Title: Ignite (#1, Explosive Series)
Author: Tessa Teevan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 30, 2013
After nearly a year and a half of grieving the
loss of her husband, twenty-seven year old Alexa Sullivan Tate is headed back
to her hometown after a decade of being away. She has no idea her high school
crush, Jace McAllister, the guy who stole her heart the same night that he
broke it, is more than ready to pick up the pieces.
Jace has spent the last ten years in the Army
defusing bomb after bomb, trying to forget the girl who ignited all his
passions. Little does he know that the spark still exists.
Ten years ago they had smoldering chemistry,
but the spark between them now might light a fuse that leads to an explosion
even Jace can't stop. Not that he wants to. If only Alexa can get past her
guilt and trust her heart again.
But how do you put it all on the line when
you've already lost everything once before?
*While this is a series, each book will be
standalone with spinoff characters.
Excerpt
I nod, and she makes her way down the hall that I now see is
lined with photographs. My stomach tightens, but I figure that I need to get
this over with if I’m going to be staying here. I walk towards them, stopping
at the first picture. I’m guessing it’s from the day they first met, the time
she told me about, because she’s giving him a playful frown while he’s grinning
at her like he’s already half in love with her, which, to be honest, he
probably was. I feel a slight twinge as I take in the picture, knowing that at
that moment he had no idea how short of a life he was going to have with her.
Hell, he probably wouldn’t have even cared, as long as he had her while he
could.
Shaking the thought out of my head, I browse each one. There
are candid shots of them mixed throughout professional ones from events such as
her graduation, Sierra and Jeremy’s wedding, and what looks like an engagement
party. As I pass each picture, it’s becoming more real to me that she had a
whole separate life before we reconnected. Strangely, I’m not bothered by it,
seeing how happy she looks in these pictures, even though it was with another
man and not me. I’ll admit that I was a little worried when she told me about
their fighting, but looking at these pictures? I know Ty made her a happy
woman, and I’m grateful that she had that while she could. Do I wish it had
been me? Fuck yes, but what can you do?
Coming to the last picture, I’m breathless as the image of
Alexa in a wedding dress enters my vision. I’m moving in for closer inspection
when she comes out of her room, stopping when she catches me. Her hand covers
her mouth as she closes her eyes for a split second. She swallows hard before
walking towards me. She reaches out her hand as if to touch my arm before
pulling it back, obviously thinking better of it.
“Jace, I… This is probably awkward,
I’m sorry. I just… I wasn’t expecting you, and I don’t…” She trails off as she
stares at the wall, glancing at the picture before turning her eyes towards the
floor.
So it is an interesting journey to reading this book. We participated in the cover reveal, and have you see that cover up there? My personal opinion is it is awesome! And I'm still not sure exactly when it happened, but I became an avid Tessa stalker on Twitter...Thank be to Stacy, I'm 99% sure! But anyways, moving on to us reading this book! I shall call you Un-American if you can't appreciate a romantic story about a second chance at love and friendship plus a military background as well. (Okay, that UA line is my husbands favorite when I don't agree with him. Yes, I know I need to quit spewing his nonsense! LOL!)
So...first line of Ignite...cue tears. I am a huge proponent of stories that explore the intricacies of marriage, and that bond your have with your SO. When things that are said in the heat of the moment end with life altering results... well...it is heartbreaking. I hope that no one ever has to experience that kind of heart ache, but the feels that it produced in this book were....just whoa. Agreed, Courtney. How horrific to be in one of those normal couple spats and then have the last words that echo between you be ones that you'd never in a million years want to be your final words! Then, Lexi's journey through the fire to a new kind of life for herself...and her sister's meddling...leads her to a chance reuniting with her best friend from high school and before...Jace.
Lexi goes from a world full of love and family and contentment to widowhood in the blink of an eye. When we first meet her she's been through the worst of her grieving process but is finding it hard to get back to the Lexi she used to be. She's going through the motions, much to her sister's chagrin, and has little motivation to do anything different. Fortunately her meddlesome sister and her new friend Brady make it their mission to nudge (or sometimes push!) her into taking some chances that she wouldn't otherwise attempt. Despite her initial grumbling about their meddling, she soon sees that maybe, just maybe, she's ready to take baby steps in reclaiming her life. And whom better to do this with than Jace?
Jace is seriously a highlight of why I love to read romance. He is the full package, and to add in his top notch military status, and I couldn't read this book fast enough. Okay, that's not true...I was sort of reading it out of schedule, so I didn't get to read it as fast as I would have liked because I wasn't supposed to even be reading it. See, the force is strong with this one. So I foresee that you might also be throwing caution to the wind to your already heavy TBR list to add it a little bit higher...eeek, or the number one spot. Jace is a strong character who recognizes his mistakes in the past, and vows not to let this opportunity pass through his fingers in the present. He goes full court press as Lexi, and puts himself out there...but can Lexi confront her past enough to return the favor?
Jace. Sigh. Swoony Jace. He's everything Courtney mentions--smart, intuitive, patient, kind, strong, heroic...he's the perfect mix of ...well everything. He's exactly the person Lexi needs to help move on from her grief and remember what it feels like to be happy. If only Lexi will allow herself to let go of her fears and embrace what Jace has to offer. And that, my dears, is the question that will haunt Lexi for a majority of this novel.
To end, the character who really owns and stole the show in this book would have to be Ava. A four year old took this book some awesome places...she was funny. And endearing, and so has it figured out sometimes more than the adults. Which is true of some of the crazy and insightful things that come out of kids mouths, yeah? So...between Ava and making yourself a member of the Blue-Clit-Group (Yeah, you read that right)...this book was a pretty damn awesome debut novel from a really fun new friend on Twitter! Hmmm....I think Ava and Sierra go neck and neck for scene stealers...both had me giggling, lots!
This is such a great mix of honesty and sweetness and sexiness--one you'll have a hard time putting down, for sure. The tortured Knox's book is up next....very eager to get to the bottom of his story! Yeah, stalk Tessa for some pretty awesome teaser photos that she is posting about. Knox is going to be great!
Shelley: 4 Stars
Courtney: 5 Stars
I'm a twenty six year old book junkie who
is also obsessed with sports. Bengals, Buckeyes, Reds are my teams! I work for
the government during the day, hang out with Air National Guard on the
weekends, and am married to a guy 15 inches taller than me. We're quite the
pair! We currently live right outside of Dayton, OH with our two cats.
I've been reading since I was a kid. My
mom was a librarian, so it was a given. Heck, she even made sure we watched
Wishbone instead of the Smurfs. In 2011 when I graduated from college, my mom
bought me a Nook, and then in the summer of 2012 I found this amazing site
called Goodreads. I was introduced to so many amazing indie/self-published
authors. After reading almost 400 books that year, my husband gave me the push
to finally sit down and write my own. It was a rocky start, but over time the
words started flowing and I couldn't get Jace and Lexi out of my head.
If I’m not writing or looking through tons
of photos of hot men, all in the name of research, then you can probably find
me curled up with my Kindle, ignoring the rest of the world. I love my sports
almost as much as I love my books. My other obsessions include red wine, hot men,
country music, and all things Grace Potter.
I LOVE to hear from readers, so please
feel free to contact via any social media site listed below.
Connect with the Author
Giveaway (11/11 – 11/18)
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PRIZE – Kindle Paperwhite
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Signed Paperbacks of Ignite (US Only)
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eBook copy of Catch My Fall by Ella Fox
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eBook copy of Fraternizing by C.C. Brown
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eBook copy of Very Bad Things by Ilsa Madden-Mills
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