Saturday, December 10, 2016

Review - - You Make Me Weak


You Make Me Weak
By Juliana Stone
Blackwells of Crystal Lake - Book One
Publisher: Juliana Stone Publishing
Release Date: November 29, 2016
  


Tall, Dark, and tattooed, FBI agent Hudson Blackwell has come home to Crystal Lake to deal with his dying father and leave. He doesn’t believe in much, other than his brothers, his God, and his country. He likes his life simple and hates complications. So running into the-girl-he-let- get-away is one complication he can do without. Yet the flames of desire still burn hot and it’s not so easy to break ties a second time around. Makes a guy wonder…

Can a man who only wants to leave find a reason to stay?

Rebecca Draper is hoping a second chance at life will get her back on track. With a failed marriage behind her and a young son to support, this former beauty queen has no time for Hudson Blackwell—yet running into him stirs up things. Hot things. Wild things. The man broke her heart once so getting involved with him would be crazy. Yet he awakens a desire and a need so intense she can’t deny it. It begs the question…

Can a woman who wants love be brave enough to take a chance on a man who could destroy her?



I've been waiting almost three years for Juliana Stone to take readers back to Crystal Lake. I fell in love with this small northern Michigan town and its residents while reading Stone's Bad Boys of Crystal Lake trilogy and have been not-so-patiently waiting for a return visit since finishing Mac and Lily's story in The Day He Kissed Her, back in April of 2014. Well, the wait is over and it was well worth it. In Stone's new book, You Make Me Weak, she brings us the story of Rebecca Draper (Mac's sister) and Hudson Blackwell (oldest brother of the three Blackwell brothers featured in this new trilogy). Once again, she's created complex, relatable characters and taken them on a sexy, deeply emotional, journey to love.

Hudson and Rebecca were each other's first teenage loves. From the first time seventeen year old Hudson met fifteen year old Rebecca, there was no one else for either of them and they spent the next few years happily planning a life together. But shortly before Becca was to leave for college, a traumatic event in Hudson's life caused him to take off, unaware of the devastation he caused by leaving Becca behind. By the time he came to grips with what had happened and returned to her, she had left Crystal Lake, the wife of another man.

Twelve years later, both single, Rebecca and Hudson find themselves back in Crystal Lake. He's home for the first time in twelve years, on temporary leave from his FBI job in DC, to reluctantly mend fences with his dying father, while Rebecca has returned to start over with her son after finally finding the courage to escape an abusive marriage. 

For Hudson, seeing Rebecca again brings back all the old feelings for her that he'd never really lost but for Rebecca, seeing him brings all the anger and unresolved bitterness of their parting to the surface, even though the desire for him burns brighter than ever. While they can't seem to keep their hands off one another, Becca is determined to call the shots this time around. She's a stronger person than she was when Hudson left her broken and alone, when her alcoholic father hit her as a child, or her ex-husband put her in the hospital with his beatings. She has a son to protect now; she doesn't dare put her heart on the line for him to break a second time. 

Hudson's a good guy who genuinely loves Becca, wants a second chance, and is determined to prove himself worthy of both Becca and her son. There are secrets and betrayals in his past that caused a young Hudson to react by running but the trip home is causing him to understand everything he lost - his relationships with both Becca and his family - and doesn't want to lose again. I was in his corner - and Becca's - the whole way. 

It's a bumpy, sizzling, sassy, and heartwarming journey to another happily ever after in Crystal Lake, Michigan. Exactly what I've come to expect from a Juliana Stone story. If you've read the first Crystal Lake trilogy (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake), you will be delighted to catch up with familiar characters from those books. If you're new to Crystal Lake, never fear. You can jump right in with You Make Me Weak and not miss a beat. I'm wholly invested in these characters - both old and new - and already eagerly anticipating the next Blackwell brother's book.

~PJ

5 comments:

  1. I love her books! I will have to look for it very soon...thanks for adding to my addiction...lol

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  2. This sounds like my type of book! Somehow I missed that first trilogy. I'll be looking it up shortly. Great review!

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  3. I love her books. I snagged this one as soon as it came out and it didn't disappoint. Highly recommend it.

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  4. Thank you for the great review. This sounds like a wonderful book that I look forward to reading.

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  5. Great review. I have put this on my wish list.

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