Wake Up Call, By Victoria Ashley

My heart stopped and suddenly it was hard to breathe. His voice always had that effect on me. It was like poison slowly running through my veins killing me bit by bit. Like a drug that I couldn't get enough of even though I was almost down to my last breath.
Jace took a step forward and grabbed my hand. He slowly trailed his fingers over my face and backed me into the wall. My heart stopped again if that was even possible. "You can't leave," he whispered. "I need you." His warm breath kissed my lips as he bit his bottom lip and placed both of his hands around my face. They were warm and soft to the touch. Too big for my fragile face, although I wanted to bury myself in them. "Breathe. There is no one here but the two of us. Breathe," he whispered.

Avery Hale had spent her whole childhood abused by her drunken, hopped-up parents. Broken from a lifetime of hate and pain she grew up realizing that trust and love just didn't exist. Not in her world at least. After turning the age of eighteen, she packed up and moved far away determined to escape her hurtful past and start a new life. Once on her own she comes to the conclusion that the emptiness still exist. Doing what she had to to survive she found herself mixed up in exotic dancing and meaningless sexual relationships unable to feel anything, for anyone. She was sure that her life was worthless and there was nothing left for her. On the other hand, so she thought.
After meeting a beautiful stranger, jace, her life suddenly is turned upside down. Everything that she truly believed suddenly gets questioned and then she is left to figure out if there is really more to her than she could ever have imagined. Jace, having some secrets of his own puts the pain of his own past behind to do what he can to help Avery.Can the love of another broken person be enough to help Avery, or is she already too far gone?
Avery's life is pulled in many directions as she tries to find herself, and not everyone and thing is what they seem to be in this story of love, trust and opening up. Finding herself and learning to love herself might just be the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book.  I knew it had some heavy themes, but I was really drawn to the eight pack abs on the cover.  Just keepin’ it real here, peeps.  What I found beyond the hot cover was a sad story, and unfortunately one that I feel like I have read a lot lately.  

Avery has a sad and tragic past.  She was raised by parents who abused and neglected her.  As soon as she turns eighteen she leaves, and finds herself with a crappy apartment that she’s on the verge of being evicted from and a job as a stripper in a club.  She has meaningless relationships with men, and just can't bring herself to trust anyone, or to really feel anything at all.  Enter eight pack ab man, Jace.  He saves her, gives her a job and place to live, and opens up her world.  He shows her what she’s been missing her whole life, and she allows herself to trust him.  But, as always, Jace has secrets.  Will they destroy them both?

Avery’s back story is pretty difficult to read about.  Mostly because you know that this has really happened to people.  It’s heart-wrenching.  I really felt that part of the story was done well, but there were a few things that bothered me about this book.  First, as I mentioned before, I feel like I’ve read this story before.   Damaged girl meets perfect boy who teaches her to love.  It just lacked originality for me.  Plus, there seems to be some issues with the timeline and consistency of the book, which I noticed and bothered me a bit.  I guess it could use another round of editing to really work out the kinks.

The saving grace of this story is the characters.  I really felt a connection to Avery and Jace…well, he’s everything you could want in a hero.  Sexy, strong, and a manimal in the bedroom.  The problem is that the plot just didn’t deliver.  It needs more work and a stronger editor.  The promise of a good book is there, but it falls short.  3 stars.