Jack (The Family Simon, #2) by Juliana Stone
Contemporary Romance
E book/Novel/Series
August 25, 2014
Self Published
Reviewed by Tori
Favorite Quote: “She’s the first thing I think about when I wake up. The last thing on my mind before I sleep.”
Jack Simon and Donovan James were a couple in love until they day they had a nasty argument and Donovan disappeared, leaving Jack with only a note and a broken heart. Though Jack tried to get to the bottom of Donovan’s defection, she froze him out and Jack had no other option but to go on with his life.
Five years later, Jack is shocked to see Donovan at his political fundraiser. Shocked and angry. He has never forgiven her for leaving him and lashes out at her in pain and anger. Feeling out of sorts after their confrontation, Jack decides he needs a vacation and his sister Grace offers him her trip to Belize. Jack arrives only to discover Grace has been meddling and Donovan is also on the island and staying in the same house. Jack and Donovan circle one another, wary combatants whose chemistry is still strong but the gulf between them seems almost too far to bridge. When one night together raises cause for concern, Jack essentially blackmails Donovan into staying with him until they can be sure nothing arises from it. As Jack and Donovan begin to reconnect, Jack’s protective instincts and love for her roar back to the surface and he is determined to find out why she left him once and for all.
Jack is the second installment in Juliana Stone’s The Family Simon series. A mid-weight romance contemporary that speaks of love, loss, betrayal, and second chances. Heavily character driven, Stone pens an emotional story that addresses the trials and tribulations that one suffers when in the spotlight. A steady pacing and a well developed storyline takes it’s time to allow us to understand what is at stake here. This wasn’t a simple misunderstanding and your heart hurts when you find out exactly what happened that night. It’s emotionally rocky as Jack and Donovan struggle with wanting to reconnect and wanting to run from one another.
Though presented in the third person, Stone gives us insight into both characters thoughts and emotions, allowing us to see how they really feel despite the antagonism that appears whenever they are together. They are like dynamite-one flick of a match and then step back and watch the explosion. Donovan is a strong heroine that deals with the blows life keep handing her with humor, patience and a sense weariness that comes from being beat on once too often. Her less than stellar upbringing grates at her when compared to Jack’s more prestigious one. She never felt she really belonged in his world . As a famous country music star, she doesn’t have the option to just disappear from life as she has a multitude of people around her that depend on her to survive.
I admit I felt more for Donovan than Jack at times. Jack has a strong family and friend base at his back to help him fight off the wolves. Too strong at times as everyone seems to know what is best for Jack without actually asking him what he wants. Donovan though has almost no one in her corner. Everyone who should be looking out for her only uses her for their own gain. Especially her mother. I found it telling the two people she can trust impeccably are both related to Jack-his sister Grace and his cousin Maverick. I wasn’t on board with some of the choices Donovan made. She had a nasty habit of running away rather than facing things head on. It added what I felt was unnecessary drama to the story, but it’s easy to understand why she made them. Everything she did was out of love for Jack.
Jack was harder to get to know because he puts up a formidable front when interacting with Donovan. A broody charismatic alpha, he acts as though he hasn’t a care in the world when it comes to her but readers soon learn that he too is suffering and it’s his pain that causes him to lash out at her. It was hard not to dislike Jack at times because he has and continues to say some pretty hateful and vindictive things to Donovan which hurts her to the core; especially since she has never said anything derogatory about him or their relationship.
For a moment, there was silence, and then she spoke, her voice full of smoke and whiskey. “I guess it doesn’t matter that the only Simon I’ve ever had is the one who makes no bones about the fact that I’m beneath him. Did you tell your people to spread those nasty things? What was it your press guy said? Ridiculous notion?” She shrugged and mimicked his press guy perfectly. “The up-and-coming senator-to-be and the white trash country singer from Arkansas. Now there’s a hit song if I ever heard one.”
Jack and Donovan were perfect together. The chemistry explodes between them from the first time they see each other again. Passion and anger mix together to form a powerful potent that neither can resist. Jack’s a bit of a dirty boy and it’s apparent in their love scenes. Theirs is not an instant reconnection and I appreciated that. Jack doesn’t make it easy for Donovan nor she for him. He wants answers and his temper often has him handling her with less care than he should be. Donovan may have been raised as white trash but she never lets anyone treat her like it. Especially Jack. Their reconciliation is slow as they reacquaint themselves with one another and learn to be honest with one another. There is something riveting about watching two people reconnect from ashes. You can feel the anger, resentment, confusion, and hurt rolling off them. It was painful to watch as these two struggle to find a way to forgive each other and themselves.
Long wisps of hair danced in the evening breeze as those eyes continued to regard him in silence. She licked her bottom lip and damn if he didn’t feel a stirring of lust well up inside him. Some things never changed, and this woman had always tapped into that He-Man part of him. The part that wanted nothing more than to bend her over the table to their right, so that he could bury himself inside her.
The main conflict is resolved in a predictable fashion as Jack and Donovan learn exactly what happened five years ago and are able to work beyond it. I did feel the resolution came a little too abruptly and there were a few things that I felt didn’t develop quite as well as they could have. I don’t want to spoil but I found it hard to believe NO ONE knew exactly what had happened. I was also confused as to who leaked the story to the press. I think I know who it was but that point is glossed over. I really wanted to see certain people get their comeuppance.
Regardless of some minor issues, Stone once again takes us on an emotional love story that doesn’t pull any punches on our lovers’ rocky journey to happily ever after. We get further clues into other family member’s stories and I am looking forward to Maverick’s and Cooper’s stories. Though this is the second book in the series, it can be read as a standalone.
RATING: B
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