Melanie Winters and Daniel
Montgomery shared a love most only dream of, a love they believed bonded them
together for life.
When their world is shattered by the tragic loss
of their daughter, overwhelming grief and misguided guilt distorts the truth, and
their relationship ends in uncertainty and unanswered questions.
For nine years, they drift through life, each
unable to forget the one who holds the strings to their heart. In an attempt to
escape the pain of her past, Melanie finds herself trapped in a loveless
marriage, while Daniel loses himself in a career that means nothing without
Melanie by his side.
Now, when their lives again intersect, neither
can deny the connection they felt so long ago. But will the power that drew
them together be enough to heal the wounds from their past, and will they have
the courage to overcome the insecurities and fears that threaten to keep them
apart?
Pulled is a story of attraction and separation,
of destiny and duty, of a love so strong it refuses to give up even when all
others have.
"Okay, this one did it for me in a big way.
I'm an angst-lover. And by that I mean, I'm a Thoughtless, Beautiful Disaster,
Love Unscripted, Slammed, Fifty Shades of Everything, kind of reader. But
there's gotta be an HEA. And not a half-done HEA but a real
yeah-this-story-has-been-agonizing-but-look-it-was-all-worth-it HEA. So, that
said, I earnestly recommend this book. If you're like me, you'll like this.
Enjoy!" LitJunkie
Pulled is an emotional story that just pulled me right
in (no pun intended.) This is a story about soul mates that were separated, but
find their way back to each other.
Daniel and Melanie have a beautiful love from the moment
they see each other. They have a “pull” toward one another, one that they are unable
to deny. They spend every available moment together, until tragedy strikes. They
are forced apart and through misunderstandings and self-induced guilt, they
seemingly lose each other. However, the connection they feel for each other
never goes away. They both drift through life on the sad, unfulfilled paths
that they chose.
Then finally, they find each other! However, there are obstacles
in the way to their happiness. They have to stick together and believe in each
other this time so that they can be together. The love they share is somehow
stronger this time around. They have both matured in their time apart and seem
to appreciate and cherish their second chance. They are not going to waste it.
This is a story of hope, healing, and most of all love.
It is a MUST read!
I
stared down the hallway. Both fear and longing consumed me. I willed myself to
walk, but every footstep was heavy, dragging with what I feared I would soon be
regret. I stalled outside his door, my heart listening to his. I could feel it
pounding, drawing me forward.
I
didn’t even knock. I turned the knob and pushed the door open. My feet locked
in place when I saw him. Daniel. I blinked several times as I took him in. He
was leaning over, bracing himself with his palms flat on his desk. He must have
realized that it was me just before I opened the door. His head was cocked, his
hazel eyes wide.
I
couldn’t move. I felt as if I were caught in time and the second hand was
unable to tick on.
Finally
he rose, cautious and slow. His eyes were fierce and desperate, a fire that I’d
never seen before burning behind them. My feet moved of their own accord and my
arm dropped from the door. Silently it closed behind me. Everything in the room
was still except for the energy roaring between us.
“Melanie,”
he called to me, a whisper directly to my heart, pumping it with life. I was
mesmerized as he wet his dry lips. His shoulders were held rigid, his chest
trembling with his staggered breaths. I felt it all—his longing, his desire,
his hunger. And I knew he could feel mine. Quivering under his intense stare,
my muscles twitched in anticipation. My knees went weak when I saw him snap,
undecided no more.
I
could barely register the movement before he rounded his desk, and his lips
crashed against mine. His hands sank into my hair, pulling my body roughly
against his.
It
felt as if my body had burst into flames with his sudden touch. Everything
about him was overpowering, consuming, dominating. Rough and gentle at the same
time.
I
pressed into him, my chest against his, our hearts beating in rhythm. Digging
my fingers into his neck, I struggled to get closer. We were desperate as we
clung to each other. We needed to feel, to heal the scars disfiguring our
hearts, to erase some of the hurt. His hands rushed with need, twisted through
my curls, down my back, and then into my hair again. His kiss was forceful—too
intense—ice and fire and sweet—all Daniel. I breathed him in, touched him,
memorized the way he smelled, the way he felt.
His hair was so soft between my fingers. A
shiver traveled down his spine.
With
a sudden slant of his head, he swept his tongue across my lip. I opened to him,
drawing him in. There was no teasing or testing. Aggressively, he moved his
mouth with mine, sucking in my bottom lip at the same time he bit at it. Rough.
Hard. Perfect. He pushed me back against the door, his body flush with mine. A
moan escaped my mouth.
Oh,
how I had missed this body.
I
ran my hands over his shoulders and down his arms, his muscles firm under my
touch. His lips were incessant, his tongue hot and wet.
Fisting
a hand in my hair, he pulled it tight, exposing my neck. His movements slowed
as he licked down the sensitive skin, seeking out the spot behind my ear he
knew would ruin me. He sucked, tugging with his lips, lingering at the delicate
hollow below my jaw. I drew in a ragged breath, and my emotions caught up with
me. He remembered.
He
kissed his way back up, found my mouth again. Fingertips caressed and massaged
the back of my neck, the skin afire with his touch.
When
he grabbed the back of my knee and hooked my leg over his hip, I gasped. His palm traveled up the exposed flesh of my
thigh, his thumb rubbing circles, coaxing, persuading, demanding a reaction. I
pushed back into him, my body deprived of his for far too long.
“Melanie,
my love,” he whispered, the words vibrating against my lips.
“Daniel,”
I breathed into his mouth.
He
pulled back, hooded eyes flaming in their intensity as they sought mine. I
couldn’t look away as I peered deep into his soul. The love I found there was
never ending, but shrouded in vast regret, grief imprinted on his heart. He ran
his nose along my cheek, murmuring in my ear, this time the words dripping in
sadness. “Only you.”
Those
words resonated in the air, and as much as I knew he wanted to convince himself
that they were true, they weren’t.
The
weight of what I was doing crushed me. Thoughts of his wife and child lay heavy
on my heart, and I remembered how we had gotten here in the first place. He
hadn’t chosen me. He didn’t want me.
With
trembling hands, I shook my head, trying to keep my insecurities from pouring
out. It was impossible. The feelings of complete rejection I’d swallowed down
and harbored for all these years came bubbling to the surface and spilled over,
erupted as tears rushing down my face.
“You didn’t want me.”
A.L. Jackson is the New
York Times bestselling author of Take This Regret and Lost to You, as well as
other contemporary romance titles, including If Forever Comes, Pulled and When
We Collide, as well as the New Adult Romance Come To Me Quietly due out January
7, 2014.
She first found a love for writing during her
days as a young mother and college student. She filled the journals she carried
with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties
and joys she found in day-to-day life.
Years later, she shared a short story she’d been
working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this
story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in
Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three children. Her
favorite pastime is spending time with the ones she loves.
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