Wrecked #2)Add to Goodreads

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Kim's 4.5 star review

Navigating the world alone is all Josephine Geroux has ever known. Life altering tragedy struck early on for her. She endured an admirable struggle through her youth and learned the hard way how to adapt and survive. She managed to arrive at adulthood in one piece in spite of it all.

After such chaos, maintaining a life free of complications is a priority for her.

Everything changed when a man with amber eyes came through her door and claimed her heart. She fell hard in more ways than one. The pull between Jo and Damon seemed like fate bringing things full circle.

With another devastating loss looming, Jo fights to hold on to the very thing that brought her to her knees. She finds herself torn between a promising future and clinging to a devastating past.

But that’s not the most worrisome problem on her hands.

She must convince more than just herself to let the past stay in the past, where it belongs, but on her journey to find closure and resolution, she does the exact opposite. An old wound caused by a heinous act becomes exposed for what it is. The truth is catastrophic and Jo is helpless, watching as the ruins of her fragile world endure more turmoil.

Can something conceived from tragedy and malice end well? Can something so completely poisoned conquer adversity? Jo is left to make a decision; accept the circumstances she finds herself in or fight with unwavering ferocity to restore what has been damaged.

J.L. Mac Facebook † Twitter † Blog † Goodreads

USA Today Best Selling Author,J.L. Mac is twenty-seven years old and currently resides in El Paso, Texas, where she enjoys living near her family. She was born and raised in Galveston, Texas. J.L. admittedly has had a long and sordid love affair with the written word and has loved every minute of it. She drinks too many glasses of wine on occasion,and says way too many swear words to be considered “lady-like.” J.L. spends her free time reading, writing, and playing with her children.