~Synopsis~
Luke Evans is a heartbreaker.
I didn’t want to give mine to him. Not when he kept me out.
He gave me enough, just enough to make me fall in love with him. I say this to convince myself. But I know the truth.
I would’ve fallen in love with him at a distance.
Handing my heart over to Luke was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I was naive when I wished for more, when I hoped he wanted the same things I did.
I try to hate him. I try to forget him.
But it’s not that easy.
Love is a ruthless bitch, and I’m her latest victim.
Tessa Kelly is a man-eater.
When she sets her sights on you, she doesn’t just consume your heart, she goes for your soul.
What we had was perfect, real, and all I would ever want.
But she destroyed it.
She destroyed us.
I try to hate her. I try to forget her.
But it’s not that easy.
Love is for people who have hope, and I have none.
~Review~
All I Want (Alabama Summer #2) by J. Daniels
4.5 Stars
We first met Tessa Kelly in
Where I Belong (
Alabama
Summer #1) which was her brother Ben and her best friend Mia’s story. And if you’ve read
Where I Belong then
you probably already have a bit of a feel for Tessa’s character and her heated
relationship with Ben’s partner Luke Evans, although you haven't seen anything yet. ;-) If you haven’t read the first book,
All I Want could be read as a stand alone although reading it before
Where
I Belong will spoil certain reveals regarding Ben and Mia as this story
is taking place the following summer.
Tessa is a bit of a smart talking spitfire. She’s bold; she
can be crass; and she doesn’t take anyone’s crap. Sometimes it gives her the
upper hand and other times in gets her in a heap of trouble.
Luke is no easy going guy either. He has heavy family issues
that he’s been wrestling with for years; and he’s frustrated with Tessa, unable
to completely move on from their failed relationship a year ago, and yet not
willing to put the emotional investment into it, even though he technically already
has.
They seem to think their relationship is toxic but in
reality they are pretty right for each other. While they are both willing to let the other
slip away rather than deal with the issue at the heart of their relationship and fight for each other,
neither is willing to let the other walk away with someone else. As a result, there’s
a lot of back and forth,
but there’s also plenty of hot and dirty scenes in between!
"Her eyes, full of unshed tears, draw me in, and slide me even closer to her until she's right up against me. I don't fight the commanding need in me that wants to be with her right now. I don't block it out with memories of our past. I let myself indulge in this. In her."
While sweetness and affection between them might be scarce,
there’s no shortage of hot, dirty talking encounters. They certainly have
chemistry, even when their love life isn’t sunshine and roses. In fact every
time it seems like Luke and Tessa might do something sweet with each other, it
never quite materializes… (well till the end) ;-)
J. Daniels does an amazing job with the characters. You feel their chemistry; you feel their pain. And through their actions and words you get a distinct picture of who each of them are and where they are coming from. While I admit both characters frustrated me at times because
I really wanted to see them get together and stay together, I enjoyed both of
their attitudes at the same time. Luke is plenty alpha; and while there are far
too many weak, female characters floating around in fiction, Tessa is not one
of them. She encounters scenarios you’ve probably read before in regards to the
“other woman” (don’t worry, there’s technically no cheating) but I doubt you’ll
find too many that handle it like Tessa. And some of the things she does and
says produce some great laugh out loud ‘no, she didn’t really do that or say
that’ scenes. Just see the prologue in the excerpt provided below for an example of
her ballsiness.
When I Fall, Reed’s story, is next for book three, and I hope we get to
see more of Tessa and Luke like we did Mia and Ben in this one. Till then,
spend some more time with both couples and learn a few ‘dirty details’ in the
blog’s exclusive interview with the characters of the
Alabama Summer series.
~Character Interview~
(Recommended for readers 18+ due to mature content.)
“5 Questions PLUS with the Alabama Summer Series
Characters”
Welcome Tessa, Luke, Mia, Ben, and Nolan to Book-Bosomed Book
Blog! Now that we’ve read so much about ya all, it’s great to meet you ;-)
So in our typical “5 Questions” format, let’s just throw one
out to each of you so the readers can learn a little more about you and your relationship
with each other. Oh and feel free to cover Nolan’s ears if necessary.
Q1. Tessa—Name something Luke does that drives you crazy in a good way and
something that drives you crazy in a bad?
Tessa: “Nolan might want to leave the building for this
answer.”
Mia: *covers Nolan’s ears* “I don’t even know if I want to
hear this.”
Luke: “I sure as shit do. *leans back* Go ahead, babe.”
Tessa: “Hmm. He loves getting me wet in public when I can’t
do anything about it.”
Ben: ‘”What the fuck did you just say?”
Tessa: “What? He does.”
Luke: “That’s not really true. We always do something about
it.”
Tessa: *smiles* “Right. Okay, well, still. It’s frustrating
until we do something about it.”
Mia: “Which question are you answering? Drives you crazy in
a good way?”
Luke: “Both probably.”
Tessa: “Yup. Both.”
Ben: “Next question.”
Q2. Luke—What would you like Tessa to do more of? What would you like her to do
less of?
Ben: “I think I should take Nolan outside.”
Luke: “Relax, man. Jesus.”
Tessa: “Oh I can’t wait to hear this.”
Luke: “I wish she took control more. I fucking love it when
she does that.”
Tessa: “You do?”
Luke: *nods* “Yeah, babe.”
Tessa: “I can do that. What do you wish I did less of?”
Luke: *smiles* “Nothing.”
Mia: “Nope. You gotta answer, Luke.”
Ben: “Or we could move on to the next question. I vote for
that.”
Tessa: “No, I’m curious. There has to be something you’d
change about me.”
Luke: “There isn’t.”
Ben: “You’re scared she’ll cut your balls off.”
Luke: “I’m not an idiot.”
Q3. Mia—Ben proved himself to be such a great guy and a real family man but
name one thing that Ben totally sucks at and one thing he excels at.
Mia: *looks at Ben* “I don’t think Ben sucks at anything.
Wait… no he’s good at that too.”
Tessa: *raises hand* “Can I answer this? I have an endless
list of things Ben sucks at.”
Mia: “Shut up. Okay, he’s not so great at massaging.”
Ben: “What? I’m fucking awesome at rubbing you.”
Mia: “Not when I just want a massage! It turns into sex in 5
seconds!”
Ben: “Hey, that’s not my fault.”
Tessa: “Luke can’t touch me without getting hard.”
Ben: *glares at Tessa * “This isn’t your fucking question.”
Luke: “I’m staying out of this one.”
Mia: “Okay, okay. Jesus. And he’s great at being a husband
and father.”
Tessa: “Aww.”
Ben: “Love you.”
Mia: “Love you more.”
Q4. Ben—What do you think is Mia’s greatest strength and
greatest weakness?
Ben: “If you’re around Mia for a minute, you’ll know the
answer to this question. She doesn’t have any flaws. Mia is amazing, everything
about her draws you in. She’s the kindest person I know, she cares about
everybody, and she would do anything for anyone.”
Tessa: “Could you not make Mia cry?”
Mia: “I’m not crying.” *sniffs*
Ben: “It’s true. I don’t know if she has a weakness, unless
it’s for my…”
Mia: “Next question!”
Q5. Nolan—You’re such a cutie that we couldn’t leave you out of this interview.
So tell us anything you want to say!
Mia: *uncovers Nolan’s ears* “Baby, you can say anything you
want. It’s your turn.”
Nolan: *smiles and holds out a small toy airplane* “This
thing is soooo cool! Daddy said I could fwy one some day, but I wanna fight bad
guys like Daddy and Uncle Wuke. I’m gonna kill em’ all with my sword!”
Mia: “Nolan, don’t talk like that.”
Nolan: *looks at Mia* “Sorwy, Mommy.”
Ben: “Buddy, just don’t say you’re going to kill the bad guys.”
Nolan: “I’m gonna stab em!”
Mia: “Here, have some goldfish, Nolan.”
Nolan: *grabs bag and starts munching*
PLUS! Now we’re going to do a quick rapid fire question session for just
the adults about their 'couple' time preferences, and I think we have some dragons for Nolan
to slay in another room so you can speak freely.
#1 Ben and Luke—Satin, lace, or cotton?
Ben: “Is naked an option?”
Mia: “Ben!”
Luke: “Yeah, fuck those choices.”
Ben: “Look, Mia could wear a fucking garbage bag and I’m
ready. So any of those.”
Mia: *smiles* “I love you”
Tessa: “Luke, care to chime in?”
Luke: “I don’t know. I guess lace, ‘cause I can see through
that shit.”
Tessa: “Let’s be real. Nothing stays on me long anyway with
this one.” *gestures to Luke*
Luke: “Fuckin’ right.”
Ben: “The hell? Can we split up into couples? I don’t want
to know this shit.”
#2 Mia and Tessa—Boxers or briefs?
Tessa: “NOTHING!”
Mia: “What? Nothing? That’s not one of the options, Tessa.”
Tessa: “It’s always an option, but Luke always wears boxers,
so boxers… or NOTHING.”
Luke: “Babe, just say the words.”
Tessa: *raises eyebrow* “Right now?”
Ben: “Mia, answer so we can get off this fucking topic.”
Luke: *laughs*
Mia: “Boxers. Briefs are for old men.”
[Interviewer nods and agrees with Mia—save the briefs for
old men or little boys just out of diapers. *Glances back at Luke and Ben, picturing them in just their boxers* "Is there a policemen of Ruxton calendar the boys are featured in?...June? July?...Something to definitely consider, but moving along..."]
#3 Ben and Luke—Shaven or unshaven?
Luke: “Is this a pussy question?”
Tessa: “This interview is awesome.”
Ben: *glares at Luke* “Don’t answer this question.”
Luke: “What? All right… shaven.”
Ben: “What the fuck? She’s my sister. I don’t want to know
that shit.”
Mia: “Relax, babe.”
Luke: “Look, I didn't want to do this interview, but Tessa
told me if I didn't answer these questions, she’d cut me off. You hear me? So
I’m fucking answering.”
Tessa: “I did. I’ll lock this shit up if he tries to get out
of this.”
Luke: “See?”
Mia: “I don’t see what the big deal is.”
Ben: *shakes head* “Fine. Shaven is my answer too.”
Mia: “Yeah it is.”
Ben: “Angel, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m ending
this interview.”
#4 Mia and Tessa—Take the guys to the 50 Shades movie première or stay
home and read the steamy parts out loud to them?
Mia: “I don’t know if I could drag Ben to see that. And he
gets off on my dirty mouth, so I’d chose reading it at home… naked.”
Ben: “I like that answer.”
Tessa: “You’re so nasty, Mia.”
Mia: “What? Me? Are you kidding?”
Tessa: *laughs* “I could get Luke to go. Easy. Movie theater
BJ.”
Mia: “Oh. My. God.”
Tessa: “What? Like you haven’t.”
Mia: “I haven’t!”
Luke: “You’re sucking me off during that whole movie if I’m
going to that shit.”
Ben: *leans forward, cracks knuckles* “Hey, interviewer,
next question.”
[Interviewer: "We’ll move on; don’t break out the handcuffs,
Officer Kelly. But I do hope you all stop back after the movie release to tell
me how this went. *giggles* Oh and bring Reed with you then so we can interrogate…ah, I
mean, interview him too." *wink*]
#5 Both
couples—strawberries, chocolate, or whip cream?
Mia: “Chocolate.”
Tessa: “Yup. Chocolate. I like how you have to really work
at licking it off.”
Ben: “Mia are you ready to go?”
Luke: “You didn’t answer, man.”
Ben: “Neither did you!”
Luke: *laughs* “Tessa can choose. I’ll eat anything off
her.”
Ben: *stands* “Come on, angel. We’re leaving.”
[Interviewer: "So Ben, we'll have a sample of all three sent to your house so you can get back to us on that answer, yes? Inquiring minds want to know."]
Thanks everyone! It’s been a ton of fun! Loved having you!
And a big thanks to J. Daniels and
Give Me Books for coordinating the
interview!
~Author Bio~
J. Daniels was born and raised in Maryland. After putting her kids to bed, she escapes into her cheeky world where some of her characters kiss, and some of them do a lot more than kiss. She is an avid reader and enjoys everything from unconventional romance to fantasy novels.
~Giveaway~
