Against
the Wall
By: Jill Sorenson
Releasing
February 2, 2016
Loveswept
Loveswept
Fans of Katie McGarry, Simone Elkeles, and Tammara Webber will love Against the Wall! As teenagers, they fell for each other despite the odds. But now that Eric and Meghan are all grown up, they’re reunited by fierce passion and dangerous secrets.Eric Hernandez is the bad boy of every schoolgirl’s fantasies—and every mother’s nightmares. But after serving time for manslaughter, he’s ready to turn his life around. He just needs a chance to prove himself as a professional tattoo artist. The one thing that keeps him going is the memory of the innocent beauty he loved and left behind.Meghan Young’s world isn’t as perfect as it looks. The preacher’s daughter is living a lie, especially now that Eric is back. Tougher, harder, and sexier than ever, he might be the only person she can trust. But there’s no telling what he’ll do to protect her if he learns the truth, and that’s a risk Meghan won’t let him take. And yet, back in the arms of the troubled boy with the artist’s soul, Meghan can’t help surrendering to the man he’s become.Link to Follow Blast: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/12/against-wall-by-jill-sorenson.html
Good girl / bad boy seems to be the obvious review for this one but what I enjoyed the most was Eric trying his best to redeem himself for himself and no one else. Sure he hits a bump or two of super shitty decisions along the way (sleeping with the enemy bruh, really?!) but I loved rooting for him.
The whole racial mixing was something I had been waiting for from a good romance. Meghan Young is the white girl with some authority to her name while Eric Hernandez is the Mexican former gang-banger and the two have such strong feelings for each other that have lasted through a prison sentence. That’s some seriousness right there.
The gang elements felt realistic enough and it lent some incredibly dramatic moments to the book. They didn’t have a love for the danger but a love for each other that is so hot imo and also careless, so the fact that PROTECTION FAIL is mentioned?! Kudos to Sorenson actually naming Plan B. Also majorly loved the brotherly ass-whooping that Eric got. I enjoyed this. Pretty solid throughout.
Noah
exchanges a glance with April and takes Jenny into the kitchen. It’s awkward,
being on his turf. I don’t belong here. I belong in Castle Park, the
down-and-out neighborhood where I used to live with my grandma. Now she’s in Mexico
with the rest of my family, and I have nowhere else to go. Nowhere safe, that
is. I’m supposed to stay in a stable environment, and I can’t leave San Diego.
It’s one of the conditions of my parole.
“Let’s
get you settled,” April says brightly.
I
grab my backpack and follow her. On the phone she told me I could sleep in the
den. It looks sort of like an office with a small bed in the corner. I spot a
vintage desk and an old-school record player I recognize as Meghan’s.
I’m
struck by memories of the last day I spent with her. She had a room upstairs
back then. When we first met, it was just Meghan and Noah living here. She put
on some music and I laid her down on her bed. I took everything she had to
offer and then some. I can’t even bring myself to regret it. That memory, more
than any other, has sustained me on lonely nights in my cell. I’ve jerked off
to a thousand variations of it.
I
know that Meghan moved out a few months ago, but I imagine her lingering
presence. The smell of her hair on the pillows.
“This
was Meghan’s room?” I say, my voice hoarse.
April
opens the closet, which is half-full of girl clothes. “I can ask her to move
her stuff.”
“No,”
I say. I don’t need the space; everything I own fits inside a backpack.
“Are
you sure?”
I
sit on the bed, nodding. This arrangement is temporary, anyway. “Which room are
you going to use for the nursery?”
April
waves her hand in the air. “I want the crib in my room. You can stay here as
long as you like.”
I
wonder if Noah is on board with this. He can’t be thrilled about having an
ex-con under the same roof with his pregnant wife and stepdaughter. He got
promoted to the homicide division, but money might be tight. I should cut out
as soon as possible. I’m not a charity case, and even though Meghan’s not here,
it doesn’t feel right to inhabit her space.
It
feels . . . dangerous. Tempting.
I’ll
never forget the look on her face when I told her I didn’t want her. She stared
at me with soft blue eyes and trembling lips, pale from shock. Hardest fucking
lie I ever told—and I’m an accomplished liar. But I couldn’t let her waste
three years on me. I couldn’t let myself wish for something that far beyond my
reach. I had to be cruel to be kind.
At
least, that was how I justified my actions three years ago. Looking back, maybe
I just wanted to be a dick. Getting locked up has that effect. It touches every
raw nerve and stirs every violent tendency. It stokes prejudices and festers
resentments. The only acceptable outlet for male prisoners is rage.
“When
you’re ready, come out to the backyard. Noah’s grilling some carne asada.”
My
stomach rumbles loud enough for her to hear. Smiling, she slips out the door
and down the hall. She looks happy. That’s the difference in her, along with
her rounded belly and fuller curves. She’s not exhausted anymore. Noah takes
care of her. Or she takes care of him.
They
take care of each other.
April
hooked up with Noah around the same time I started seeing Meghan. He
interviewed her about the murder of one of her coworkers, a waitress at Club
Suave. Cops aren’t supposed to date anyone involved in their investigations,
but apparently he couldn’t resist. They fell in love before I went to prison
and got married shortly after.
Noah
has been good to April and Jenny. Much better than Raul was. Even so, my urge
to leave grows stronger. I don’t want to cause problems or be a burden to
anyone. I’ve never been part of a nice family. I don’t know how to act
civilized anymore.
This
isn’t my scene.
I
glance around, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans. There’s a nightstand by the
bed. I open the first drawer and peer inside. Unlike the closet, it’s empty. I
close it in mild disappointment. I’m not sure what I expected to find in there.
Some random girl stuff, like makeup and perfume.
I
remove the clothes from my backpack and toss them into the empty drawer. I have
three shirts, an extra pair of pants, and some basketball shorts. Then I bring
out my prized possession: my portfolio.
I
like art. I can draw almost anything from memory. My favorite medium is spray
paint on a fresh concrete wall, but in prison the materials are limited. Most
of my drawings are ink on lined paper.
I
also do ink on skin. It’s how I survived in the joint.
I
was only twenty when I went in. I’m about five foot ten, not the biggest guy on
the block. I’ve got muscles and I’m strong, but I’ll never be huge. I have a
lean build and features they call handsome. To say that I needed protection is
an understatement. Despite my unlucky size and face, I had three things going
for me when I went in. First, I was down for CVL, my local clique. The Chula
Vista Locos pay dues to the Mexican Mafia, also known as La Eme. So I was
already connected to a powerful prison gang.
The
second advantage I had was my best friend, Junior. We both got locked up at the
same time and sent to the same prison. It’s not unusual for San Diego criminals
to do sentences in Chino or San Quentin—they’re the two largest correctional
facilities in the state. Junior wasn’t in my cellblock, but we saw each other
in the yard. He became a captain for La Eme. If anyone fucked with me, Junior
made them pay.
The
third advantage was my talent for art. I can hold my own in a fight, but I
didn’t want to earn my keep that way. I didn’t want to be anyone’s bitch,
either. Instead of offering those services, I sold drawings and tattoos. I was
the best in my block.
Tattooing
has been the only bright spot in my life. Without my art, and my best friend,
I’d probably be dead.
Jill Sorenson is the RITA-nominated author of more than a dozen
romantic-suspense novels. She has a degree in literature and writing from
California State University. Her books have been selected as Red-Hot Reads byCosmopolitan magazine,
and have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly,
Booklist, and Library Journal. Sorenson currently lives in
the San Diego area with her family. She’s a soccer mom who loves nature,
coffee, reading, Twitter, and reality TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment