Title: End of Day
Author: Jewel E Ann
Series: Jack & Jill #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: August 17, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
More Info: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon US
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Purchase: Amazon UK
Purchase: iTunes
Purchase: Kobo

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.

Four caskets. Two bodies.

Jessica and Jude Day witness their funeral and that of their parents a few yards away from mourning family and friends. Stripped of the only life they’ve ever known, the Days say goodbye to San Francisco forever.

Four months later, two thirty-year-old misfits with elite self-defense skills and penchants for alcohol, sex, and trouble arrive like an earthquake to Peaceful Woods, a retirement community in Omaha, Nebraska, that thrives on rules and gossip. Welcome home, Jackson and Jillian Knight.

Jackson celebrates his new beginning by embracing his job and wiping his cavalier past clean with a temporary oath of celibacy. But Jillian’s past is branded into her soul—the deaths, the insanity, Dr. Luke Jones, and the need to make her lovers bleed. Her chance for redemption comes in the form of a next door neighbor, one Senior Master Sergeant Monaghan. He’s sexy, dangerously alluring, and riddled with emotional issues from years of service. He’s also … So. Damn. Grumpy.

Their mission is simple: Let go, start over, don't kill anyone, and pray that nobody wakes the dead.

Meet Jack & Jill in End of Day by Jewel E Ann!

Be sure to grab your copy of this uniquely dark and funny read!

Excerpt

“Have you ever killed anyone?”

            Jessica’s smile slipped. “If I told you then I’d have to kill you.”

            “So you’re a secret agent?”

            She flipped onto her stomach, resting her chin on her crossed arms. “If I said yes then it would no longer be a secret. Come on, Jones, you’re losing your focus. Don’t let me feel smarter than you or our time together will be over and I rather like hanging out here.”

            “Luke,” he corrected.

            “Lucas.”

            “Luke.”

            “Lukey.”

            “LUKE!”

            “Lulu.”

            “I mean it!” Luke showed another rare moment of teetering emotion.

            Jessica chuckled. “What are the chances of us having sex? I’ve never done it missionary, but you could possibly counsel me through it.”

            He refocused on his crossword puzzle, filling in a word in pen. “Less than zero percent.”

            “So, not in my favor, eh?

            “Why not missionary?”

            Jessica smiled in delight that Luke continued with the topic of conversation. “I’m sure you already know, but if you want me to say I need control, then sure, I need control. But the truth is I’d control any sex position you want to put me in.” Jessica winked as Luke gave her a fleeting glance. “I just don’t want you thinking you have control, even if I know it’s not the case. Pisses me off to see the smirk on a guy’s face when he thinks he has control.”

            “Tell me why you need control.” Luke continued with his crossword.

            “In bed?”

            “Yes.”

            “Someone has to have it.”

            “Why?”

            “Because someone initiates it.”

            “So if I initiate sex with you will I have control?”

            “There’s only one way to find out.” Jessica wiggled her eyebrows at an ill-humored Luke.

My Review

So while it isn’t unusual for me to get completely engrossed in a book, as I so often do, this story was a completely different experience I never saw coming. Having never read this author before, while the blurb intrigued me, I has a bit of apprehension going into it because I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. However, within the fist few pages I discovered that not only was this story going to keep me furiously flipping the pages but it was FUN to read. When is the last time you read a book and it was fun? I’m talking the kind of fun that keeps you guessing what is really going on, makes your heart heavy and light in the same breath, and has you falling in love with each and every character in a book the second they are introduced. Because for me, that all happened by the end of the first chapter. It was a forgone conclusion that there was literally nothing that could happen to dampen my feelings towards any aspect of the story.

I feel like the more answers I received the more questions that grew from them. I can promise that by the time you get to the end of this book you won’t have everything figured out. That’s how complex this story is, but that’s just one of the things that makes it so completely amazing! You’ve been warned; there will be two other books in this series. While I am not 100% sure that both are about our main characters in this one, I can only assume at least one more is. That being said, don’t let it hold you back from reading this one. I know tons of people have problems with cliffhangers, but IMO, as bad goes, this one isn’t nearly as terrible as I have seen. It left me wanting more, it left me intrigued, but it didn’t bring me to my knees. Because I have faith the author will take us where we need to be. And if not, well, just let me stay in my happy little world of denial for a bit longer…

At times it felt as if there were as many main characters as there were side characters. That may sound like it would be confusing, but once you start reading it’s as if you had always been a part of their lives. The story is really told in two main parts: Jessica & Luke (Jones) from the past, and Jillian & AJ in the present. What you discover very early on is that Jessica and Jillian are the same person. Jillian, Jillian, Jillian. This chick was a bundle of messed up wrapped in a tough outer shell that not many penetrated, yet at the heart of her was a woman though doubtful in herself, full of strength. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and her actions said everyone else be danged. I loved that she didn’t care what anyone thought of her, at least in the beginning. I loved her attitude and the no-nonsense sass she threw everyone that crossed her path. Though she had her secrets, what you saw was what you got. Jessica was another story completely. Through Jessica’s part of the story, we really begin to understand why she is the way she is and why she must do the things she does in order to maintain some semblance of sanity and order in an otherwise chaotic life. And it’s through Jessica’s part of the story that my heart really started to break into a million little pieces. And here’s why…

Enter our leading men in the story. First enter Jackson, her twin brother. He is her rock, her confidant, the one person in the world who knows her better that she knows herself. The keeper of ALL her secrets. His ability to be protective yet keep a safe distance was so endearing. I loved his blasé attitude towards everything yet you could tell there was so much under the surface. I really hope we get a book where he’s the main star because while we got a glimpse of who he was in this story, it was merely a glimpse. I just know there’s so much more below the surface. And here’s where my indecision reared its ugly head. Enter AJ, the hot, older neighbor. Severely crippled from untreated PTSD, he seems to be just as dysfunctional as Jillian, making them a match made in heaven or hell, whichever way you choose to look at it. I truly believe that he was the catalyst she needed in order to truly start her new life, and he was the challenge she never saw coming. He was like an old grumpy dog you just needed to show who was boss and tame. In many ways AJ became her equal. And oh how I loved that. I loved their scenes of going head to head. Their verbal sparring was on par and often hilarious.On the flip-side of that coin we have Luke. Luke belonged, heart and soul, to Jessica. The two relationships were literally night and day. Where with AJ she was fighting who she had left behind and coming to terms with who she was now, with Luke she was fighting against everything she thought she had to be shameful of and fear. The two J’s were very much the same person yet at different stages in their lives. And though he had a hard head and tried to act like he didn’t care, you are going to read some scenes where he could no longer deny the attraction that had quickly developed and they will have  your head spinning on its axis. Luke was just so everything Jessica needed at the time. And in many ways I felt like they were perfect for each other, yet deliciously imperfect.

And…enter my indecision. I honestly can’t say at this point who I love more. I love them both for very different reasons. How do all these paths cross and what does it all mean? Well, you are just going to have to read the book to figure it out for yourself 😉 Trust me when I say it’s SO worth it!

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