Ripe For Reader: Blog Tour and Review - TAKE THE FALL by Marquita Valentine

Take the Fall

Take the Fall # 1

By: Marquita Valentine

Releasing July 21, 2015

Loveswept

Fans of Abbi Glines and Katy Evans will adore Take the Fall, the first spinoff novel from Marquita Valentine’s New York Times bestselling Boys of the South series. In this emotional new romance, passions run hot as a rugged, brooding Marine rekindles an old flame.

As a teenager, Seth O’Connor went to jail for a crime he had nothing to do with. He took the fall to protect the girl he loved, but the cruel realities of prison hardened him. After doing his time, Seth shuts her out and enlists in the Marines—until his grandmother’s funeral forces him to come home and face Rowan Simmons once again. The woman she’s become puts all his high-school memories to shame, and Seth wants her more than ever. Can he be honest about why he denied her for so long?

After Seth pushed her away, Rowan swore that no man would ever hurt her again. But the boy who broke her heart has become a sexy Marine, capable of fulfilling her every desire—and now that he’s back in town, old feelings are simmering to a boil. Rowan wants to stay strong, even as her body surrenders to his expert touch. She only hopes that by taking him back, she can finally help heal the wounds that drove them apart

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23437529-take-the-fall?ac=1

Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/150849-take-the-fall

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3.5 of 5 Stars

Seth and Rowan have history. A wonderful history of falling in love that was marred with anger and separation. How can you really love someone so much but do everything in your power to push them away? When you realize what you have done and the reasons you did it were so wrong, where do you start to apologize and get back the life you once had with the only girl you will ever love.

His years in prison and the Marines have helped him become the strong handsome man that he is today. But the love of a grandmother who took him in and adopted him, showing him what loving woman was all about. When he realizes the horrible things he let his anger force him to do he knows he has to make it right. He just needs to get out of the Marines first so he can stay when he gets back. Show her how much he loves her and is willing to stay and do everything to look after her.

Rowan is convinced to keep her distance. She can not fall for him again. He hurt her to badly the first time. She needs to keep her heart locked up tight. Running Gardner's and working on cars is all she has. Everyone who has ever loved her has left her. The only way to avoid that is to not give her love away again. This making her bitter and smart mouthed. But can she follow her rules and not let him back in?

This was a good book about realizing your mistakes and doing what you can to correct them. Asking for forgiveness and starting over. Forgiving and letting love prevail. I am hoping there will be a book for Jase and Piper.

** Advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review. **

A girl wearing a plaid skirt and a white shirt with the ends tied in the middle of her very impressive cleavage steps in front of our cars. The headlights shine right on her as she flashes a seductive smile.

Her hands shoot up into the air. “Ready?” she shouts.

Tony guns his engine, his maniacal laughter louder than anything. The sound makes my skin crawl. Actually, Tony himself makes my skin crawl. He’s twenty-nine years old and still hangs out with the high school crowd—that’s fucking weird.

“Shut the fuck up, Johnson,” Jase shouts, flipping the other driver off. Then he turns to me. “Two turns left, then a hard right, before a quarter-mile stretch.”

I flex my fingers and nod. Jase cranks up STP’s “Dead and Bloated.”

“Go!” Plaid skirt girl’s hand drops down.

I hit the gas and manage to break out in front of Tony’s Camaro.

“No braking in the turn,” Jase shouts.

I nod. My knuckles are white as I grip the steering wheel. Adrenaline pumping, I shift gears, and the Mustang shoots forward.

Jase bangs on the dash. “Two car lengths ahead. You can do this, O’Connor.”

I’m equal parts exhilarated and terrified I’ll screw this up. What if I lose?

“Get out of your head, Seth. Nothing good in there right now.”

I slice my gaze to Jase, and then back at the road. The hard right is up next. “I got this.”

“Don’t say shit like that,” Jase grouses over the music. If I hadn’t been driving, I’m pretty sure he would have smacked the back of my head to emphasize his point.

Tony suddenly pulls up beside me, and I blink. “Where in the hell did he come from?”

“Pay attention.”

Tony edges ahead of me. The right turn is only a few hundred feet away. I let up on the gas a little and Tony surges. His taillights are in my peripheral now.

“Why the fuck are you slowing down?”

Because Tony’s speeding up, and he’s going to spin out on the turn. “Trust me.”

Jase blows out a hard breath, and I can practically hear his teeth grinding. If this doesn’t work, then Jase will hand me my ass. And I like my ass; I like sitting on it. More specifically, Rowan likes my ass. I like it when she digs her fingers into my cheeks when I’m inside her.

“Fine,” he bites out.

Tony and I make the hard right. His car spins out, making a wider half circle than needed. That’s my cue.

“See. Ya.” I downshift and stomp on the gas pedal.

Jase’s Mustang rolls across the finish line, engine purring. I barely pull up the e-brake before jumping out.

Banging the roof of the car, I let out a yell. The crowd goes wild, some groaning because they didn’t bet on the rookie.

While Rowan collects the money we won, I do a little victory shuffle.

Jase joins me, his smile as wide as mine, but he doesn’t celebrate like I do. That’s fine with me; I don’t care how damn goofy I look or sound right now.

I just fucking won my first race. And Tony Johnson’s Camaro is mine.

Mine.

I don’t bother to pay any attention to Tony as he parks his Camaro a short distance away. He probably needs a little time to find the pink slip to sign over to me and cry.

Poor bastard.

Rowan jogs to me, looking fine as hell in her tiny shorts and tank top. There’s lace at the top, highlighting the best-looking pair of tits I’ve ever seen. And by the way she’s smiling at me, I know I’ll be getting up close and personal with them tonight.

“I’m so proud of you,” she squeals, launching herself into my arms.

I bury my face into her hair. She smells and feels so damn good that my skin gets all tight. “Does this mean I can sneak into your room tonight?” I whisper in her ear.

She nods. “I’m gonna show you such a good time, lover boy.”

I straighten, taking her gorgeous face in my hands. “You know I love you, right? I’d do anything for you.”

Her nose wrinkles, freckles dancing across it as she does. “I love you, too, Seth.”

I know she does, but sometimes it feels like the love I have for her is like air or water—something I can’t live without. I have no idea what I’d do if I couldn’t have Rowan in my life.

Die, most likely.

“Fuck you, Tony. I’m not a cheat.”

Rowan’s head turns and so does mine. A few feet away, beside Tony’s car, he and Jase are shouting at each other. Fingers are pointing and Tony’s shoving against Jase’s chest.

I start to go and join in, to see if I can help diffuse the situation, but Rowan grabs my arm. “Don’t. Let Jase handle it.”

I frown.

“Not that I don’t think you can handle it,” Rowan quickly adds, mistaking my frown for displeasure at her words.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say, then kiss her forehead. “I’ll stay right by your side until Jase needs me.”

Rowan steps closer to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. She grinds slowly against me, barely moving against my hardening dick. “I need you. We could find a dark corner.”

Picking her up, I head in the opposite direction, away from the crowd and the argument. Rowan’s legs wrap around my waist. She kisses her way up my jaw, stopping at my ear to nibble. My eyes start to water.

“Slow down, wildcat.”

In response, she starts sucking on my earlobe. Rough brick bites into my hands when I hit the wall of an abandoned factory. Rowan tugs at my shirt, helping me pull it up and over my head. I cup her breasts, feeling her nipples harden.

“You looked so hot driving,” Rowan breathes. “I want to ride you while you drive us around. I want to feel you so deep inside . . . and the vibrations from the engine will make me come so hard.”

My heart slams against my chest. This girl . . . God, she knows how to amp things up. “Tomorrow,” I promise. “You wear that skirt I like and no bra. I’ll let you do whatever the hell you want while I drive.”

Rowan giggles and I smile, then stare into her eyes. “I really love you.”

“Why do you keep saying that?” She tilts her head to one side. “I know you love me.”

“Because after my conversation with your brother, I—”

“FIGHT!”

“Oh my God,” Rowan says, shoving at me. “Put me down.”

I let her legs slide down, and turn. Jase and Tony are going at it. Punches are being thrown and there are grunts, curses, and shouts. It’s too dark and the guys are built too much alike to see who’s whaling on who the most.

“I need to—”

Rowan hands me my shirt, and I kiss her. Hard. “Don’t let that perv hurt my brother, Seth.”

Pulling the shirt on and letting it fall, I stride in their direction, my heart slamming against my chest. “I won’t.”

Marquita Valentine is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Holland Springs and Boys of the South series, having sold more than a quarter of a million books around the world. She’s been called “one of the best new voices in romance” (Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews) and her books have been praised as “sexy, fun, and slightly addicting” (The Book Queen). When she’s not writing sexy heroes who adore their sassy heroines, she enjoys shopping, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. Married to her high-school sweetheart, Marquita Valentine lives in a seriously small town in the south with her husband, two kids, and a dog.