Pulled

by Amy Lichtenhan

[Cocktails and Books]

A.L. Jackson can write a story that will pull at every single emotion I have. Doesn't matter what the story is, it happens every single time. PULLED was one of those stories that just breaks your heart from the very beginning. With two characters so significantly broken, I couldn't help but be broken with them as their story unfolded. Told in alternating POVs, from both the past and the present, we learn that love doesn't lesson when you separate yourself from your soul mate.

Melanie and Daniel were high school sweethearts who were inseparable from the moment they met. They were determined to build a future together, despite a two year age difference that separated them while he was in college. When tragedy strikes the young couple, they are pulled apart by parents who think they know better. That separation destroys a little something in each of them and they are left bumping along for the next nine years. Fate plays it hand then, bringing these two back together, but not without some serious roadblocks. But they both learn that what pulled them apart when they were teens is exactly what pulls them together now, just when they need it.

Melanie and Daniel break your heart. From Melanie trapped in a marriage of convenience to Daniel only having one night stands, you long for them to find the people they were when they were together. And when they finally do see if each for the first time (again) it's as if the cloak of despair and emotional isolation they'd been living with was removed. For Daniel, he immediately wanted to reclaim what was his...no matter the cost. Melanie's situation did require a bit of finesse, of which Daniel's bursting in and practically screaming "mine" wasn't going to work. But despite that, you could see that for both Melanie and Daniel it was as if a huge piece of themselves has returned home. At that point, you could tell that no matter what they had to go through it was going to be completely worth it to them.

I loved the emotions A. L. Jackson evoked with this story. I felt every hint of desperation, despair and joy along with the characters. And not matter how hard it was to read this story, I longed for just one more minute with Melanie and Daniel as they go their happily ever after. If you haven't picked up an A. L. Jackson book before, this is a great one to start with.