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Closer to You #1
Come to Me Quietly
Aleena Moore is content with her life. She has goals and dreams and an easy smile. She also has a secret she holds locked inside.
Jared Holt believes he doesn’t deserve to love or be loved. He destroys everything he touches. Haunted by the mistake that shattered his life, he’s fled from the memory of that pain.
Jared doesn’t know why he’s compelled to return, but finds himself drawn back to the place where it all began. The exact place where it ended. When he runs into his childhood best friend, Aleena’s older brother Christopher, he agrees to share Christopher and Aleena’s apartment while he looks for a place of his own.
Aleena is no longer the little girl Jared remembers from his past and evokes feelings in him he never wanted to feel again. Terrified of destroying her, he fights to keep her away. But her touch is something he can’t resist—the touch that sealed his fate.
Their pasts are intertwined and their futures uncertain. The only truths they know are the secrets they whisper in the night.
Jared Holt believes he doesn’t deserve to love or be loved. He destroys everything he touches. Haunted by the mistake that shattered his life, he’s fled from the memory of that pain.
Jared doesn’t know why he’s compelled to return, but finds himself drawn back to the place where it all began. The exact place where it ended. When he runs into his childhood best friend, Aleena’s older brother Christopher, he agrees to share Christopher and Aleena’s apartment while he looks for a place of his own.
Aleena is no longer the little girl Jared remembers from his past and evokes feelings in him he never wanted to feel again. Terrified of destroying her, he fights to keep her away. But her touch is something he can’t resist—the touch that sealed his fate.
Their pasts are intertwined and their futures uncertain. The only truths they know are the secrets they whisper in the night.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 7, 2014
About the author
A.L. Jackson
82 books13.2k followersA.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, FALLING STARS, REDEMPTION HILLS, and TIME RIVER novels.Get her latest single mom, neighbors-to-lovers, small town romance HOLD ME UNTIL MORNING, out now!
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
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[email protected]
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, FALLING STARS, REDEMPTION HILLS, and TIME RIVER novels.Get her latest single mom, neighbors-to-lovers, small town romance HOLD ME UNTIL MORNING, out now!
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
GET TO KNOW ME EVERYWHERE
Website: www.aljacksonauthor.com
Facebook: facebook.com/aljacksonauthor
Twitter: @aljacksonauthor
Instagram: @aljacksonauthor
Snapchat: aljacksonauthor
Newsletter: http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson
Reader Group: http://smarturl.it/AmysAngelsRock
Text "aljackson" to 33222 for special updates!
Want to know what music inspires my books?
I have book specific playlists on Spotify!
https://open.spotify.com/user/1255231879
Represent by Brower Literary & Management
[email protected]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,289 reviews
February 12, 2013
So excited to bring you all Jared and Aleena's story.
July 23, 2016
**** FULL REVIEW NOW POSTED ****
If you're a fan of tortured bad boys and second chance romance, you will absolutely want to check this one out!!
I can't even tell you how excited I was when I first heard about this book. AL Jackson is one of my most favorite authors. Her writing is beautiful and evocative and her way of conveying powerful, heart wrenching emotion through her words is an absolute gift. I will read anything she writes!
Second chance love stories have always been my favorite and this is the story of Aleena Moore who has always secretly loved Jared Holt and it's been six years since she's seen him. But now her tortured bad boy is back and he's hurting, haunted by guilt and the memories of his past...
"Do you remember Jared Holt?"
The name was enough to knock the breath from my lungs. Did I remember him?
When I looked back now, I wondered how it was possible for a heart to be broken at fourteen. But my heart had, because it'd broken for him.
Told in alternating POV, the story gave us both Aleena and Jared's sides of the story along with several flashbacks to their childhood together and to the event that led to them being separated. I loved the way the story unfolded, slowly revealing little pieces of their past and tying those pieces in with their present.
Jared Hold was exactly the kind of hero that I love. A tortured, tattooed bad boy hiding a world of pain and a heart of gold. He just broke my heart -- his pain, guilt, anger, and hurt was raw, guteral and haunted.
"I stifled a gasp when I saw his bloodied hands. Gashes were opened on each knuckle, the torn skin filled with rocks and rimmed with dirt.
His hands were a complete mess.
I squeezed my eyes shut as realization hit me hard.
It wasn't just his hands. It was Jared Holt who was the mess.
"Come here," I whispered….
At the start of the book, their romantic feelings for each other were still hidden because they'd never been acknowledged in their past so there were so many unspoken emotions that you could really just feel.
"I see beauty and pain. Joy and sorry. I see the good and I see the bad… and I love it all."
Aly was a wonderful heroine. Strong and kind but also sweet and gentle. She was the good girl to his bad boy and you could always feel how well they were matched. I loved though that despite her softer side, she had no problems standing up for herself and didn't hesitate to call him out when necessary.
I think that the thing I love most about second chance romance is the added meaning and depth that the characters' shared history brings to the story when you think about their lives as a whole.
"Memories swirled through my mind like the whirlwind she was, the little girl who'd barely had to look at me and I already know what she wanted or needed. Mom once told me Aly had me wrapped around her little finger. She'd been wrong. Aly had held me in the palm of her hand."
The relationship was slow building but that made perfect sense for this story. Aly and Jared shared a past but their present was shrouded by so many unanswered questions and unspoken feelings that they had a lot to work through and learn about each other. And Jared had many demons to face before he could accept his love for her...
"I cared about her. But I couldn't care about her the way she'd want me to. Couldn't love her the way she deserved to be. I refused to ever love anyone again."
I loved that Aly just seemed to "get" Jared and that she knew not to push him away but my heart still ached for how worthless and undeserving of love he felt.
"I knew I should push her away because this girl who'd managed to sink her fingers into my spirit was going to end up as just another one of them - a fucking perfect memory to torture me through the rest of my life.
Instead I clung to her, crushed her to me because I couldn't stop myself from taking from her until the moment she was taken from me."
I'd say the general feeling of the book was very 'quiet'. But that's not a complaint, just more of an observation. It seemed to reflect the feeling of the story being told. However, despite the quiet, I was grateful that this book didn't have any moments that made me frustrated or disappointed in the characters. Instead, I felt for their troubles, understood their mistakes, and hoped for their healing.
I will also say that while I really do love me a tortured bad boy, if you add in "possessive Alpha" to the mix, you pretty much have perfection in my eyes. And that was Jared Holt.
"Did you tell him that you're mine? … Did you tell him that you belong to me?"
As the story got closer to the end, it built in intensity and the ending itself was just beautiful. Now, bear in mind that this book is the first of a two-part series so it's not the end of Jared and Aly's story but I am happy to say that there is no relationship cliffhanger. Instead the ending gave more of a "happy for now" feeling that left me contented but eager to read the next book. I can't tell you how happy it makes me when authors end their books like this. Truly. As a reader, it leaves me with a happy heart and a feeling of having read a completed section of these character's story.
With this book, AL Jackson has shown once again why she is one of my favorite authors. Come To Me Quietly was a beautiful, touching story about how one girl's love of a beautifully broken boy could end up saving him. It was my first book of the year, and it was a wonderful start!!
"If I believed in soul mates or any of that shit, I knew she was mine. I could feel it, this connection with her I couldn't possibly share with anyone else."
4.5 stars
Casting pics (see above too). I found these on the author's FB page and loved them!!
Release date: January 7, 2014
Genre: New Adult Erotic Romance
****************************
For more of my reviews, book news and updates:
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April 12, 2014
FIVE YOU'RE PERFECT STARS.
"Everything about him was dangerous. Just as dangerous as he was beautiful.
This story broke my heart, what an amazing love-filled story of sacrifice and healing. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not feeling touched by this authors talent in some way. 'Come to me quietly' is a journey; an emotional account of a couple that are drawn together by passion, attraction and pain. For months this book has been sitting on my 'to be read' shelf and as a 'new to me author' I could not have been prepared for this authors beautiful writing talent. There is so much love, affection and self destruction detailed in the pages of this book and I know with a certainty that I'll be thinking of this novel for some time to come.
What's it all about?
Jared Holt is prisoner to his past, his life is a web of self destruction and pain. Unable to move away from the demons of his mistakes he returns to his hometown unsure of the motivation in which brought him back. Jared soon realises that he can't avoid having contact with those that he left behind and as he encounters an old friendship once again he starts to realise that returning may have been a mistake. Aleena Moore has never been able to forget the boy who stole her heart, so when he returns home, Aly can't help but feel the hope that their future may involve one another. Jared believes he is undeserving of anyone's love especially the girl who brings light to his life and Aly is determined to fight for a love that has always been in her heart. 'Come to me quietly' is the story of Jared and Aleena and their journey of love conquering all.
What did I love?
This is the type of book has taken ahold of my thoughts and feelings and its comes as no surprise to me that I'm finding it hard express how it made it feel. AL Jackson has an obvious talent for putting pen to paper and creating stories that are passionately creative. The writing style was almost poetic and the alternating point of views from the main characters gave the book an added intimacy as I was able to discover the emotion, tenderness and agony from both Jared and Aleena. Jared was the perfect damaged hero, his inner hate and suffering was both fervent and moving. I loved his character development and sympathised with his struggles. Aleena was the star of the show for me, this heroine was strong, beautiful and willing to fight for a love she believed in. These characters together were show stopping and the author developed a love story that felt breath taking and all consuming.
Rating further explored ...
I know with a certainty that this book with be a 'no questions asked' five star read for most readers. The writing was outstanding, the emotion and heartbreak was beautifully written and I know that this author is wonderfully talented. With all that being said the book felt a little drawn out towards the middle of the story, I felt somewhat like the author was taking my heart and squeezing it over and over repeatedly with the same difficulties and heart break. Ultimately I can't deny that this author wrote a book that spelled out a touching message of love and soul bearing friendship but for my tastes it was a little on the heavy side. However it can not be denied that regardless of my personal preference to a reading type that this book deserved five outstanding stars.
Final thoughts ...
AL Jackson is quite possibly my new go-to author for a weepy read, if I'm going to have my heart broken, I want to have it broken by this author with an extraordinary talent. Finally If you want a story that is emotional, painful, passionate and filled with the message of devotion and healing then this will be for you. Make sure you are armed with tissues, a friend to hold your hand, your favourite chocolate treat and a willingness to fall in love with the perfect damaged hero. Go grab it readers. Enjoy, kisses.
"Everything about him was dangerous. Just as dangerous as he was beautiful.
This story broke my heart, what an amazing love-filled story of sacrifice and healing. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not feeling touched by this authors talent in some way. 'Come to me quietly' is a journey; an emotional account of a couple that are drawn together by passion, attraction and pain. For months this book has been sitting on my 'to be read' shelf and as a 'new to me author' I could not have been prepared for this authors beautiful writing talent. There is so much love, affection and self destruction detailed in the pages of this book and I know with a certainty that I'll be thinking of this novel for some time to come.
What's it all about?
Jared Holt is prisoner to his past, his life is a web of self destruction and pain. Unable to move away from the demons of his mistakes he returns to his hometown unsure of the motivation in which brought him back. Jared soon realises that he can't avoid having contact with those that he left behind and as he encounters an old friendship once again he starts to realise that returning may have been a mistake. Aleena Moore has never been able to forget the boy who stole her heart, so when he returns home, Aly can't help but feel the hope that their future may involve one another. Jared believes he is undeserving of anyone's love especially the girl who brings light to his life and Aly is determined to fight for a love that has always been in her heart. 'Come to me quietly' is the story of Jared and Aleena and their journey of love conquering all.
What did I love?
This is the type of book has taken ahold of my thoughts and feelings and its comes as no surprise to me that I'm finding it hard express how it made it feel. AL Jackson has an obvious talent for putting pen to paper and creating stories that are passionately creative. The writing style was almost poetic and the alternating point of views from the main characters gave the book an added intimacy as I was able to discover the emotion, tenderness and agony from both Jared and Aleena. Jared was the perfect damaged hero, his inner hate and suffering was both fervent and moving. I loved his character development and sympathised with his struggles. Aleena was the star of the show for me, this heroine was strong, beautiful and willing to fight for a love she believed in. These characters together were show stopping and the author developed a love story that felt breath taking and all consuming.
Rating further explored ...
I know with a certainty that this book with be a 'no questions asked' five star read for most readers. The writing was outstanding, the emotion and heartbreak was beautifully written and I know that this author is wonderfully talented. With all that being said the book felt a little drawn out towards the middle of the story, I felt somewhat like the author was taking my heart and squeezing it over and over repeatedly with the same difficulties and heart break. Ultimately I can't deny that this author wrote a book that spelled out a touching message of love and soul bearing friendship but for my tastes it was a little on the heavy side. However it can not be denied that regardless of my personal preference to a reading type that this book deserved five outstanding stars.
Final thoughts ...
AL Jackson is quite possibly my new go-to author for a weepy read, if I'm going to have my heart broken, I want to have it broken by this author with an extraordinary talent. Finally If you want a story that is emotional, painful, passionate and filled with the message of devotion and healing then this will be for you. Make sure you are armed with tissues, a friend to hold your hand, your favourite chocolate treat and a willingness to fall in love with the perfect damaged hero. Go grab it readers. Enjoy, kisses.
February 3, 2015
5 Stars!!!
Can anyone tell me why I haven’t read anything by this author before??? Seriously! For some reason, she’s flown under the radar for me but no more. I just went on a one click spree and bought several of A.L. Jackson’s other books. Come to me Quietly was a beautiful, emotional, gut wrenching and powerful story. It is a story of forgiveness, moving on and giving your first love a second chance.
Jared Holt. I love my damaged men and he is definitely that. Damaged and tortured from his past, Jared decides to go to the one place he thought he’d never go back to. His home town. A place where all his best and worst memories are. When Jared runs into his old best friend Christopher, he takes him up on his offer to stay with him for a while. Christopher is roommates with his little sister, Aleena. Aly isn’t the same teenager she once was. She’s now a twenty year old woman, and even though Jared can’t keep his thoughts or eyes off her, he does his best to keep his distance. He isn’t worth anyones love, especially someone like Aly.
Aleena Moore never thought she’d see Jared again. Her first crush. Her only love. The man who’d stolen her heart long ago and never quite gave it back. Jared and Aly quickly fall back into the role of best friends. Aly finds herself wanting to be home just hanging out with Jared more than anything else. Even though Jared is determined he’s not good enough for Aly, determined he will never be deserving of her love, she’s out to prove him wrong. Aly and Jared spend countless days and nights together, talking, hanging out, being alone in Aly’s room. Although they are keeping it a secret, their relationship starts to turn into more.
Aleena was a near perfect heroine. She was sweet, strong and determined to show Jared that he was worthy of her and her love. Jared needed that strength, that unconditional love. That’s something he hadn’t had for a long time. His story broke my heart. I cried more than my fair share of tears for this broken hero. Jared was a mess. He was self-destructive and self loathing. He made my heart hurt, but I fell hard for him. Getting all of the puzzle pieces of his past and putting them together just made me that much more emotional.
CTMQ was written in dual pov. I feel that it’s so important in a story like this to get in both of the main characters heads. Getting both of their present feelings and past stories first hand really brought a lot to the story. I loved the slow burn between Jared and Aly. That they became friends again before anything else. Jared, with all his issues, was still a good friend and protector of Aly. And every time he called her Aly Cat, I melted a bit. The way Aly loved and accepted Jared and all his mistakes and faults was beautiful.
You know when you finish a story, then a day or two later it’s still on your mind? That’s what CTMQ has done to me! I’m still thinking of Jared and the things that transpired at the end of this book. I am so thankful that the second part of Aly and Jared’s story will be released soon! I was impressed with the fluid and flawless writing of this author. Can’t wait to read more by her.
An emotional and lovely story about forgiving yourself, giving second chances, and how sometimes love really can save a person. If you’re looking for an emotional second chance love story with a damaged hero I would recommend this for you!
Can anyone tell me why I haven’t read anything by this author before??? Seriously! For some reason, she’s flown under the radar for me but no more. I just went on a one click spree and bought several of A.L. Jackson’s other books. Come to me Quietly was a beautiful, emotional, gut wrenching and powerful story. It is a story of forgiveness, moving on and giving your first love a second chance.
Jared Holt. I love my damaged men and he is definitely that. Damaged and tortured from his past, Jared decides to go to the one place he thought he’d never go back to. His home town. A place where all his best and worst memories are. When Jared runs into his old best friend Christopher, he takes him up on his offer to stay with him for a while. Christopher is roommates with his little sister, Aleena. Aly isn’t the same teenager she once was. She’s now a twenty year old woman, and even though Jared can’t keep his thoughts or eyes off her, he does his best to keep his distance. He isn’t worth anyones love, especially someone like Aly.
Aleena Moore never thought she’d see Jared again. Her first crush. Her only love. The man who’d stolen her heart long ago and never quite gave it back. Jared and Aly quickly fall back into the role of best friends. Aly finds herself wanting to be home just hanging out with Jared more than anything else. Even though Jared is determined he’s not good enough for Aly, determined he will never be deserving of her love, she’s out to prove him wrong. Aly and Jared spend countless days and nights together, talking, hanging out, being alone in Aly’s room. Although they are keeping it a secret, their relationship starts to turn into more.
This- this was our deception, where I wanted to live until the day I died. Where nothing was real but the secrets whispered in the night.
Aleena was a near perfect heroine. She was sweet, strong and determined to show Jared that he was worthy of her and her love. Jared needed that strength, that unconditional love. That’s something he hadn’t had for a long time. His story broke my heart. I cried more than my fair share of tears for this broken hero. Jared was a mess. He was self-destructive and self loathing. He made my heart hurt, but I fell hard for him. Getting all of the puzzle pieces of his past and putting them together just made me that much more emotional.
It killed me because I could never forget him. Couldn’t because he’d permanently etched himself to me, left a part of himself forever within me. For so many years I’d loved him, but when he’d gone this time, he’d taken a part of me captive too, a piece that could never be retrieved because it would always belong to me.Even though Jared never felt like he deserved Aly, he loved her deeply. He knew she was it for him.
CTMQ was written in dual pov. I feel that it’s so important in a story like this to get in both of the main characters heads. Getting both of their present feelings and past stories first hand really brought a lot to the story. I loved the slow burn between Jared and Aly. That they became friends again before anything else. Jared, with all his issues, was still a good friend and protector of Aly. And every time he called her Aly Cat, I melted a bit. The way Aly loved and accepted Jared and all his mistakes and faults was beautiful.
You know when you finish a story, then a day or two later it’s still on your mind? That’s what CTMQ has done to me! I’m still thinking of Jared and the things that transpired at the end of this book. I am so thankful that the second part of Aly and Jared’s story will be released soon! I was impressed with the fluid and flawless writing of this author. Can’t wait to read more by her.
An emotional and lovely story about forgiving yourself, giving second chances, and how sometimes love really can save a person. If you’re looking for an emotional second chance love story with a damaged hero I would recommend this for you!
“You were my first crush.
And my only love.
I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”
January 12, 2014
4,5 BEAUTIFUL,SWEET,BROKEN STARS
" You were my first crush."
"And my only love."
"I've been waiting for you my whole life."
Come to Me Quietly was such an emotional and amazing book!! I loved every minute of it! I was so consumed by the emotions around Jared and Aly... both characters were so tortured from their past.
This is the story of two friends who turned to be lovers.
Aly has been living an empty life for the past six years after Jared her best friend and love of her life, was sent to juvie and then disappeared. All of a sudden, he shows up at the apartment she shares with her brother and starts staying with them.
Jared is fighting demons and running away from everything and everyone...and he believes that he's not worthy of anyone's love - especially not someone as good and sweet as Aly. When the two come together you are taken on an emotional roller coaster. You will feel every emotion while reading this book and this is why I loved it so much!!
Jared omg :(( he is so broken..I just wanted to hug his pain away. He feels unworthy and he thinks that he destroys everything in his path.Jared is one of the most tortured characters I have ever read.
"I ruin every fucking thing I touch Aly and I refuse to ruin you."
He was always taking care of Aly, watching over her and loving her.Now he has to struggle with his feelings, wanting her and knowing there's no way in hell he can have her...
"I've wanted to kiss you every single second of every single day the moment I opened my eyes to find you standing over me,Aly."
"Don't Jared. I need you..want you.I don't care about anything outside my door.Here it's just the two of us."
I loved Aly!!She was beautiful inside and out and she was so innocent!She cares for Jared and she want him,she thinks he is perfect for her. I enjoyed the back story of Aly and Jared's relationship when they were younger.It helped me to understand their journey.
This book is heartbreaking and the story will captivate you. I'd recommend it to everyone!!
ARC Provided by Author for an honest review via netGalley
" You were my first crush."
"And my only love."
"I've been waiting for you my whole life."
Come to Me Quietly was such an emotional and amazing book!! I loved every minute of it! I was so consumed by the emotions around Jared and Aly... both characters were so tortured from their past.
This is the story of two friends who turned to be lovers.
Aly has been living an empty life for the past six years after Jared her best friend and love of her life, was sent to juvie and then disappeared. All of a sudden, he shows up at the apartment she shares with her brother and starts staying with them.
Jared is fighting demons and running away from everything and everyone...and he believes that he's not worthy of anyone's love - especially not someone as good and sweet as Aly. When the two come together you are taken on an emotional roller coaster. You will feel every emotion while reading this book and this is why I loved it so much!!
Jared omg :(( he is so broken..I just wanted to hug his pain away. He feels unworthy and he thinks that he destroys everything in his path.Jared is one of the most tortured characters I have ever read.
"I ruin every fucking thing I touch Aly and I refuse to ruin you."
He was always taking care of Aly, watching over her and loving her.Now he has to struggle with his feelings, wanting her and knowing there's no way in hell he can have her...
"I've wanted to kiss you every single second of every single day the moment I opened my eyes to find you standing over me,Aly."
"Don't Jared. I need you..want you.I don't care about anything outside my door.Here it's just the two of us."
I loved Aly!!She was beautiful inside and out and she was so innocent!She cares for Jared and she want him,she thinks he is perfect for her. I enjoyed the back story of Aly and Jared's relationship when they were younger.It helped me to understand their journey.
This book is heartbreaking and the story will captivate you. I'd recommend it to everyone!!
ARC Provided by Author for an honest review via netGalley
February 16, 2018
Something between 2 – 2,5 stars
The plot and the tone of the book:
COME TO ME QUIETLY sucked all the life energy out of me with its OTT depressing tone.
It is the story of a guy named Jared, who is drowning in his own sorrows and self-hatred.
All along the book, he is whining.
After a while, his pity party becomes suffocating.
Jared lived a traumatic event when he was 16 and resorted to drugs. He was in juvie for a while.
Then, he just goes on wasting his life until, 6 years later, he comes back to the town where it all began and where it all ended for him.
There he meets his best friends from childhood, Aly and her brother Christopher. He starts to live with them for a while.
Alys has always loved Jared and has always waited for him to come back. Now they start to reconnect despite Jared’s resistance.
Jared’s misery:
Until the very last chapters, we don’t learn why Jared is blaming himself (easy guess, though).
And when we learn it finally, it doesn’t satisfy because I had a lot of questions…
Why didn’t anyone get some help for him?
Why was he left alone in his own misery?
Didn’t anyone see that he needed therapy of some sort?
***********************************************
I love damaged and broken heroes but Jared was a cry-baby, repeating the same mantra over and over in his head.
Until the very end of the book, he is like that:
Oh, I am such a mess. I destroy everything I touch. I am so f*cked up. I don’t deserve love. I don’t deserve happiness. I take, take and take and then, ruin it all.
That’s why, I need to stay away from people because even though I try to love them, I will destroy them in the long run.
Seriously! Rinse and repeat the whining above for nearly 300 pages.
Why don’t writers recommend and emphasize the importance of therapy in their books but resort to lust and love as treatment options?
Mental and psychological issues need treatment!
The guy obviously needs serious therapy. His depression is excruciating and it is slowly killing him.
However, he doesn’t seek for professional help and the writer chooses an unhealthy solution to his mess: the love and acceptance of Aly slowly heals him.
(Yeah, try it in real life and see the consequences!)
This is not a good message, not a healthy one! A person who has suffered that much needs to get rid of his feelings of guilt. He needs to learn to love himself before he can love anyone else. He needs to get rid of his anger towards the world. Otherwise, he is both a threat to his own life and the ones who love him.
That’s why, the way he found happiness with love and lust was not convincing for me.
Aly’s as*hole brother:
The brother of the heroine, Christopher, is the greatest S.O.B in the book and Book 3 in the series is about him.
When they were children, he obviously didn't care about her sister. Jared was the one who always protected and loved her.
When they are grown up, it is not that different at all. They live together but Christopher is a self-absorbed b*stard!
And he doesn't want his best friend Jared to have anything to do with Aly.
When Christopher finds Aly and Jared together one day in Aly's room, he throws his sister at the wall, causing her head to bleed and he doesn’t even take her to hospital.
Why would I read a book about him? He doesn’t deserve to be a hero in any book!
The writing:
It is clear that the writer can describe feelings very well. She can also create characters with depth.
However, her narrative is too descriptive. OTT descriptive. Excruciating!
Pages and pages of inner monologues with no dialogues!
Feelings and thoughts are described in lots and lots of sentences whereas they can be told with fewer words, making the impact of them even stronger. I mean, “Sometimes, less is more”, right?
The writing is so repetitive that it becomes smothering after a certain point.
And it might (- maybe, just maybe-) it might have been OK if the dialogues balanced the descriptive parts but nope, it doesn’t.
Nearly 80-90% of the book is made up of inner monologues, descriptions of feelings and summary of the things that happened.
The hero and heroine barely speak to each other. The writer prefers “less is more” principle in dialogues, unfortunately!
“Aly…”
“Jared…”
“Don’t…”
Yeah, most dialogues are that deep and that long! So overwhelming, right?
***********************************************
I couldn’t relate to the characters and I couldn’t feel their love because all was paraphrased through their thoughts.
I needed them to talk about it, not just think about it!
Nothing much happening
What’s even worse is nothing much happens for the most part of the book:
It is all about the hero’s pity-party and the heroine’s love and support. The annoying and dragging push and pull.
I cannot suffer through another book written in this way again.
Can you believe that Jared and Aly’s depressing story continues in Book 2?
I really couldn’t dare to touch it.
I just can’t survive another book about Aly and Jared struggling with the acceptance of their families, let alone their becoming mother & father in all this mess
Last word:
I strongly believe that Book 1 & Book 2 should have been "one book only - not 2 separate books", with less inner monologue and with much more dialogue and communication between the characters.
The plot and the tone of the book:
COME TO ME QUIETLY sucked all the life energy out of me with its OTT depressing tone.
It is the story of a guy named Jared, who is drowning in his own sorrows and self-hatred.
All along the book, he is whining.
After a while, his pity party becomes suffocating.
Jared lived a traumatic event when he was 16 and resorted to drugs. He was in juvie for a while.
Then, he just goes on wasting his life until, 6 years later, he comes back to the town where it all began and where it all ended for him.
There he meets his best friends from childhood, Aly and her brother Christopher. He starts to live with them for a while.
Alys has always loved Jared and has always waited for him to come back. Now they start to reconnect despite Jared’s resistance.
Jared’s misery:
Until the very last chapters, we don’t learn why Jared is blaming himself (easy guess, though).
And when we learn it finally, it doesn’t satisfy because I had a lot of questions…
Why didn’t anyone get some help for him?
Why was he left alone in his own misery?
Didn’t anyone see that he needed therapy of some sort?
***********************************************
I love damaged and broken heroes but Jared was a cry-baby, repeating the same mantra over and over in his head.
Until the very end of the book, he is like that:
Oh, I am such a mess. I destroy everything I touch. I am so f*cked up. I don’t deserve love. I don’t deserve happiness. I take, take and take and then, ruin it all.
That’s why, I need to stay away from people because even though I try to love them, I will destroy them in the long run.
Seriously! Rinse and repeat the whining above for nearly 300 pages.
Why don’t writers recommend and emphasize the importance of therapy in their books but resort to lust and love as treatment options?
Mental and psychological issues need treatment!
The guy obviously needs serious therapy. His depression is excruciating and it is slowly killing him.
However, he doesn’t seek for professional help and the writer chooses an unhealthy solution to his mess: the love and acceptance of Aly slowly heals him.
(Yeah, try it in real life and see the consequences!)
This is not a good message, not a healthy one! A person who has suffered that much needs to get rid of his feelings of guilt. He needs to learn to love himself before he can love anyone else. He needs to get rid of his anger towards the world. Otherwise, he is both a threat to his own life and the ones who love him.
That’s why, the way he found happiness with love and lust was not convincing for me.
Aly’s as*hole brother:
The brother of the heroine, Christopher, is the greatest S.O.B in the book and Book 3 in the series is about him.
When they were children, he obviously didn't care about her sister. Jared was the one who always protected and loved her.
When they are grown up, it is not that different at all. They live together but Christopher is a self-absorbed b*stard!
And he doesn't want his best friend Jared to have anything to do with Aly.
When Christopher finds Aly and Jared together one day in Aly's room, he throws his sister at the wall, causing her head to bleed and he doesn’t even take her to hospital.
Why would I read a book about him? He doesn’t deserve to be a hero in any book!
The writing:
It is clear that the writer can describe feelings very well. She can also create characters with depth.
However, her narrative is too descriptive. OTT descriptive. Excruciating!
Pages and pages of inner monologues with no dialogues!
Feelings and thoughts are described in lots and lots of sentences whereas they can be told with fewer words, making the impact of them even stronger. I mean, “Sometimes, less is more”, right?
The writing is so repetitive that it becomes smothering after a certain point.
And it might (- maybe, just maybe-) it might have been OK if the dialogues balanced the descriptive parts but nope, it doesn’t.
Nearly 80-90% of the book is made up of inner monologues, descriptions of feelings and summary of the things that happened.
The hero and heroine barely speak to each other. The writer prefers “less is more” principle in dialogues, unfortunately!
“Aly…”
“Jared…”
“Don’t…”
Yeah, most dialogues are that deep and that long! So overwhelming, right?
***********************************************
I couldn’t relate to the characters and I couldn’t feel their love because all was paraphrased through their thoughts.
I needed them to talk about it, not just think about it!
Nothing much happening
What’s even worse is nothing much happens for the most part of the book:
It is all about the hero’s pity-party and the heroine’s love and support. The annoying and dragging push and pull.
I cannot suffer through another book written in this way again.
Can you believe that Jared and Aly’s depressing story continues in Book 2?
I really couldn’t dare to touch it.
I just can’t survive another book about Aly and Jared struggling with the acceptance of their families, let alone their becoming mother & father in all this mess
Last word:
I strongly believe that Book 1 & Book 2 should have been "one book only - not 2 separate books", with less inner monologue and with much more dialogue and communication between the characters.
December 29, 2016
AL Jackson is my all-time favorite author aside from Nicholas Sparks. There's never been a book of hers that I didn't absolutely love. But this? This book? Oh my word, y'all...
COME TO ME QUIETLY is her best book BY FAR! Unputdownable, heartbreaking, sexy, damaged, beautiful ... GOD I can't even think of the right words to describe this. All I can say is you will love Jared and Aly, and adore their relationship that is anything but perfect and easy.
Must buy. Like, MUST MUST MUST. If I could give this book 10 stars, I would!
COME TO ME QUIETLY is her best book BY FAR! Unputdownable, heartbreaking, sexy, damaged, beautiful ... GOD I can't even think of the right words to describe this. All I can say is you will love Jared and Aly, and adore their relationship that is anything but perfect and easy.
Must buy. Like, MUST MUST MUST. If I could give this book 10 stars, I would!
January 8, 2018
Jared Holt was here.
A whisper of a smile curled my lips. He was real, no longer a veiled mystery that I'd hidden away in my heart. He lived. He breathed.
And God, if he wasn't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
I LOVED EVERY WORD OF THIS BOOK
But underneath all his armor, I did know him.
Beneath the anger, I recognized the boy I'd known so long ago.
I was pretty sure it was Jared who didn't know himself.
"Aly, you're killing me."
"I don't get you, Jared. Did you think you could stay here and I'd just ignore you? I care about you."
"Don't say that," he whispered, something like grief flashing in his eyes.
"But I do. I always have."
Jared ~ sighhhhhhhh what a broken bad boy. His journey to self-destruction was taking everyone down with him. Only Aly and her genuine love for him .... Brought him to the surface and gave him the air that he needed. I loved both of these characters. They were kick-ass!!!!!
In typical AL Jackson fashion I found myself quietly weeping for this story. It was just beautiful. Everything about it was just flawless. She writes tortured bad boys like none other. My heart was in my throat this whole book and I would not change a thing. Come to me Quietly was a perfect title of this amazing book because their love unraveled at a perfect pace of discovery. Their love and loyalty was never in question. That's why even as I closed this book I was satisfied with the ending but I cannot wait for the next book. I kept thinking about how incredible this story can and will unfold. That's what it's all about and I cannot wait for the continuation of some
PURE HOLY EPIC BEAUTIFULNESS in
❤️
March 5, 2014
3 STARS
*shakes fists at Jared*
What started out as an amazingly emotional, poignant, and heartfelt romance between a girl and her brother’s best friend plateaued into a pile of unnecessary drama that drove me batshit crazy. Still, the writing was incredible and for that and the great first half of the story, I'm rating it 3 stars.
Aly lives a quiet, uneventful life for the past 6 years and rooms with her brother Christopher when Jared reenters her life. Unknown to others, Aly’s carried a torch for him since she was a little girl, and Jared comes to see Aly in a different light. However, Jared’s been hiding a terrible, painful past that’s always the elephant in the room for the other characters.
Aly understands and sees through him and connects with him on a deeper level. Pretty soon, Jared relies on Aly for emotional support and they fall in love, hiding their relationship from Aly’s brother Christopher.
Although the book moved at a turtle’s pace, it was really, really good for me. The fantastic writing stirred enough emotion and I was invested in these characters. Aly was such a great heroine; there is nothing I could nitpick about her. She’s supporting, loving, logical, and undeniably sweet. An all-around great girl to have around!
In the beginning, I really felt for Jared. I love tortured heroes and Jared is definitely one of those. Oddly enough, I felt protective of him because of his past ordeals and was glad he had someone like Aly on his side. However, after the 60% mark I started to get annoyed. Why?
“I don’t get to have this.”
Damaged and tortured men do it for me, but having them resist and fighting their feelings for the ENTIRE book all the way to the end is extremely draining. That sentence alone is used 13 times in the book and the number of times Jared runs away or avoids Aly went above that number.
I also felt like Jared’s healing process should have started a lot sooner than at 60%. Granted his reasons for acting the way he did were valid, but enough is enough!
*shakes fists at Jared*
*shakes fists at Jared*
What started out as an amazingly emotional, poignant, and heartfelt romance between a girl and her brother’s best friend plateaued into a pile of unnecessary drama that drove me batshit crazy. Still, the writing was incredible and for that and the great first half of the story, I'm rating it 3 stars.
Aly lives a quiet, uneventful life for the past 6 years and rooms with her brother Christopher when Jared reenters her life. Unknown to others, Aly’s carried a torch for him since she was a little girl, and Jared comes to see Aly in a different light. However, Jared’s been hiding a terrible, painful past that’s always the elephant in the room for the other characters.
Aly understands and sees through him and connects with him on a deeper level. Pretty soon, Jared relies on Aly for emotional support and they fall in love, hiding their relationship from Aly’s brother Christopher.
Although the book moved at a turtle’s pace, it was really, really good for me. The fantastic writing stirred enough emotion and I was invested in these characters. Aly was such a great heroine; there is nothing I could nitpick about her. She’s supporting, loving, logical, and undeniably sweet. An all-around great girl to have around!
In the beginning, I really felt for Jared. I love tortured heroes and Jared is definitely one of those. Oddly enough, I felt protective of him because of his past ordeals and was glad he had someone like Aly on his side. However, after the 60% mark I started to get annoyed. Why?
“I don’t get to have this.”
Damaged and tortured men do it for me, but having them resist and fighting their feelings for the ENTIRE book all the way to the end is extremely draining. That sentence alone is used 13 times in the book and the number of times Jared runs away or avoids Aly went above that number.
I also felt like Jared’s healing process should have started a lot sooner than at 60%. Granted his reasons for acting the way he did were valid, but enough is enough!
*shakes fists at Jared*
August 5, 2016
5 FINDING – LOVE – AGAIN STARS
Come to Me Quietly (CTMQ), is a beautiful, finding-yourself, searching-for-love kind of read.
Aleena has been in love with Jared since childhood. Jared was best friends with Alenna’s brother Christopher. Something happened and Jared left town. Now, Aleena is older, she’s living with her brother Christopher and is trying to move on with her life. Jared comes back into town and crashes on Christopher and Aleena’s couch until he can find a better place to stay. Jared doesn’t know what he wants, but he knows he’s not good enough for Aleena and tries his best to stay away.
I LOVED CTMQ so much and it had a lot of elements I do not like in a read. Such as, there are some (small) flashbacks, the “issue” wasn’t presented until towards the end of the book and the ANGST was crazy severe, so how could I love it so much? One word -------- > WRITING! I loved the dialogue flow, I loved the character development, I EVEN loved the angst **GASP**
I’m a big fan of childhood romance kind of reads, even though a lot of them do contain flashbacks, but in CTMQ, it was so minor that the little flashes I did read, really help build the kind of relationship Aleena and Jared had growing up. I also liked seeing it from both sides.
Oh the pain you can feel from Aleena. She loved Jared so very much. I never had a brother, but if I had one with a best friend like Jared, yeah I would have a major crush on him too. How could you not? Jared didn’t treat Alenna like crap as a kid and it just made it even cuter. Jared was kind of like Aleena’s protector growing up. Because Alenna loved Jared so much, it was hard for her to move past it, meaning no guy she dated really had a chance, but she did her best to try.
I loved Alenna and even her little nick name “Aly Cat”, I’m a huge stickler for nick names, the more unique it is, the better in my opinion. She was a strong, level headed Heroine, at times, I felt like she allowed Jared to kind of push her around, but she acted like a typical girl, so I totally got her.
As for Jared, oh man, the pain and tormented and damaged hero he was. It’s very apparent from the beginning, something happened that caused Jared to leave, something Jared blames himself for, we do not know what, but because of this, he tries to punish himself, by keeping away from Aleena. The tug of war between Aleena and Jared is yummy to read. It was hot and cold and up and down, it was a crazy mixed of rollercoaster of emotions, which made me on edge the whole time.
I loved it.
CTMQ is a beautiful story about loss of innocence and seeking punishment, two things I love to read. If you like Jackson’s writing style or never read a book by her, I suggestion Come to Me Quietly, it’s a must read.
ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review
Series Order
| AMAZON
REVIEW
January 13, 2014
3.75 ~ 4 Stars
This is one of those books that I still think about and go back and forth with my rating...
I consider myself a HUGE A.L. Jackson fan. I LOVE her writing and this story was really well written, the delivery of the story was excellent, I just didn't love the story but I didn't hate it either.
I found Kade's misery and self-loathing to be a complete DOWNER. I love broken guys but his pov was exhausting and repetitive.
Their relationship was way too predictable for me. On the otherhand, I liked how they got closer each night.
I was fixated on finding out what the heck happened in the past that made him so darn miserable. When the past was revealed, I did feel bad for him for not being able to move on in all these years.
Aly and Kade have a forever bond and I do believe that they are soul mates and I can see how others will really like this book as well as others just finding it an okay read.
I did have a big COME ON moment but the truth is I will probably read the sequel because I'm interested to see where else this story can go.
" Hearts have a way of finding their way home."
This is one of those books that I still think about and go back and forth with my rating...
I consider myself a HUGE A.L. Jackson fan. I LOVE her writing and this story was really well written, the delivery of the story was excellent, I just didn't love the story but I didn't hate it either.
I found Kade's misery and self-loathing to be a complete DOWNER. I love broken guys but his pov was exhausting and repetitive.
Their relationship was way too predictable for me. On the otherhand, I liked how they got closer each night.
I was fixated on finding out what the heck happened in the past that made him so darn miserable. When the past was revealed, I did feel bad for him for not being able to move on in all these years.
Aly and Kade have a forever bond and I do believe that they are soul mates and I can see how others will really like this book as well as others just finding it an okay read.
I did have a big COME ON moment but the truth is I will probably read the sequel because I'm interested to see where else this story can go.
" Hearts have a way of finding their way home."
December 2, 2015
This was a NA contemporary romance with a bit of a tortured male lead.
Jared was in so much emotional pain in this book, it was clear he blamed himself for whatever accident had happened, and it was so sad that he felt like he didn’t deserve love.
Aly was what Jared needed whether he liked it or not, and they worked well together.
The storyline in this was mainly about the romance, with a bit of mystery over exactly what the accident was that Jared was so torn up over. The pace in this did feel quite slow though, and it seemed to take a long time for Jared and Aly to act on their feelings.
The ending to this was fairly happy, and I was glad with the way things turned out.
6.5 out of 10
January 12, 2014
3.5--
--Stars!
I guess I didn't realize this book was going to be quite the Debbie Downer that it was. But damn Debbie that was a DOWNER!
Jared come here now...
Come to Me Quietly is book 1 of the Closer to You series. Jared, Aleena (Aly), and Christopher were childhood friends. Aly and Christopher are brother and sister. It's told in dual POV between Jared and Aly and we get flashbacks to their childhood and the tragedy that Jared experienced causing all of the pain in his life.
Poor Jared....
He's quite possibly one of the most broken hero's I've experienced in a while. He doesn't feel like he deserves happiness or anything good after what happened in his past.
"I ruin everything I touch, Aly, and I refuse to ruin you."
He withdraws. He retreats in to himself. When all he wants to do is feel.
“You make me fucking crazy, Aly. Dangerous. It’s like all I want to do is protect you even though I know I’m going to end up hurting you. And God, it kills me to think of hurting you.”
Being with Aly is a constant tug-of-war. She's a constant reminder of the past he can't seem to forget and a glimmer of hope and peace at a future he doesn't think he deserves.
Jared returns to Phoenix and Aly and Christopher after being gone for six years. Six years that he hasn't spoken to them or his family. Existing in life, not living. Going through the motions, but not feeling.
Aly fell in love with Jared as a kid. She was the third wheel in the party of two. Jared was her protector. Aly was his savior.
Jared can't understand what Aly could possibly see in him, when he can't see anything in himself.
"I see beauty and pain. Joy and sorrow. I see the good and I see the bad… and I love it all."
Jared runs. Runs from his feelings. From the pain. From hope. From the possibility of love. From promise. From Aly.
"It was always you, Jared. Always. I can't remember a day in my life when I didn't love you."
Will Jared ever believe that he deserves what Aly can give him? That he made a mistake? That he deserves a second chance and to be loved? Can he be what Aly needs?
The Ending: Jared and Aly's story will continue in Come to Me Softly in July 2014.
--Stars!I guess I didn't realize this book was going to be quite the Debbie Downer that it was. But damn Debbie that was a DOWNER!
Jared come here now...
Come to Me Quietly is book 1 of the Closer to You series. Jared, Aleena (Aly), and Christopher were childhood friends. Aly and Christopher are brother and sister. It's told in dual POV between Jared and Aly and we get flashbacks to their childhood and the tragedy that Jared experienced causing all of the pain in his life.
Poor Jared....
He's quite possibly one of the most broken hero's I've experienced in a while. He doesn't feel like he deserves happiness or anything good after what happened in his past.
"I ruin everything I touch, Aly, and I refuse to ruin you."
He withdraws. He retreats in to himself. When all he wants to do is feel.
“You make me fucking crazy, Aly. Dangerous. It’s like all I want to do is protect you even though I know I’m going to end up hurting you. And God, it kills me to think of hurting you.”
Being with Aly is a constant tug-of-war. She's a constant reminder of the past he can't seem to forget and a glimmer of hope and peace at a future he doesn't think he deserves.
Jared returns to Phoenix and Aly and Christopher after being gone for six years. Six years that he hasn't spoken to them or his family. Existing in life, not living. Going through the motions, but not feeling.
Aly fell in love with Jared as a kid. She was the third wheel in the party of two. Jared was her protector. Aly was his savior.
Jared can't understand what Aly could possibly see in him, when he can't see anything in himself.
"I see beauty and pain. Joy and sorrow. I see the good and I see the bad… and I love it all."
Jared runs. Runs from his feelings. From the pain. From hope. From the possibility of love. From promise. From Aly.
"It was always you, Jared. Always. I can't remember a day in my life when I didn't love you."
Will Jared ever believe that he deserves what Aly can give him? That he made a mistake? That he deserves a second chance and to be loved? Can he be what Aly needs?
The Ending: Jared and Aly's story will continue in Come to Me Softly in July 2014.
February 20, 2017
Okay, well I was actually going to give this four stars since I really liked this one but I have to dock off a star because of how melodramatic it got.
It started off good, nothing special, but enjoyable for me to actually consider giving it four stars in the end. But we kept progressing and things got even more dramatic and over-the-top, and I really couldn't stand it anymore. After first, I understood where Jared's self-pity was coming from but it just kept going on and on and building on top of each other to the point where his self-pity went through the roof and instead of feeling sorry for him, his whole "I'm dangerous. I'm going to break you. I'm no good for you. I ruin everything I touch. Yada yada yada" act became super obnoxious.
Like yeah. We get it already. Give it a break. I just wanted to roll my eyes whenever he was having another one of his pitiful fits again and just skimmed through those particular scenes. His whining was insufferable and I stopped feeling bad for him long before we even find out what the tragedy was. And this is coming from someone who loves angsty romances but goodness I was about to go out of my mind with how I was suffocated with Jared's self-loathing.
Other than the super melodramatic hero, this could've been a decent four star read. But the angst got to be too much where it killed the whole story for me. I want to read the next book but I can't stand Jared and more of his self-pity so I might pass and jump to Christopher's story instead.
It started off good, nothing special, but enjoyable for me to actually consider giving it four stars in the end. But we kept progressing and things got even more dramatic and over-the-top, and I really couldn't stand it anymore. After first, I understood where Jared's self-pity was coming from but it just kept going on and on and building on top of each other to the point where his self-pity went through the roof and instead of feeling sorry for him, his whole "I'm dangerous. I'm going to break you. I'm no good for you. I ruin everything I touch. Yada yada yada" act became super obnoxious.
Like yeah. We get it already. Give it a break. I just wanted to roll my eyes whenever he was having another one of his pitiful fits again and just skimmed through those particular scenes. His whining was insufferable and I stopped feeling bad for him long before we even find out what the tragedy was. And this is coming from someone who loves angsty romances but goodness I was about to go out of my mind with how I was suffocated with Jared's self-loathing.
Other than the super melodramatic hero, this could've been a decent four star read. But the angst got to be too much where it killed the whole story for me. I want to read the next book but I can't stand Jared and more of his self-pity so I might pass and jump to Christopher's story instead.
January 15, 2014
Title: Come To Me Quietly
Series: Closer To You #1
Author: A. L Jackson
Release Date: January 7th, 2014
Rating: 3.5 stars
Cliffhanger: No
HEA:
"It was always you, Jared. Always. I can't remember a day in my life when I didn't love you."
Everybody seems to love this story and while I do get why it holds so much appeal and leaves readers extremely pleased, it didn’t fulfill me as much. I did enjoy it, but I didn’t love it. I have no idea why this happened, as in theory I should be in awe with this book, but I am not satisfied. I honestly craved a little bit more. What went wrong then?
A L Jackson wrote very emotional novel, Come To Me Quietly is absolutely bleeding with deep, painful feelings and it was very hard not to relate with characters. I ached for them, was crossing my fingers for Aly and Jared and cheering loudly to finally get them together. However this story was not one of those completely unforgettable ones – I have read similar novels and in my eyes Come To Me Quietly didn’t have anything different from them, which didn’t make it wowing.
Usually I have a soft stop for tortured heroes. But Jared made me furious more times than I can count and his constant need to run for the hills was annoying. Of course, he had few wonderful moments that made my heart flutter, but I just couldn’t get past his whining. Almost every second he was drowning in his past, and while I do understand why, I felt like he needed to get some balls. Aly seemed like more reasonable character.
"I ruin everything I touch, Aly, and I refuse to ruin you."
That made putting up with Jared was tiresome. I wanted him to be selfish for just one minute. I wanted to shake him, yell at him, heal him. He made me feel like a bipolar person. One minute I adored him (he was sweet, tender, loving, amazing) and then once again he felt guilty and not good enough (blah, blah, blah. I really wanted to hurt him with frying pan so he could finally understand that past doesn't matter and only today's actions count.)
“I don’t get to have this. I already told you… you deserve someone who can love you, someone who will be good for you, and you know that’s not me.”
Besides that I really liked how the story went. A L Jacksons writing was flawless and very easy to connect with. The romance made me swoon couple of times and some scenes were pretty hot.
Overall, Come To Me Quietly was a three and half star for me. I’m somewhere in the middle with my opinion. There were things I immensely enjoyed and some that left me shaking my head in wonder.
Nevertheless, Jackson wrote strong novel, and judging from other reviews so far, she is already leaving a great impression on other readers. I can honestly recommend it for those of you who adore ‘in love with brother’s best friend’ romance and don’t mind tortured hero.
February 25, 2014
"It was like Jared and I were in this constant tug-of-war that neither of us knew how to play, pushing and pulling, attracting and repelling."
Come to Me Quietly is the story of two people, Aly and Jared, who were very close friends when they were kids. Jared was always there for Aly and took it upon himself to protect her. A tragic event separated the two of them for years until one day Jared returns to town and ends up staying with Aly and her brother Christopher.
Aly has had feelings for Jared for as long as she can remember. He was her first crush, first heartbreak, and the one that no other guy has been able to live up to.
Living with Jared and spending time with him brings all of Aly's feelings rushing back. Her feelings for Jared might be in vain, however, as Jared believes he is too broken, damaged, and unworthy of anyone's love. Especially Aly's.
"I ruin every fucking thing I touch, Aly, and I refuse to ruin you."
Jared seriously broke my heart in this book. The entire time, I was like...
Come to Me Quietly is the story of Aly trying to tear down Jared's walls, help him find redemption, and show him that he deserves happiness despite his tragic past.
My Thoughts
I absolutely loved A.L. Jackson's writing in this book! A few words to describe her writing style: beautiful, captivating, breath taking, and very illustrative. I think my favorite example from the book was her description of Jared's tattoos:
"Almost every exposed inch of skin was covered in ink, these intricate designs that bled and wept, wound together to create an allusion to death. They all blended so none were distinct, just sweeps of color and innuendo that blurred from one horror to the next. Flames licked up along his entire right arm, a pair of bright blue eyes staring out from their depths, seeming to beg as if they were eternally damned to this raging fire."
I found so many great passages and quotes that I seriously highlighted half the book while reading =) Her writing is THAT GOOD.
Overall, I just want to say that I found this story really beautifully written. Even though the angst surrounding Jared's history was somewhat predictable, I was still completely captivated by Jared and Aly's second chance at friendship and love <3 I can't wait to see their story continued in Come to me Softly.
I also plan on reading the other books published by A.L. Jackson. I have found a new favorite author!
Come to Me Quietly is the story of two people, Aly and Jared, who were very close friends when they were kids. Jared was always there for Aly and took it upon himself to protect her. A tragic event separated the two of them for years until one day Jared returns to town and ends up staying with Aly and her brother Christopher.
Aly has had feelings for Jared for as long as she can remember. He was her first crush, first heartbreak, and the one that no other guy has been able to live up to.
Living with Jared and spending time with him brings all of Aly's feelings rushing back. Her feelings for Jared might be in vain, however, as Jared believes he is too broken, damaged, and unworthy of anyone's love. Especially Aly's.
"I ruin every fucking thing I touch, Aly, and I refuse to ruin you."
Jared seriously broke my heart in this book. The entire time, I was like...
Come to Me Quietly is the story of Aly trying to tear down Jared's walls, help him find redemption, and show him that he deserves happiness despite his tragic past.
My Thoughts
I absolutely loved A.L. Jackson's writing in this book! A few words to describe her writing style: beautiful, captivating, breath taking, and very illustrative. I think my favorite example from the book was her description of Jared's tattoos:
"Almost every exposed inch of skin was covered in ink, these intricate designs that bled and wept, wound together to create an allusion to death. They all blended so none were distinct, just sweeps of color and innuendo that blurred from one horror to the next. Flames licked up along his entire right arm, a pair of bright blue eyes staring out from their depths, seeming to beg as if they were eternally damned to this raging fire."
I found so many great passages and quotes that I seriously highlighted half the book while reading =) Her writing is THAT GOOD.
Overall, I just want to say that I found this story really beautifully written. Even though the angst surrounding Jared's history was somewhat predictable, I was still completely captivated by Jared and Aly's second chance at friendship and love <3 I can't wait to see their story continued in Come to me Softly.
I also plan on reading the other books published by A.L. Jackson. I have found a new favorite author!
January 10, 2014
4.5 STARS
Let me start by saying that we all have our go to authors. Ones we know will never disappoint us and always leave us gasping at the end. I personally don't have many. I hold my favorites close to my heart and it takes a lot for me to be absolutely stunned. But, I find that AL Jackson's that author for me. Every book I've read that she's written has left me feeling jarred, moved, and blown away. I've said it before and I'll say it again!!!! THE WOMAN CAN FREAKING WRITE. Her words are intoxicating, all encompassing, and all out own you. And the stories that bleed out of her are always jam packed with pain!
RAW FREAKING PAIN!
You always hurt when you read her books. And to me that's a GOOD thing. I don't think I've ever read a novel of hers that hasn't had me SOBBING like a baby...nope..I haven't. She always has me curled up, clutching my chest and crying. That said, she also makes me smile. She's just a fantastic romance writer that knows how to keep the thump, thump, thump of your heart going. She evokes, pain, love, anger, sadness, hurt, and betrayal in the reader.
She's covers everything.
This story...gosh, it was different. It was a different story to me. Not typical AL Jackson. This was loaded with guilt. This story just felt raw. It's the only way I can describe it.
RAW!
Jared rolls into town after being gone for a long time. He's not sure what's drawing him to the place that holds his demons, his torture, his pain, but he's somehow finds himself home...
Home that's a place filled with nothing, but insidious memories. Memories that not only haunt his waking hour, but his nights.
Out one night at a bar, he runs into an old best friend, who invites him to stay at his place. Jared's currently slumming it at a shitty hotel. Feeling pulled, but unsure why, he agrees to stay until he can get himself situated.
But, when Jared sees Ally, things change and change fast. His tormented thoughts become worse and he finds he can't cope without her. She becomes his rain on a blistering day. She cools him, soothes him, even though he feels he's unloveable, a vile, toxic soul who would never be good enough, pure enough for Ally.
When Ally sees Jared the boy she's had a crush on for as long as she can remember, her heart hurts. He's no longer the free spirited young boy she grew up with. He's damaged, torn apart by years of anguish, guilt and regret.
Now, all that's left is a broken man, who can't see past his wrongs, his pain.
Knowing Jared needs someone Ally can't stay away. She's pulled to him like no other and she wants to be the one to soothe the ache behind those haunted eyes.
Together a secret romance ignites. One filled with passion, confessions and heart break. Jared finds something he feels he doesn't deserve, but can't stop himself from taking. A past friendship is reignited, and a love is born and then tested by a painful past that seems insurmountable.
Closing thoughts: this story is painful, it's hard to read and it makes your heart hurt. As usual, AL Jackson brought her A game and delivered a novel that packs an emotional punch. I loved Ally and Jared and I'm looking forward to the next installment of their journey.
Let me start by saying that we all have our go to authors. Ones we know will never disappoint us and always leave us gasping at the end. I personally don't have many. I hold my favorites close to my heart and it takes a lot for me to be absolutely stunned. But, I find that AL Jackson's that author for me. Every book I've read that she's written has left me feeling jarred, moved, and blown away. I've said it before and I'll say it again!!!! THE WOMAN CAN FREAKING WRITE. Her words are intoxicating, all encompassing, and all out own you. And the stories that bleed out of her are always jam packed with pain!
RAW FREAKING PAIN!
You always hurt when you read her books. And to me that's a GOOD thing. I don't think I've ever read a novel of hers that hasn't had me SOBBING like a baby...nope..I haven't. She always has me curled up, clutching my chest and crying. That said, she also makes me smile. She's just a fantastic romance writer that knows how to keep the thump, thump, thump of your heart going. She evokes, pain, love, anger, sadness, hurt, and betrayal in the reader.
She's covers everything.
This story...gosh, it was different. It was a different story to me. Not typical AL Jackson. This was loaded with guilt. This story just felt raw. It's the only way I can describe it.
RAW!
Jared rolls into town after being gone for a long time. He's not sure what's drawing him to the place that holds his demons, his torture, his pain, but he's somehow finds himself home...
Home that's a place filled with nothing, but insidious memories. Memories that not only haunt his waking hour, but his nights.
Out one night at a bar, he runs into an old best friend, who invites him to stay at his place. Jared's currently slumming it at a shitty hotel. Feeling pulled, but unsure why, he agrees to stay until he can get himself situated.
But, when Jared sees Ally, things change and change fast. His tormented thoughts become worse and he finds he can't cope without her. She becomes his rain on a blistering day. She cools him, soothes him, even though he feels he's unloveable, a vile, toxic soul who would never be good enough, pure enough for Ally.
When Ally sees Jared the boy she's had a crush on for as long as she can remember, her heart hurts. He's no longer the free spirited young boy she grew up with. He's damaged, torn apart by years of anguish, guilt and regret.
Now, all that's left is a broken man, who can't see past his wrongs, his pain.
Knowing Jared needs someone Ally can't stay away. She's pulled to him like no other and she wants to be the one to soothe the ache behind those haunted eyes.
Together a secret romance ignites. One filled with passion, confessions and heart break. Jared finds something he feels he doesn't deserve, but can't stop himself from taking. A past friendship is reignited, and a love is born and then tested by a painful past that seems insurmountable.
Closing thoughts: this story is painful, it's hard to read and it makes your heart hurt. As usual, AL Jackson brought her A game and delivered a novel that packs an emotional punch. I loved Ally and Jared and I'm looking forward to the next installment of their journey.
January 18, 2014
I’m a sucker for unrequited love stories. Something about that yearning from afar that brings a little sadness and always pulls at my heart strings.
Jared and Christopher were neighbors and best friends from a very young age with Christopher’s little sister Aly always trailing behind. Jared was always Aly’s hero, looking out for her and including her even when Christopher thought she was nothing but a pest. Aly’s heart never stood a chance and she fell hard and deep for Jared early on. Sadly, tragedy struck Jared’s family and everything fell apart.
Jared knows it’s a bad idea to come back home, but it’s an even worse one to accept Christopher’s invitation to stay at his apartment until he gets a place of his own. Everything he touches, he destroys, and even if he didn’t Jared doesn’t feel worthy of friendship or any sort of happiness. Add to that is the undeniable and powerful attraction he feels for Aly. She’s all grown up and gorgeous! Their childhood connection is stronger than ever, but Jared knows he must resist or he’ll risk ruining yet another life.
Aly’s never moved on since Jared left, but he’s back and she’s so happy at finally having the chance to show him how she feels. But she’s also very worried. Aly can see the pain and self-blame coming off him in waves. Jared’s a mess, and he pushes Aly away every time she gets close.
My heart ached for both Jared and Aly. With all the self-loathing Jared is wrapped up in, I knew this wasn’t going to be and easy ride and it wasn’t. Still, I knew Jared wouldn’t be able to resist Aly for long, because the ache and desire between these two was palpable and intense. He wants to protect and possess Aly at the same time, but he doesn’t feel worthy.
“You make me fucking crazy, Aly. Dangerous. It’s like all I want to do is protect you even though I know I’m going to end up hurting you. And God, it kills me to think of hurting you.”
I grasped his face between urgent hands. “Then don’t.”
Jared found a safe haven and comfort in Aly, and I just desperately wanted things to work out for them! The mystery of their tragic past was slowly revealed, and some of it I guessed, but there was an uncanny revelation near the end that surprised me!
Come to Me Quietly is a beautiful romance filled with longing and tragedy, but also with hope, joy, and passion! A.L. Jackson’s writing skillfully stirred up strong emotions and feelings, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Aly and Jared next.
Favorite Quote:
“What do you see in me?” For a moment she just looked at me, intensity pouring from her, before she drew me down to bring us chest to chest. Her breath came as a whisper across my ear. “I see beauty and pain. Joy and sorrow. I see the good and I see the bad…and I love it all.”
A copy was provided by NAL Trade in exchange for an honest review.
Jared and Christopher were neighbors and best friends from a very young age with Christopher’s little sister Aly always trailing behind. Jared was always Aly’s hero, looking out for her and including her even when Christopher thought she was nothing but a pest. Aly’s heart never stood a chance and she fell hard and deep for Jared early on. Sadly, tragedy struck Jared’s family and everything fell apart.
Jared knows it’s a bad idea to come back home, but it’s an even worse one to accept Christopher’s invitation to stay at his apartment until he gets a place of his own. Everything he touches, he destroys, and even if he didn’t Jared doesn’t feel worthy of friendship or any sort of happiness. Add to that is the undeniable and powerful attraction he feels for Aly. She’s all grown up and gorgeous! Their childhood connection is stronger than ever, but Jared knows he must resist or he’ll risk ruining yet another life.
Aly’s never moved on since Jared left, but he’s back and she’s so happy at finally having the chance to show him how she feels. But she’s also very worried. Aly can see the pain and self-blame coming off him in waves. Jared’s a mess, and he pushes Aly away every time she gets close.
My heart ached for both Jared and Aly. With all the self-loathing Jared is wrapped up in, I knew this wasn’t going to be and easy ride and it wasn’t. Still, I knew Jared wouldn’t be able to resist Aly for long, because the ache and desire between these two was palpable and intense. He wants to protect and possess Aly at the same time, but he doesn’t feel worthy.
“You make me fucking crazy, Aly. Dangerous. It’s like all I want to do is protect you even though I know I’m going to end up hurting you. And God, it kills me to think of hurting you.”
I grasped his face between urgent hands. “Then don’t.”
Jared found a safe haven and comfort in Aly, and I just desperately wanted things to work out for them! The mystery of their tragic past was slowly revealed, and some of it I guessed, but there was an uncanny revelation near the end that surprised me!
Come to Me Quietly is a beautiful romance filled with longing and tragedy, but also with hope, joy, and passion! A.L. Jackson’s writing skillfully stirred up strong emotions and feelings, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Aly and Jared next.
Favorite Quote:
“What do you see in me?” For a moment she just looked at me, intensity pouring from her, before she drew me down to bring us chest to chest. Her breath came as a whisper across my ear. “I see beauty and pain. Joy and sorrow. I see the good and I see the bad…and I love it all.”
A copy was provided by NAL Trade in exchange for an honest review.
September 2, 2020
I miss Miss Jackson's book. Even her works sometimes not my liking, but Come to Me Quietly is wonderful. The writing is not as OTT poetic dramatic like her signature. The chemistry is enough to build the romance.
Jared is broken and Aly is his heroine who finally saves him. Their story is tender and vulnerable. Not so graphic on the sex too. Again, tender.
Overall this is a good read for me.
4 stars
Jared is broken and Aly is his heroine who finally saves him. Their story is tender and vulnerable. Not so graphic on the sex too. Again, tender.
Overall this is a good read for me.
4 stars
August 19, 2016
“Hearts have a way of finding their way home.”
AL Jackson has once again delivered a beautifully poetic, highly emotive book that had me sucked in from the very beginning, and completely swept away by the romance and drama. Jared and Aly’s story is heartbreaking but beautiful, and I absolutely loved it!
Jared and Aly grew up together. As the best friend of Aly’s older brother, Christopher, Jared was a constant part of Aly’s life, and took on the role of her protector and defender. Their childhood was idyllic, until one event changed everything, sending Jared’s life spiralling out of control and eventually leading to him disappearing from Aly and Christopher’s lives.
Years later, Jared is a broken man. Still very much living with the demons of his past, he feels like he is toxic to all that he touches. He lives alone, full of hatred and self-loathing, feeling too undeserving to move on and find happiness, living his life as penance for the sins of his past.
While aimlessly travelling, Jared finds himself back in his home town and runs into Christopher, who is thrilled to see him and offers him a place to stay while he is in town. Not intending to stay long, he accepts the offer, only for everything to change when he discovers that Christopher shares a flat with Aly, bringing the two together again for the first time in six years.
Aly has been in love with Jared since she was a teenager. He is the one person that touched her heart deeply, and she has never been able to forget him. For his part, Jared had never seen Aly as anything other than a friend / younger sister figure, but seeing her all grown up effects him in a way he could never have imagined.
Aly recognises that Jared is broken, and reaches out to him, wanting to help him and heal him. Despite his self-loathing and fear of hurting Aly with what he perceives as the ‘corruptness’ of his life, he is drawn to her, and when he starts (platonically) coming to her room at night, the two of them open up to each other, rediscover the connection that they always had, and deepen their bond in a way that alters them both irrevocably.
I love Aly! She is so strong, and completely accepting of Jared’s past and who he has become. She wants nothing more than to be there for him and help him to heal from the scars of his life. She has such a huge heart, and she doesn’t shy away from telling Jared how she feels, and I love the way she handles their reconnection.
She loves him whole-heartedly, and the romance – in a change from your standard romance novel – is very much led by the heroine, and it is absolutely beautiful. There are some beautifully sweet moments, and a bit of steamy time as Aly leads Jared into something incredibly special, and it’s dripping with feels all the way.
But Jared can bring the swoon too, and even though he feels unworthy, he can’t deny his feelings for Aly, and the way he expresses himself to her is gorgeous.
The story is told in alternative POVs, so we not only get to see Aly’s love for Jared, and her fears for him, but at the same time we see how Jared’s feelings for Aly battle with his hatred and brokenness, and how her unwavering faith and love for him impacts upon him.
Their idyllic childhood is revisited through flashback, all leading up to the big mystery of Jared’s past, and the event that led to him leaving town and their subsequent separation. It’s brutal, and it’s heartbreaking, and the impact that it had on not only Jared’s life, but those who cared for him, is absolutely devastating. It’s beautifully told though, and I love the way that Jackson gets us inside of Jared’s head and cleverly weaves the past and the present together.
The drama is intense, and my emotions were up and down as I watched Aly and Jared’s amazing romance unfold amidst Jared’s healing, and his moments of continued self destruction. My heart ached for both of these characters and all that they go through, and while the book ends on a happy note, there is still a lot more story to tell, and I am looking forward to continuing on with their journey.
4.5 beautiful stars.
AL Jackson has once again delivered a beautifully poetic, highly emotive book that had me sucked in from the very beginning, and completely swept away by the romance and drama. Jared and Aly’s story is heartbreaking but beautiful, and I absolutely loved it!
Jared and Aly grew up together. As the best friend of Aly’s older brother, Christopher, Jared was a constant part of Aly’s life, and took on the role of her protector and defender. Their childhood was idyllic, until one event changed everything, sending Jared’s life spiralling out of control and eventually leading to him disappearing from Aly and Christopher’s lives.
Years later, Jared is a broken man. Still very much living with the demons of his past, he feels like he is toxic to all that he touches. He lives alone, full of hatred and self-loathing, feeling too undeserving to move on and find happiness, living his life as penance for the sins of his past.
While aimlessly travelling, Jared finds himself back in his home town and runs into Christopher, who is thrilled to see him and offers him a place to stay while he is in town. Not intending to stay long, he accepts the offer, only for everything to change when he discovers that Christopher shares a flat with Aly, bringing the two together again for the first time in six years.
Jared Holt was here.
A whisper of a smile curled my lips. He was real, no longer a veiled mystery that I’d hidden away in my heart. He lived. He breathed.
And God, if he wasn’t the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Aly has been in love with Jared since she was a teenager. He is the one person that touched her heart deeply, and she has never been able to forget him. For his part, Jared had never seen Aly as anything other than a friend / younger sister figure, but seeing her all grown up effects him in a way he could never have imagined.
“You grew up on me, Aly,” he murmured, the words rough, almost in awe.
Aly recognises that Jared is broken, and reaches out to him, wanting to help him and heal him. Despite his self-loathing and fear of hurting Aly with what he perceives as the ‘corruptness’ of his life, he is drawn to her, and when he starts (platonically) coming to her room at night, the two of them open up to each other, rediscover the connection that they always had, and deepen their bond in a way that alters them both irrevocably.
Mom once told me Aly had me wrapped around her little finger. She’d been wrong. Aly had held me in the palm of her hand.
I love Aly! She is so strong, and completely accepting of Jared’s past and who he has become. She wants nothing more than to be there for him and help him to heal from the scars of his life. She has such a huge heart, and she doesn’t shy away from telling Jared how she feels, and I love the way she handles their reconnection.
“What do you see in me?”
For a moment she just looked at me, intensity pouring from her, before she drew me down to bring us chest to chest. Her breath came as a whisper across my ear. “I see beauty and pain. Joy and sorrow. I see the good and I see the bad . . . and I love it all.”
She loves him whole-heartedly, and the romance – in a change from your standard romance novel – is very much led by the heroine, and it is absolutely beautiful. There are some beautifully sweet moments, and a bit of steamy time as Aly leads Jared into something incredibly special, and it’s dripping with feels all the way.
“It was always you, Jared. Always. I can’t remember a day in my life when I didn’t love you.”
…
“You were my first crush.” She sobered, her voice strained as sincere green eyes slanted up to me . “And my only love.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, almost painfully. “I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”
But Jared can bring the swoon too, and even though he feels unworthy, he can’t deny his feelings for Aly, and the way he expresses himself to her is gorgeous.
“Look at you . . . you have to be the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”
The story is told in alternative POVs, so we not only get to see Aly’s love for Jared, and her fears for him, but at the same time we see how Jared’s feelings for Aly battle with his hatred and brokenness, and how her unwavering faith and love for him impacts upon him.
If I believed in soul mates or any of that shit, I knew she was mine. I could feel it, this connection with her I couldn’t possibly share with anyone else. Like we fit, this fucked -up puzzle that made no sense until we aligned the pieces.
Their idyllic childhood is revisited through flashback, all leading up to the big mystery of Jared’s past, and the event that led to him leaving town and their subsequent separation. It’s brutal, and it’s heartbreaking, and the impact that it had on not only Jared’s life, but those who cared for him, is absolutely devastating. It’s beautifully told though, and I love the way that Jackson gets us inside of Jared’s head and cleverly weaves the past and the present together.
The drama is intense, and my emotions were up and down as I watched Aly and Jared’s amazing romance unfold amidst Jared’s healing, and his moments of continued self destruction. My heart ached for both of these characters and all that they go through, and while the book ends on a happy note, there is still a lot more story to tell, and I am looking forward to continuing on with their journey.
4.5 beautiful stars.
November 28, 2013
“There are just some boys who are so broken they can never be tamed, and in the end, they just end up breaking you.”
Holy Moly! Where do I even begin with this amazing, spectacular, beautiful book by A.L. Jackson? My heart and my mind are all over the place and I am trying to come down on this high I am on after reading Come to Me Quietly. I think anything A.L. Jackson is a masterpiece because she is able to create such dark, passionate, yet unique characters in all of her work; Come to Me Quietly is no different. I am in total awe right now and am so, so sad I have to wait for the second book in the series. This might be my favorite work of hers as of yet and that is saying something!
My Casting:
We are introduced to Alenna, “Aly” who comes from your typical family with two loving parents and two brothers who she is close to. Now as a college student living with her older brother Christopher, her life seems pretty normal. Christopher one night runs into his childhood best friend Jared at a bar and invites his old best friend to stay with him and Aly while he gets back on his feet. Jared had the typical life Aly and Christopher had until he lost it all in a tragic way. Since the age of 16 Jared has been trying to forget the memories that haunt him and that changed his world forever. Christopher lost his best friend and Aly lost her first crush, her friend love when Jared took off and they never heard from him again.
“I didn’t need Christopher or anyone else to feed me lies, to try to convince me one day I’d heal or some fu**ing garbage like that. Maybe my heart beats on, but I died the day she did.” -Jared
Jared returns into their lives again but he is taken back when he sees Aly again after so long. She is no longer the little girl he remembered but a beautiful woman. She is making him feel things he doesn’t want to feel and is afraid to feel. He feels unworthy of her love and fights it as much as he can. He doesn’t want to get close to her but he can’t stay away either.
“You make me fu**ing crazy, Aly. Dangerous. It’s like all I want to do is protect you even though I know I’m going to end up hurting you. And God, it kills me to think of hurting you.” -Jared
“I didn’t think I’d ever felt intrigued by a girl before the way I was now, had never wanted to crawl inside someone’s mind to dig through her thoughts, to find out who she was.” -Jared
Jared and Aly have a very innocent, sweet friendship that turns into much more. I love the long build up and the sweet moments the two have before anything ever happens. I also love it felt like a forbidden romance having to hide it from Christopher and their family. Aly has been in love with Jared her entire life and now he is back in her life; she is so afraid he will leave and take off again. Aly is all Jared has to be able to move on from his past and FEEL again. The author did a beautiful job of connecting the readers to what the characters were thinking and feeling. The two do not use a lot of words between each other but they showed each other how they feel with their actions. It was beautiful. I felt I was able to see & feel these characters truly fall in love.
“In silence, I stared at the boy who held me hostage in my heart and mind for so long. My secret.” -Aly
Come to Me Quietly is a dark romance. It’s brilliant and I felt as if some lines were poetry with the wording and descriptions used. I have never felt so many feelings before as I was reading. I didn’t want it to end. The characters were so deep; I felt an instant connection with them. I felt their pain, I felt their happiness…. I felt everything. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this book is because there are no words to describe it.
I don’t think I will be able to control myself with the wait for the next book in the series continuing with Aly and Jared’s story. They are one of my favorite book couples EVER with an amazing story. A.L. Jackson has outdone herself with Come to Me Quietly, it is a MUST READ, and fans will not be disappointed!
I give Come to Me Quietly (Closer To You #1) 5 STARS and is on my FAVORITES list!
Book provided by the author in return for an honest review.
Stay connected with my reviews, book news and more:
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Holy Moly! Where do I even begin with this amazing, spectacular, beautiful book by A.L. Jackson? My heart and my mind are all over the place and I am trying to come down on this high I am on after reading Come to Me Quietly. I think anything A.L. Jackson is a masterpiece because she is able to create such dark, passionate, yet unique characters in all of her work; Come to Me Quietly is no different. I am in total awe right now and am so, so sad I have to wait for the second book in the series. This might be my favorite work of hers as of yet and that is saying something!
My Casting:
We are introduced to Alenna, “Aly” who comes from your typical family with two loving parents and two brothers who she is close to. Now as a college student living with her older brother Christopher, her life seems pretty normal. Christopher one night runs into his childhood best friend Jared at a bar and invites his old best friend to stay with him and Aly while he gets back on his feet. Jared had the typical life Aly and Christopher had until he lost it all in a tragic way. Since the age of 16 Jared has been trying to forget the memories that haunt him and that changed his world forever. Christopher lost his best friend and Aly lost her first crush, her friend love when Jared took off and they never heard from him again.
“I didn’t need Christopher or anyone else to feed me lies, to try to convince me one day I’d heal or some fu**ing garbage like that. Maybe my heart beats on, but I died the day she did.” -Jared
Jared returns into their lives again but he is taken back when he sees Aly again after so long. She is no longer the little girl he remembered but a beautiful woman. She is making him feel things he doesn’t want to feel and is afraid to feel. He feels unworthy of her love and fights it as much as he can. He doesn’t want to get close to her but he can’t stay away either.
“You make me fu**ing crazy, Aly. Dangerous. It’s like all I want to do is protect you even though I know I’m going to end up hurting you. And God, it kills me to think of hurting you.” -Jared
“I didn’t think I’d ever felt intrigued by a girl before the way I was now, had never wanted to crawl inside someone’s mind to dig through her thoughts, to find out who she was.” -Jared
Jared and Aly have a very innocent, sweet friendship that turns into much more. I love the long build up and the sweet moments the two have before anything ever happens. I also love it felt like a forbidden romance having to hide it from Christopher and their family. Aly has been in love with Jared her entire life and now he is back in her life; she is so afraid he will leave and take off again. Aly is all Jared has to be able to move on from his past and FEEL again. The author did a beautiful job of connecting the readers to what the characters were thinking and feeling. The two do not use a lot of words between each other but they showed each other how they feel with their actions. It was beautiful. I felt I was able to see & feel these characters truly fall in love.
“In silence, I stared at the boy who held me hostage in my heart and mind for so long. My secret.” -Aly
Come to Me Quietly is a dark romance. It’s brilliant and I felt as if some lines were poetry with the wording and descriptions used. I have never felt so many feelings before as I was reading. I didn’t want it to end. The characters were so deep; I felt an instant connection with them. I felt their pain, I felt their happiness…. I felt everything. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this book is because there are no words to describe it.
I don’t think I will be able to control myself with the wait for the next book in the series continuing with Aly and Jared’s story. They are one of my favorite book couples EVER with an amazing story. A.L. Jackson has outdone herself with Come to Me Quietly, it is a MUST READ, and fans will not be disappointed!
I give Come to Me Quietly (Closer To You #1) 5 STARS and is on my FAVORITES list!
Book provided by the author in return for an honest review.
Stay connected with my reviews, book news and more:
Blog- Jessica’s Book Review | Facebook | Twitter
October 27, 2015
Aleena Moore grew up in a good home with loving parents and two brothers she’s close to. She lives with her brother and attends college. Her life is normal but she has a hard time committing to anyone. There is a boy from her past that has always owned her heart, but is no longer in her life. Then her brother Christopher is out one night when he runs into his old best friend, Jared—the one who owns Aly’s heart. Christopher asks Jared to stay with them until he can get his own place. Aly is stunned and excited to find out the boy she’s always loved is back. But the boy she once knew is no more. Now in his place is a sexy yet broken man, with his hurt and pain tattooed on his beautiful body.
“Everything about him was dangerous. Just as dangerous as he was beautiful.” - Aleena
Jared Holt used to have the same type of loving home as Aly, but all of that was taken from him in one tragic moment. His life was destroyed at the age of sixteen and it took him down a dark path full of guilt, drugs, alcohol, self-loathing, intense grief, and sorrow. He lost everything that day. It’s been six years since he’s seen Christopher and Aly. He never intended to be a part of their lives again, but he’s drawn to them like he’s drawn to the town he grew up in. They were once a big part of his old life that he deeply misses. Seeing Aly for the first time is not what Jared expected. She’s no longer the little girl he remembers but a beautiful woman that he is magnetically drawn to, unable to make himself stay away from her no matter how hard he tries.
“She had gotten so far under my skin I couldn’t think straight anymore.�� – Jared
The romance between Aly and Jared is a slow, gradual build. They form a sweet and endearing friendship while Jared lives with Aly and Christopher. They spend late nights together talking and learning each other. And I really enjoyed these close moments between them as they grew closer. Though Jared is a closed book about his past, Aly, with her kindness and patience, slowly breaks down his walls. And, as the sexual tension between them rises, their lust and desire for each other reaches a boiling point which leads to them becoming lovers. But their relationship remains a secret for several reasons. One of them is that Jared fears everything about this relationship, knowing it could end in disaster and Aly will get hurt. But feelings continue to grow deeper and more intense, which leads to a lot of unexpected yet beautiful changes for them both.
Whew! This story is emotionally exhausting. My heart broke over and over for our tormented hero Jared, who really hates himself for the terrible tragedy that happened when he was sixteen. His character is consumed by his loss and guilt and won’t forgive himself so he can move on with his life. Jared’s part of the story is saturated with heartbreaking angst. There were moments, particularly towards the end, when I felt like his inner turmoil became a bit overwhelming. However, the beautiful and authentic writing style made up for the exhausting angst-ridden moments. It also helped that the heroine, who is light to Jared’s dark, is amazing with her loyalty and fierce love for Jared. I appreciated Aly being a level-headed heroine without any emotional baggage, because Jared had more than enough. It was nice to see Jared begin to overcome his inner battles with Aly’s help by the end of the story.
Though loaded with angst, I truly enjoyed this deeply touching story which revolves around Jared and his struggles to find a way to break down his protective walls and allow forgiveness, happiness, friendship, love, and healing into his life. I loved the powerful connection between Jared and Aly, which began when they were kids. I really enjoyed the flashbacks to their childhood. And I love how their romance builds slowly – all while the sexual tension smolders between them. It’s always refreshing when a story doesn’t start out with insta-love. The ending ends on a good note (no cliffhanger), but there are unresolved issues and an uncertain future that needs to be addressed. I’m definitely looking forward to reading, Come to Me Softly.
Rating: B
Heat: Warm
-- A Romantic Book Affairs Review
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January 11, 2014
4 Stars
“This – this was our deception, where I wanted to live until the day I died. Where nothing was real but the secrets we whispered in the night.”
This is how I can summarize Come to me quietly- a story about loss, pain, love and forgiveness. A story about how an awful tragedy has the power to damage and change the lives of a group of people. It’s a story that shows how one person can become self destructive because of guilt. And that the key to fight the darkness and despair is just one: LOVE.
Jared, Christopher and his younger sister Aleena have been best friends until a tragedy separates them. It’s been 6 years since Aly and her brother have seen their friend. Jared doesn’t know why he’s compelled to return, but finds himself drawn back to the place where it all began. And when he runs into Christopher, he agrees to stay in his apartment until he finds something better. But Aleena is not a little girl any more and Jared struggles to live under one roof with her when she triggers old memories he desperately wants to forget.
“...I would do anything to keep Aly safe. Safe from him. Safe from me. Safe from anyone who even for a minute thought of messing with her.”
Jared and Aly’s story got me thinking a lot about how easy it is for people to judge. They always have and they always will. No one knows who you feel inside (or even the details of your sadness/personal tragedy) but they always judge!!! This is much easier than the other alternative- to help someone. That’s what touched me the most in this story- how Aly was always there for Jared. She helps him even when he doesn’t know it. She does it because of pure and honest love.
Another important topic in the book is the notion of self forgiveness. Jared is a truly damaged hero. He is punishing himself for something from his past by not allowing himself to feel happiness. He believes he does not deserve it. However, Aly is determined to help him by showing him love, kindness and care. The only thing she wants is for him to stay.
“It’s you, Jared… you… only you.”
Yes, this book is an absolute emotional rollercoaster. I felt emotionally drained when I finished reading it. I really liked it but I gave it 4 stars because it was too slow-paced at the first half. It felt like it lacked excitement. Then the second half of the book was MUCH much better! Heartbreaking... but beautiful at the same time. I can’t wait to read more about Jared and Aly.
“This – this was our deception, where I wanted to live until the day I died. Where nothing was real but the secrets we whispered in the night.”
This is how I can summarize Come to me quietly- a story about loss, pain, love and forgiveness. A story about how an awful tragedy has the power to damage and change the lives of a group of people. It’s a story that shows how one person can become self destructive because of guilt. And that the key to fight the darkness and despair is just one: LOVE.
Jared, Christopher and his younger sister Aleena have been best friends until a tragedy separates them. It’s been 6 years since Aly and her brother have seen their friend. Jared doesn’t know why he’s compelled to return, but finds himself drawn back to the place where it all began. And when he runs into Christopher, he agrees to stay in his apartment until he finds something better. But Aleena is not a little girl any more and Jared struggles to live under one roof with her when she triggers old memories he desperately wants to forget.
“...I would do anything to keep Aly safe. Safe from him. Safe from me. Safe from anyone who even for a minute thought of messing with her.”
Jared and Aly’s story got me thinking a lot about how easy it is for people to judge. They always have and they always will. No one knows who you feel inside (or even the details of your sadness/personal tragedy) but they always judge!!! This is much easier than the other alternative- to help someone. That’s what touched me the most in this story- how Aly was always there for Jared. She helps him even when he doesn’t know it. She does it because of pure and honest love.
Another important topic in the book is the notion of self forgiveness. Jared is a truly damaged hero. He is punishing himself for something from his past by not allowing himself to feel happiness. He believes he does not deserve it. However, Aly is determined to help him by showing him love, kindness and care. The only thing she wants is for him to stay.
“It’s you, Jared… you… only you.”
Yes, this book is an absolute emotional rollercoaster. I felt emotionally drained when I finished reading it. I really liked it but I gave it 4 stars because it was too slow-paced at the first half. It felt like it lacked excitement. Then the second half of the book was MUCH much better! Heartbreaking... but beautiful at the same time. I can’t wait to read more about Jared and Aly.
July 14, 2014
«Οι καρδιές έχουν το δικό τους τρόπο να βρίσκουν το δρόμο τους», αυτή είναι η καταλληλότερη πρόταση με την οποία θα μπορούσα να συνοψίσω την υπόθεση του Come to me quietly.
Αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν πραγματικά πολύ ευαίσθητο και νομίζω δεν είναι αυτό που περιμένει να διαβάσει ο αναγνώστης. Το πρώτο μισό ήταν αρκετά αργό κατά την άποψή μου, αλλά από τη μέση και μετά δεν προλαβαίνεις να πάρεις ανάσα και να χωνέψεις αυτά που σου περιγράφονται. Οι αναδρομές στο παρελθόν είναι πολύ καλά εναρμονισμένες μέσα στο όλο κείμενο και ο τρόπος που παρατίθενται, καθώς και η χρονική στιγμή είναι πολύ καίρια για την υπόθεση του βιβλίου.
Τώρα όσον αφορά τους πρωταγωνιστές είναι και οι δύο ιδιαίτερα συμπαθείς. Είναι φανερό ότι η συγγραφέας τα δίνει όλα στην περιγραφή του Τζάρεντ γιατί πραγματικά καταφέρνει να σου μεταδώσει τόσα συναισθήματα και να αποτυπώσει μέσα από τη συμπεριφορά του όλα τα τραύματα και τις πληγές που τον βασανίζουν, που καταλήγει να σε συγκινήσει και να εκλιπαρείς κι εσύ με μια απεγνωσμένη φωνή για την ευτυχία του. Η Άλι από την άλλη είναι τόσο συμπαθητική και γλυκιά και μπορώ να πω ότι αυτό που βλέπει ο Τζάρεντ, το βλέπουν και οι αναγνώστες. Και η Άλι σε πιο μικρές ηλικίες είναι αξιολάτρευτη.
Θεωρώ το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο αρκετά εισαγωγικό, καθώς πολλά μέτωπα μένουν ανοιχτά και μας αφήνουν με μια ανησυχία να πλανάται στην ατμόσφαιρα. Μπορεί με το τέλος του βιβλίου η σχέση του Τζάρεντ και της Άλι να έχει οδηγηθεί σε ένα σημείο χωρίς επιστροφή, αλλά είναι φανερό ότι έχουν πολλά να αντιμετωπίσουν ακόμη. Οπότε ευελπιστώ στο δεύτερο βιβλίο να τα δούμε όλα να λύνονται και οι πρωταγωνιστές να βρουν αυτό που αναζητούν...
Εν τέλει με συγκλόνισε, κάποιες σκηνές είναι σπαρακτικές και πραγματικά αναμένω ότι στο επόμενο βιβλίο ο Τζάρεντ θα βρει την εξιλέωση την οποία χρειάζεται για να είναι ευτυχισμένος.
Αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν πραγματικά πολύ ευαίσθητο και νομίζω δεν είναι αυτό που περιμένει να διαβάσει ο αναγνώστης. Το πρώτο μισό ήταν αρκετά αργό κατά την άποψή μου, αλλά από τη μέση και μετά δεν προλαβαίνεις να πάρεις ανάσα και να χωνέψεις αυτά που σου περιγράφονται. Οι αναδρομές στο παρελθόν είναι πολύ καλά εναρμονισμένες μέσα στο όλο κείμενο και ο τρόπος που παρατίθενται, καθώς και η χρονική στιγμή είναι πολύ καίρια για την υπόθεση του βιβλίου.
Τώρα όσον αφορά τους πρωταγωνιστές είναι και οι δύο ιδιαίτερα συμπαθείς. Είναι φανερό ότι η συγγραφέας τα δίνει όλα στην περιγραφή του Τζάρεντ γιατί πραγματικά καταφέρνει να σου μεταδώσει τόσα συναισθήματα και να αποτυπώσει μέσα από τη συμπεριφορά του όλα τα τραύματα και τις πληγές που τον βασανίζουν, που καταλήγει να σε συγκινήσει και να εκλιπαρείς κι εσύ με μια απεγνωσμένη φωνή για την ευτυχία του. Η Άλι από την άλλη είναι τόσο συμπαθητική και γλυκιά και μπορώ να πω ότι αυτό που βλέπει ο Τζάρεντ, το βλέπουν και οι αναγνώστες. Και η Άλι σε πιο μικρές ηλικίες είναι αξιολάτρευτη.
Θεωρώ το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο αρκετά εισαγωγικό, καθώς πολλά μέτωπα μένουν ανοιχτά και μας αφήνουν με μια ανησυχία να πλανάται στην ατμόσφαιρα. Μπορεί με το τέλος του βιβλίου η σχέση του Τζάρεντ και της Άλι να έχει οδηγηθεί σε ένα σημείο χωρίς επιστροφή, αλλά είναι φανερό ότι έχουν πολλά να αντιμετωπίσουν ακόμη. Οπότε ευελπιστώ στο δεύτερο βιβλίο να τα δούμε όλα να λύνονται και οι πρωταγωνιστές να βρουν αυτό που αναζητούν...
Εν τέλει με συγκλόνισε, κάποιες σκηνές είναι σπαρακτικές και πραγματικά αναμένω ότι στο επόμενο βιβλίο ο Τζάρεντ θα βρει την εξιλέωση την οποία χρειάζεται για να είναι ευτυχισμένος.
August 5, 2016
I will say Jared gave me a thumping headache!! I wanted to take my cast iron frying pan to his head to make him stay!! God he gave me whiplash the amount of times he walked away!!
At least one swipe of my frying pan would've made him stay in one place (Just saying)!! lol
At least one swipe of my frying pan would've made him stay in one place (Just saying)!! lol
January 19, 2014
3 1/2- 4 STARS
*SIGH* Finally finished and can put it behind me!
Sadly I couldn't take anymore of Jared's thoughts of how f*cked up he was. As it is dual points of view you get to hear EVERY TWISTED THOUGHT from inside his head!!! I love damaged characters as it warms me inside to see how they overcome their issues with the help of another person's love for them but it was just toooooo much of just that and nothing else to spark an interest. :(
I loved Aleena's character and her ability to not give up on Jared. Believe me she has far more patience than I do ;)
Sorry Jared I did love you but seriously let Aleena help you!!!!!!! Let somebody in!! She loves you!!! Gah ok!!
But as I said loads of people love this one and the writing is beautiful but I just needed more willingness from Jared to open up!!
*SIGH* Finally finished and can put it behind me!
I know so many people loved this book and don't get me wrong the writing is AMAZING! A.L. Jackson does an amazing job of writing tortured and damaged hero's who suffer inner turmoil. But...
Sadly I couldn't take anymore of Jared's thoughts of how f*cked up he was. As it is dual points of view you get to hear EVERY TWISTED THOUGHT from inside his head!!! I love damaged characters as it warms me inside to see how they overcome their issues with the help of another person's love for them but it was just toooooo much of just that and nothing else to spark an interest. :(
I loved Aleena's character and her ability to not give up on Jared. Believe me she has far more patience than I do ;)
There is a book 2 which usually makes me skip up and down thinking more of the wonderful characters to look forward to. But with this one my only thought was nooooooooooooooo not more of Jared and his inner pain and torture!!
Sorry Jared I did love you but seriously let Aleena help you!!!!!!! Let somebody in!! She loves you!!! Gah ok!!
But as I said loads of people love this one and the writing is beautiful but I just needed more willingness from Jared to open up!!
November 19, 2015
Wow, just... Wow. I'm at a lose for words at the moment. I was getting so frustrated come the halfway mark and not knowing about Jared's past. It was literally driving me insane! You don't find out until the last 100 pages or so and as soon as the truth comes out, it completely goes downhill from there. Holy crap, this book was nothing like I expected. My heart is completely shattered for Jared and knowing what happened in his past. I had an idea for what could have happened, but turned out to be completely off. I'm VERY happy the sequel follows them. I wouldn't say it ends in a cliffhanger necessarily, but one where you need the need book immediately. Does that make sense? Well... of the million books I own, the sequel is not one of those. Dang.
August 16, 2013
“Come to Me Quietly” is raw and real. It’s an achingly beautiful story about a man with a ravaged soul and his chance at a life he never thought he deserved. A.L. Jackson has written such an emotionally impactful story that grabs you right from the start…
“What am I doing? There is nothing here for me. I know it. I’ve already destroyed it all. I destroy everything I touch. Still, I can do nothing but press on. ~Jared Holt <3
“What am I doing? There is nothing here for me. I know it. I’ve already destroyed it all. I destroy everything I touch. Still, I can do nothing but press on. ~Jared Holt <3
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August 10, 2016DNF @25%, but I might try again later.
Honestly, I just wasn't in the mood for this amount of non-stop inner-dialogue and their chronic over-thinking about life. It was bogging the story down and kept the plot from moving anywhere. I realized that at 25% pretty much nothing substantial happened in this story other than the hero made it to town and moved in with his old BFF. When/if I am in the mood for this type of teenager angst, I might try again.
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