Jack isn’t a rock star.
He’s not the leader of a MC. He isn’t a billionaire. Lily’s not the
daughter of a mob boss, or a stripper, or a virgin with a BDSM
fascination. They’re just regular college kids, who somehow found each
other in the middle of all the crap and chaos of growing up.
“With you, Jack, it was the first time I ever felt real. It was the first time anyone looked at me and saw substance. It was the first time I wanted to make someone see me.”
Jack and Lily have navigated his past, her desire to move on from her family’s demands of her, his depression, and her loneliness. Now, on New Year’s Eve, they have an entire year laid out ahead of them. First, though, Jack needs to meet Lily’s family, to be welcomed into her life. It’s intimidating, but with a sweater that is way too hot and his grandmother’s ugly car, he arrives at Lily’s gleaming house on a hill, ready to open himself up completely to her.
Inside the perfect, sparkling house, Lily waits for the boy she has come to love. But Lily’s house and family are a lot like her – shiny and pretty on the outside, with a sad emptiness on the interior. Lily wants to give Jack the one thing he has always dreamed of – family and love – but can she keep him from seeing how hollow a lot of the picture perfect life he fantasizes about really is?
This is a novella length work that follows Forget Me Not and Lily of the Valley.
“With you, Jack, it was the first time I ever felt real. It was the first time anyone looked at me and saw substance. It was the first time I wanted to make someone see me.”
Jack and Lily have navigated his past, her desire to move on from her family’s demands of her, his depression, and her loneliness. Now, on New Year’s Eve, they have an entire year laid out ahead of them. First, though, Jack needs to meet Lily’s family, to be welcomed into her life. It’s intimidating, but with a sweater that is way too hot and his grandmother’s ugly car, he arrives at Lily’s gleaming house on a hill, ready to open himself up completely to her.
Inside the perfect, sparkling house, Lily waits for the boy she has come to love. But Lily’s house and family are a lot like her – shiny and pretty on the outside, with a sad emptiness on the interior. Lily wants to give Jack the one thing he has always dreamed of – family and love – but can she keep him from seeing how hollow a lot of the picture perfect life he fantasizes about really is?
This is a novella length work that follows Forget Me Not and Lily of the Valley.
I will be the first to admit, I haven’t read the other books
in this series. But I will also admit
that after reading this book? You can be
pretty darn sure that I will be reading them now!
(Now remember, I haven’t read the other books so some of my thoughts
you might already know!)
In this book, we get to spend New Year’s with Jack and
Lily. I thought that their relationship
was really well written, and it was very easy to follow along. I am not usually a fan of the switching of
POV’s throughout a book, but I do think that Sarah was able to pull it off in this
book. Especially with what was happening
during the course of this book, it was really great to get both views on
everything.
I am not really sure if I like Jack that much though,
although he seemed really sweet and was really trying throughout the book, I
just felt like he complained a lot.
About everything, if it wasn’t his sweater, it was about her family or
even the food that was served.
Lily, now her I liked.
She was able to keep her calm under pressure and did her best to keep
Jack calm. Even with all the drama that
was happening at the party, I think she did great!
Overall, I did enjoy the book and I will be sure to check
into the other books in the series in the future!
I
take his hand and pull him down beside me on my bed. I feel so complete in his
arms, as if nothing can go wrong when he holds me. It’s all the other stuff.
The world, people, pressure. Maybe it’s a little fear that things just ended
with Derek. That one day, as quickly as I fell for Jack, I also fell out of
love with Derek. I don’t have enough experience to know if that’s normal. What
if it happens again?
“What?
Tell me,” Jack whispers.
“Have
you ever felt like your entire life is some surrealist’s joke? That you think
you’re in control of it, while really, you’re probably just…”
“A
melting clock?” he finishes and laughs. I look at him, disappointed that I
can’t explain it, but also relieved that he doesn’t care.
“All
the fucking time,” he says. “I know you’re scared. I know I’m scared. But I seem to remember you telling me that I should
remember what matters. I made you a promise, princess. Yes, your house
intimidates me. Your life intimidates
me. Hell, loving you intimidates me. But I’m in this. I’m here. Present.
Entirely. I’m looking only forward. And all I see is you.”
“Take
the damn book,” I tell him. “I just wanted to show you that I have faith in us.
It was a conscious decision to give you something that was a very special gift
to me, to tell you that I trust you with it, because I trust you to be there.
Long term.”
He
takes me in his arms and kisses me. I decide I won’t stop him if he goes
further, but he doesn’t. Our bodies crackle with the energy between us, but as
much as the sex thrills me, Jack does so much more for my mind than his body
could even do. I can’t believe how alive I feel when he’s near me. Perhaps it’s
selfish. Perhaps it’s desperate. But I want him here in my life; I want him
with me, because I love being this aware.
I
speak against his cheek, while his hands slowly explore my body. It’s sensual
but not sexual. He’s studying me like a work of art. “I don’t want to fall out
of love with you. I thought Derek was all I ever wanted. I don’t want to be in
the same place with you a year from now.”
“You
won’t be,” he tells me.
“How
do you know?”
He
kisses along my face, brushing his lips against my cheek, my forehead, my nose,
but never reaching my mouth. “I don’t know how. But I do.”
I
love that he can put aside his doubts to ease my own. I know Jack’s had so much
trouble in his life, and the fact that he can comfort me, when my problems are
so petty and stupid in the scheme of things, is one more thing I love so much.
“I know I’m shallow. But I don’t want to be, Jack.”
“You’re
not shallow. You’re not empty. Anything you think of yourself – it’s crazy. If
you want to talk about surreal, it’s the fact that you think you’re less than
something. Maybe you didn’t get shit on the same way I did in high school, but
clearly, people have underestimated you. They missed out on you. And you have
every right to be hurt. But, Lily? No one will ever hurt you again.”
I
smile. “Thanks. I’m sorry I’m being so moody. It’s probably hormones or
something. I think I’m just frustrated.”
“Yeah?”
He laughs. “Well… I mean… I can help you relieve some of that.”
He’s
on top of me and I don’t care that it wasn’t exactly what I meant. I don’t care
that someone could walk in. Someone probably will walk in, since eventually they’ll come looking, but I don’t
care at all. I want to belong to Jack, and I don’t know any other way to do so.
Sarah Daltry writes about the regular people who
populate our lives. She's written works in various genres - romance, erotica,
fantasy, horror. Genre isn't as important as telling a story about people and
how their lives unfold. Sarah tends to focus on YA/NA characters but she's been
known to shake it up. Most of her stories are about relationships - romantic,
familial, friendly - because love and empathy are the foundation of life. It
doesn't matter if the story is set in contemporary NY, historical Britain, or a
fantasy world in the future - human beings are most interesting in the ways
they interact with others. This is the principle behind all of Sarah's stories.
Sarah has spent most of her life in school, from
her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school and
college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything because
learning is fun.
When Sarah isn't writing, she tends to waste a
lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies,
and simply staring out the window.
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