Title: Unrequited Author: Jen Frederick
Series: Woodlands #4
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: April 13, 2015
Genre: Erotic Romance, New Adult
More Info: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon US
Purchase: Barnes & Noble
Purchase: Amazon UK
Purchase: iTunes
Purchase: Kobo
Winter Donovan loves two things: her sister and her sister's ex boyfriend. She's spent her whole life doing the right thing except that one time, that night when Finn O'Malley looked hollowed out by his father's death. Then she did something very wrong that felt terribly right.
Finn can't stop thinking about Winter and the night and he'll do anything to make her a permanent part of his life, even if it means separating Winter from the only family she has.
Their love was supposed to be unrequited but one grief stricken guy and one girl with too big of a heart results in disastrous consequences.
Meet Finn & Winter in the newest addition to the Woodlands Series!
Excerpt
“Are you humming?” Bo asked.
I looked up from pulling on the dingiest carpet I’d seen in months. This house I’d picked up was vile, worse than usual. Bo had suggested it was a meth factory, given the needles, rotten egg smell, and burnt patches on the walls and flooring. It could have been, or it might just have been an ordinary addict’s house, but there was shit everywhere.
If I was humming, I didn’t realize it, but I was in a decent mood. I figured once I got Winter to just sit and talk with me, we’d work it out. That was something worth humming about.
I just shrugged and went back to work. “Just trying to block out the god-awful music you choose to play. You’ve been up north here for almost a year. Can’t you play anything but country songs?”
“I could.” Bo paused to toss a handful of staples in the trash. “But I know it annoys the hell out of you. And that makes the music sound that much sweeter.”
“Too bad you don’t know shit all about constructing a house and you still have to hang on my dick until you can get it right.”
“Which is why I play music you hate. It fits our dysfunctional relationship.”
“I thought you were going to therapy to fix your problems.”
“If by ‘therapy’ you mean having a ton of awesome sex with my girlfriend, then yes, I’m in therapy all night and random times during the day.” I snorted but wisely said nothing. “But speaking of therapy,” Bo continued. My response was a loud groan that I hoped would be hint enough that I didn’t want to talk about whatever it was that followed. Bo ignored me. “How’s your mom?”
“Well, she texted that she got up and had coffee today, so I count that as a win.” I reached down to tug harder on the carpet. Did they glue it down instead of just stapling the edges?
“Mal says ‘Paradise lies under the feet of your mother.'”
That made me stop. I gaped at Bo. He threw up his hands, one still holding a crowbar he was using to pull up the tacking strips, the long thin lumber pieces that held the carpet on the edges of the room.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Apparently it means if you don’t make your momma happy, you ain’t gonna be happy.”
“If I knew what would make her happy, I’d do it,” I replied.
“I suck at this comforting thing.” He pulled off his hat and scratched his head. “But maybe you outta talk to someone else?”
“Like Lana?” I grunted. “No thanks. Between her and Mal, it sounds like I should be taking my mother on a date.”
Guest Review: Amy
This is the story of Winter and Finn’s. It is told in dual POVs and is a continuation of the Woodlands series. While it is part of a series each book is about different couples and can be read as a stand alone.
After the death of his father Finn is drowning. He’s buried so deep in the bottle trying to deal with his grief. When a chance encounter with Winter (his ex girlfriend’s little sister) ends with a night of hot sex between the two, Finn finds the one thing since his father’s passing that gives him hope; Winter.
Winter has had a crush on the super, hot Finn for years. It was a crush Winter never acted upon because Finn had previously dated Winter’s older sister Ivy.
Winter never intended to sleep with Finn but when she does and then tries to avoid him after Finn won’t take no for an answer. Finn relentlessly pursues Winter trying to break down her walls. However Winter’s sister doesn’t make it easy for Finn either. Her lies and manipulation only cause more obstacles for Winter and Finn. I was so mad at Winter for playing into her sister’s hand! If I could have reached into this book I would have slapped the hell out of Ivy!
I really enjoyed Finn and Winter’s story. I think Jen Fredrick does an excellent job writing in dual POV’s. The ending fell a little short for me. It felt like all was forgiven and magically repaired way too quickly. I also thought the epilogue could have been far better. I felt it left us with too few explanations.
Overall this is a solid read! I adore this series and will be anxiously waiting for whatever Jen gives us next!
Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Undeclared (Woodlands, #1)
Amazon US
For four years, Grace Sullivan wrote to a Marine she never met, and fell in love. But when his deployment ended, so did the letters. Ever since that day, Grace has been coasting, academically and emotionally. The one thing she’s decided? No way is Noah Jackson — or any man — ever going to break her heart again.
Noah has always known exactly what he wants out of life. Success. Stability. Control. That’s why he joined the Marines and that’s why he’s fighting his way — literally — through college. Now that he’s got the rest of his life on track, he has one last conquest: Grace Sullivan. But since he was the one who stopped writing, he knows that winning her back will be his biggest battle yet.
Undressed (Woodlands, #1.5)
Amazon US
Noah and Grace’s happy ever after hits a stumbling block in the form of one shady professor threatening Noah’s scholarship eligibility. Noah is given the choice of throwing his New Year’s MMA fight for a big payoff or accepting that the true meaning of love isn’t measured by the thickness of his wallet but the depth of Grace’s big heart.
Unspoken (Woodlands, #2)
Amazon US
My Review
Whore. Slut. Typhoid Mary.
I’ve been called all these at Central College. One drunken night, one act of irresponsible behavior, and my reputation was ruined. Guys labeled me as easy and girls shied away. To cope, I stayed away from Central social life and away from Central men, so why is it that my new biology lab partner is so irresistible to me?
He’s everything I shouldn’t want. A former Marine involved in illegal fighting with a quick trigger temper and an easy smile for all the women. His fists aren’t the danger to me, though, it’s his charm. He’s sliding his way into my heart and I’m afraid that he’s going to be the one to break me.
Impulsive. Unthinking. Hot tempered.
I allow instinct to rule my behavior. If it feels good, do it, has been my motto because if I spend too much time thinking, I’ll begin to remember exactly where I came from. At Central College, I’ve got fighting and I’ve got women and I thought I was satisfied until I met her.
She’s everything I didn’t realize I wanted and the more time I spend with her, the more I want her. But she’s been hurt too much in the past and I don’t want to be the one to break her. I know I should walk away, but I just can’t.
Unraveled (Woodlands, #3)
Amazon US
My Review
Twenty-five-year-old Sgt. Gray Phillips is at a crossroads in his life: stay in the Marine Corps or get out and learn to be a civilian? He’s got forty-five days of leave to make up his mind but the people in his life aren’t making the decision any easier. His dad wants him to get out; his grandfather wants him to stay in. And his growing feelings for Sam Anderson are wreaking havoc with his heart…and his mind. He believes relationships get ruined when a Marine goes on deployment. So now he’s got an even harder decision to make: take a chance on Sam or leave love behind and give his all to the Marines.
Twenty-two year old Samantha Anderson lost her husband to an IED in Afghanistan just two months after their vows. Two years later, Sam is full of regrets—that she didn’t move with her husband to Alaska; that she allowed her friends to drift away; that she hasn’t taken many chances in life. Now, she’s met Gray and taking a risk on this Marine could be her one opportunity to feel alive and in love again. But how can she risk her heart on another military man who could share the same tragic fate as her husband?
[…] from Books to Breathe said: I adore this series and will be anxiously waiting for whatever Jen gives us […]