**Blog Tour Review & Giveaway ~ Come to Me Quietly ~ A.L. Jackson**

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for A.L. Jackson's Come to Me Quietly. I have all the pertinent details for the book, my review, and a giveaway.

Blog Tour hosted by: Shh Moms Reading, Literary Mania Reviews, and Brandee’s Book Endings

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Come To Me Quietly (The Closer to You Series, Book 1)

Author: A.L. Jackson

Release Date: January 7, 2014

Genre: New Adult Romance

Synopsis
From the acclaimed bestselling author of Lost to You and When We Collide comes a new adult novel of one woman’s obsession: a man who’s as passionate as he is elusive—and as tempting as he is trouble…

Aleena Moore is haunted by Jared Holt. It’s been six years since she’s seen her brother’s best friend, the self-destructive bad boy she secretly loved in high school. As the years pass, she knows it’s time to move on. Time to decide between a practical nursing degree and her true dream as an artist. Time to get over Jared and give another guy a chance…

Just when she opens her heart to her friend Gabe, Aly returns home to find Jared sleeping on her couch. The teenage boy she loved has grown into a man she can’t resist.

Covered in tattoos and lost in rage, he’s begging to be saved from his demons—the memories of the day he destroyed his family. As the two reconnect, their passion is hot enough to torch Aly’s judgment. But can she risk her future for a man who lives on the edge of destruction?

Powerful, moving, intensely emotional, dark, 

and exquisitely delivered.

Those words really sum up my feelings for Come to Me Quietly. This book and the feelings it evoked are incredible. It is heavy in emotion - not much action - but it's no less riveting.

Jared Holt is the very definition of a tortured hero. He carries his guilt and grief in a way that is just as outwardly visible as the tattoos covering his body that illustrate his perception of his sins. Six years ago he went to juvie for his crimes. Four years ago he ran - ran from the memories of the 'good' he'd had in his life, ran before he could ruin anyone or anything else. Because that's what he believes he does - destroys anything good. He's come home now and he can't quite explain why. He feels a draw to this place - and especially to Aly.

Aleena "Aly" Moore has been living a half life. She never fully engages. She's never really had a boyfriend. She never confides everything in her best friend or her parents, or even her older brother. Not since that night, six years ago. The night she gave her heart away. Her secrets are kept in her drawing tablets where she puts her thoughts, her feelings, her fears, her love, in a place she allows no one to see. And now she must face Jared being back.

Come to Me Quietly is told in alternating POVs - Aly and Jared - both in present time and from the past. I appreciated the way in which Ms. Jackson relayed Aly and Jared's backstory. I liked being able to see them as they grew up and the closeness they'd always shared. Being in their heads in the present also enhanced the story.

Jared's self-loathing is palpable. He firmly believes he owes a debt for his past mistakes. He believes he can't be fixed or redeemed and that he doesn't deserve anything good, least of Aly.

Aly, for her part, knows she can't fix Jared. And she doesn't want to. She only wants him to realize that he deserves love, and that he's capable of reciprocating. 

Aly and Jared's lives are inextricably tied together - they have been all their lives. An intangible pull exists between them. And it seems fate has a stake in drawing them together. 

I'm a sucker for second chance love stories and for tortured heroes. Come to Me Quietly uses this trope in a non-traditional way. I feel in love with Aly and Jared. And although it was a painful journey, I delighted in traveling along with them along the path - especially because their story is rendered in such lovely prose. Ms. Jackson's words evoked such emotion and awareness. Not only did I feel the joy, violence, and pain right along with the characters, I could also feel the dry heat of Arizona.

The only thing that keeps Come to Me Quietly from being a 5 bookworm read is that I connected more with Jared than Aly. I didn't feel her emotions as powerfully as I did Jared's. But this is not a book that will leave me anytime soon. And I am anxious for the continuation of Aly and Jared's story.

**A.L.'s Character Inspirations for Aly & Jared**

Jared Holt: Micah Truitt ~ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Micah-Truitt/
1376177639282676


Aleena Moore: Phoebe Tonkin ~ https://www.facebook.com/PhoebeTonkinForever

Grand Prize: A.L. Jackson Complete Signed Paperback Collection (all six titles) + Come To Me Quietly Poster and swag

Second Prize: Come To Me Quietly Collection, which includes a signed copy of Come To Me Quietly, a Come To Me Quietly poster, keychain, and custom bookmark 

Third Prize: A.L. Jackson Fun Pack stuffed full of A.L. Jackson book swag

Fourth Prize: Audiobook Gift Set from Audible.com of The Regret Series (Lost To You, Take This Regret & If Forever Comes)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


And don’t miss the DAILY blog tour giveaways on A.L. Jackson’s Facebook accounts! All kinds of fun stuff will be given away ~ ebooks, gift cards, and much more! EVERY DAY from January 7th – February 7th!!

https://www.facebook.com/aljacksonauthor

And A.L. Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Take This Regret and Lost to You, as well as other contemporary romance titles, including Pulled, When We Collide, and If Forever Comes.

She first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student. She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.

Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three children. 

Look for Come to Me Softly, book two in the 

Closer To You Series, coming July 1, 2014.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads