Title: Come to Me Quietly
Author: A.L. Jackson
Publisher: NAL Trade
Publication Date: 1.7.2014
Pages: 384
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary
Series: Closer to You #1
Source: Finished copy from publisher
Rating: 3 Stars
Summary (from Goodreads):
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.
Review:
COME TO ME QUIETLY is an unassuming new adult novel by A.L. Jackson that seems to have gotten a little lost in the NA shuffle, which is a shame because it’s a good novel with a great writer.
I enjoyed that Jared was more than a little broken. What can I say? I like a man with issues. He has a lot to overcome in this book, including a whole lot of history to face up to. I liked the dual POV style here so I was able to get into Jared’s head as well as Aly’s.
Now, Aly … She was a little harder for me to like. She started off sweet enough, a touch innocent, but some of the choices she made just flat out annoyed me. A lot. By the end of the book I was having a hard time getting into her headspace.
It’s not that COME TO ME QUIETLY was bad. Far from it. It just didn’t stand out for me. There was no OMG factor. It felt too generic. I enjoyed Jackson’s writing style, but the characters just didn’t work for me. But I’ll definitely try another of her books.
I enjoyed other books by this author and I do think she's under appreciated. I haven't read this yet :)
ReplyDeleteI think most NA is still all about the massive, all-encompassing drama and the less dramatic books -- no matter how well-written -- get lost in the shuffle. Which is a shame.
ReplyDeleteI don't read NA, but I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this as much as you wanted to. I agree though, when you just don't like the characters.
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