Title: Have a Heart
Series: Love Happens #4
Author: Jodi Watters
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: November 9, 2018
Release Date: November 9, 2018
Blurb
If he had one, she'd be the woman he'd give it to.
A runaway
bride, searching for happily ever after.
A Navy
SEAL, who doesn’t believe in such things.
A bar, in
the middle of nowhere, and fate, who’s been awaiting this day.
Tessa
When I left
my groom at the altar, I didn’t care where I went, or who I met along the
way.
When I
walked into a roadside bar in Nowhere, California, I wasn’t planning on
staying.
When I sat
down beside Jason Reynolds, I had no idea who he really was.
My world
turned upside down.
Now all I
want to do is save him.
Jason
I tried to
ignore her. The beautiful train wreck who’d crashed my pity party.
I tried to
fight temptation. Her sweet smile and smart mouth threatened my misery.
I tried to
walk away. My blackened soul didn’t deserve her bright, hopeful light.
My team
calls me Tin Man for good reason.
Love has no
place in my life.
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Excerpt
I’m a wisher. Always have been.
As a young
girl, I’d stand before my closed bedroom door, wishing a Barbie Dream House
would appear on the other side.
“No way,”
my dad would sneer, a cigarette between his lips. “Not unless I hit the ponies
tonight.” Despite his habit of gambling our grocery money, neither ever
happened.
As a
gangly teenager, I’d stand in front of a mirror, wishing for bigger boobs and a
fuller bush because I’d just seen Candace Michaels naked in the locker room
after third period P.E. class. You could say I was stunted in comparison. My
only solace was knowing those envious breasts would sag one day.
As a
community college graduate, I stood before the liquidated store I’d just
purchased thanks to a small business loan, providing employment to the two most
important people in my life, wishing to God I’d always be able to pay their
salaries. Theirs before mine, it turned out, on occasion. No matter. There was
currency in independence.
I also
wished I could twirl a baton, participate in a flash mob, and eat cake every
day without gaining weight. But, as my dad always said, I could wish in one
hand and shit in the other and see which one filled up first.
His best
and only advice.
Through it
all, I’ve stared at nineteen different sheets of paper, always questioning what
I’d written, wishing many times over I was a poet. That I carried within me a
grace to evoke tender emotion, along with the guts to expel the toxic ones,
using nothing but a pen and the alphabet. Oftentimes I missed the mark, yet I
sent the messages anyway.
Yes, I’m
an old-school letter writer. A throwback to another generation. It’s not by
choice, believe me. This obsession started years ago, and I only write to one
person.
Him.
Lately,
I’ve avoided it. There’s been nothing to say.
But now,
in the middle of the night, I suddenly have plenty to say. To write.
The man
lying in bed next to me gives me pause. I know he’s asleep before I turn to
look, his breathing slow, but his body tense. Ready for the unexpected. A
learned habit that might never leave him. There’s something precious in seeing
him sleep, the weight of a nation briefly lifted. In repose, he becomes more
man than machine, despite himself.
More real.
More reachable.
Careful
not to jostle the blankets, I slide the remote from his slack hand and turn up
the volume on an informercial to cover the sound of my movements. No easy feat,
given he has catlike reflexes and can hear footsteps two doors down. Smiling,
my heart expands. Those are only a few of the many skills that make him
straight-up cool, in and out of a uniform.
So far, so
good, the light from the TV guiding me as I crawl out of bed and grab paper and
pen from the dresser. Not bothering to cover myself, I stand in the same spot
and write what’s in my heart, the words clambering to come out. It’s all I can
do to make my cursive scroll legible. Most of my letters are like this. Born of
furious inner thoughts.
Dear... I begin, then pause on the next looping letter.
I always
write friend.
The safety
of our anonymity now gone, I write his name instead, personally addressing him
for the first time. He feels like two different men to me, both of whom I love,
but neither of which I deserve.
It’s odd
to use your name. I might never get used to that. I might never write you
another letter either. It feels wrong now, as I look at the face of a man who’s
been my sounding board, my guiding light, my surprise of a lifetime. Soft with
sleep, his burdens at rest, it’s a face that proves every sappy love song
right. Love—and let’s be honest, a daily dose of sex—really is all you need.
And pizza.
Love, sex,
and pizza. The ultimate threesome. But I digress.
Everybody
has one, you know. A love story. Even the non-believers, one of which is the
man embedded within my soul. Some of the stories are good, some bad. Some of
them, for the very lucky, are even great. Those are the ones that last, defying
a low survival rate.
I’ve
always wished mine—I mean, ours—to be a lovely tale that played out like a
metaphoric fable, where hummingbirds sipped nectar from orange blossoms on
dew-dampened spring mornings, our love growing from the softest flutter of
paper-thin wings, to a steady beat so sure and strong, you could tell the time
and temperature by it. What appeared outwardly fleeting could easily withstand
the rigors of Mother Nature. Bring on the hurricane. We’ll wait for the
rainbow.
Go ahead.
Laugh your fine, cynical ass off. I was thirteen when I dreamt that gem up, and
while you might be hero material to me and many others, you’re no fairy tale
prince. God knows, I’m no princess, so I’m laughing right along with you. We’re
the sorriest pair of hummingbirds ever.
But the
thing is… I don’t care how it really happened.
Just
that it did.
I continue
to bleed words of love, and then regret, onto the page, desperate to say
everything I need to. Confess my sins the only way I know how.
“Hey.”
The
rustling of sheets interrupts me, and I quickly slide the paper into the
drawer, reaching for his discarded t-shirt at the same time.
Slipping
it on, I cover my nakedness and grin at the scowl that crosses his gorgeous
face. Rolling to his side, his unguarded eyes beckon
me.
“C’mere.”
Patting the bed, his voice is rough with sleep.
Without
hesitation, I let him envelop me in his strong, capable arms.
Nuzzling
my hair, he asks the question I’m prepared for. “What were you doing? It’s zero
dark thirty.”
“Nothing.”
Burying my face in his neck, I kiss him and fight tears, feeling far more
secure than I should. The taste of his skin is achingly familiar, and I let my
lips linger. The privilege, I know, is temporary. “Just shaking off a dream.”
“Mmm,” he
rumbles, and it’s the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard. “A good one or bad?”
The answer
is complicated.
“Both,” I
finally admit, the tears falling unbidden. I hide them, and the darkness allows
me my privacy. “Tighter,” I whisper, and he just seems to know, the band of his
arms flexing.
My
breathing is shallow, but my love is deep, and I selfishly ask for more.
“Tighter. Please.”
Screw
hummingbirds and orange blossoms.
This is the love story—the sad, but true story—I’m meant to be in.
My Review
I received an advanced copy of this book with the promise of an honest review.
Jason Reynolds was an active duty Navy SEAL and about the biggest bad ass Sam had ever come across. Hardened to everything, he was worse than Asher when it came to showing emotions and building relationships, and that was saying something. Ash was hardhearted. Jason was plain and simple hardcore. And for some goddamn reason, the ladies loved him. In their younger days, when they all happened to be stateside, they’d hit up a seedy bar for a few games of pool and a few too many tequila shooters. Jason would do his thing, showing little regard for the female attention directed his way. Stalking around the pool table, making bank shot after bank shot, he’d fend off the more aggressive women who dared to approach using only a subtle but unmistakable shake of his head. And some of those women had been damn fine. He drew all kinds, from the leather miniskirt and fishnets type to the buttoned up blouse and low black pumps, repressed kind. More often than not, he left alone at the end of the night, but when he didn’t, it was a sight to see how little work he had to put in, to get a woman to put out. One night in particular had gone down in history, with Sam and Ash watching in awe. Finishing his last beer, Jason had simply tipped the empty bottle toward a brunette sitting at a barstool a good fifty feet away. She’d been watching the table and it hadn’t gone unnoticed, but she wasn’t one of the unlucky who’d approached, only to get the hard brush off from the guy they called Tin Man. Without hesitation, the woman had signed her credit card slip and walked toward the door, waiting patiently while Jason threw down a few bills to cover their tab before walking to the exit, opening the door so the brunette could precede him out and presumable toward a conveniently located hotel. She had accepted his wordless invitation without so much as a how do you do.
Aaaaaand I was HOOKED. So here we are 3 years later, finally getting Jason's story. I love me a strong, silent and kind of cranky man and that is essentially Jason in a nutshell.
But that all changes when Jason meets Tessa. Tessa has just left her fiance at the alter and is running away from her life. A flat tire strands her in Nowhere and sitting next to the last person she should be sitting next to. She's gorgeous and sassy and completely intriguing and by the end of the night, Jason is tucking her into bed. He knows he should stay away, but he can't help himself.
Good lord I love these two. And not just the extremely sexy sexytimes that happened between them. Yes, their sexual chemistry is crazy good, but they are also compatible as just friends. She's comfortable with just letting Jason be who he is and he is more than willing to be the guy that Tessa uses to get over her almost marriage. They just get each other. They know that their time together will be short, so they have to make the most of it.
Gah! This book! I just loved it so much.There is also a kind of secondary storyline in this book that was both heartbreaking and very healing. I won't go into any detail about what it is exactly, but I will tell you that I loved it and I thought it enhanced the story so much. This is definitely my favorite of the series and I already want to reread it!
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Author Bio
My love for
steamy romance began when I was in junior high. A friend and I noticed a
dumpster of discarded paperbacks behind our local dime store. Covers missing
and each book split down the spine, I scanned the pages for any love or lust
words—and curse words, too. From that point on, I scoured the public library
and the paperback racks at every store, reading anything labeled romance. I said
a tearfully grateful goodbye to Judy Bloom, and Jackie Collins began ruling my
world.
I live with
my high school sweetheart husband in the desert Southwest. Awesome in the
winter, not so much in the summer.
My life
long goals are to think before I speak, smile more and swear less, and actually
weigh what my driver's license states I do.
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