Saving Emilee

by J.A. Smith

The thing about growing up in a small town is that everyone knows you. They know your secrets. They know your shame. It’s something that you can never get away from, no matter how invisible you are to those around you. No matter how desperately you just want to be seen.
By someone.
By anyone.
Before it’s too late.

Emilee Jackson has lived in Independence her entire life. But she’s still alone in her day-to-day struggles. She doesn’t have anyone to turn to when her home life begins to fall apart. Even her friends turned their backs on her when she needed them the most.
Until a handsome stranger comes into the diner where she works. The only person to really see her as a person in need of a little help. Maybe even a little love.

Landon Strong isn’t a stranger to life in a small town. He was raised in Independence by his grandparents, but he got away. As a successful architect, he started a new life for himself in the city. Closing out his grandparents’ estate has brought him back to small-town life temporarily where he instantly falls for the innocent waitress at the diner.

Taking a risk he never thought he would take, Landon takes Emilee under his wing – into his protection.
But can he protect her when her past comes back for her?
Will he be able to get to her in time before everything they’ve worked toward together is torn apart before it ever really gets a chance to begin?

Saving Emilee is a complete standalone. It is a spicy contemporary romance written in dual POV with themes and content suitable for readers over the age of 18. While you may find Easter Eggs leading to other books written by the author, it is not necessary to read any of the other books in order to fully enjoy this one.

Trigger Warning: Saving Emilee includes rough and sometimes intense scenes that may be triggering to some readers including domestic abuse (not by MC) and kidnapping (Not by MC).

Unknown Binding

About the author

J.A. Smith writes romantic suspense that doesn't shy away from the edge. With a love
for morally complex characters and tension that grips from the first page, J.A. crafts
stories where strong heroines meet their match in fiercely protective alpha heroes—and
neither goes down without a fight.
After spending five years perfecting her debut trilogy, J.A. took the bold step of rewriting
the entire series from the ground up. The reimagined books push deeper into the
darkness, test boundaries harder, and deliver the hard-won happily ever afters her
readers crave.
When not writing scenes that make her heart race, J.A. can be found consuming far too
much cold brew and falling down research rabbit holes about things most people don't
want to know.
Every story ends in an HEA. Getting there? That's where things get dangerous.

Reviews

[Brandy Wine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I started this book with high expectations. I have read other works by this author, and I like the way that she writes. This is a wonderful palate cleanser if you’re needing some thing between rains. It’s a wholesome, sweet, small town romance with the mfc being from the small town, mmc being from the big city, but grew up in said small town.

It was a joy to be an arc reader for this book I can’t wait to see what else comes from this author. I don’t know if it was intended or not, but I could see the twist coming from the beginning of the book. For the type of book that it is, it works out perfectly but personally, I would’ve liked to have had a little bit longer spent in that middle ground where the twist happened. (That could just be from my dark romance reading lately).

All in all wonderful book and I would recommend it to anybody that needs a palate cleanser or a small town romance. just a ground you back down to reality.

[J.A. Smith]

Both Landon and Emilee grew up in the same small town, separated by age. Landon had already grown up and moved away to start his career in the city, but Emilee is still trying to escape the small-town life where she feels trapped. A chance meeting with instant attraction brings these two together. Landon wants nothing more than to protect Emilee from her past, but her past has other plans for her future.



This is a sweet, steamy romantic suspense with instant attraction, emotional scars, a heartbreaking, emotional rescue, and written in dual POV.

[Delaine (NovelReadingNanny) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The story that I’ve been putting together for the last nineteen years was obviously written by some emo kid on a drunken bender after breaking into daddy’s liquor cabinet and swallowing a bottle of mommy’s anxiety pills."

I don't know why but I love this quote from this book. It feels real and uncensored.

Emilee is stuck in her hometown as a waitress at the local diner. Forced to endure unimaginable things, she remains invisible to those she grew up around. That is, until a stranger walks in. Landon sees Emi immediately and refuses to do anything less than protect her at every turns. But when it means the most, will be be able to protect her from the past?

Let me say this, I immediately requested this book because sometimes I need a little emotional trauma. IYKYK 🤷‍♀️ Emi is scarred, in so many ways, and all I wanted to do was wrap her up in a hug. She was definitely written as a damsel in distress in need of saving.

Because I really wanted to get to the good part, I pushed through the first third or so. It was slow. Not like a slow burn, just slow. Honestly, the relationship between Landon and Emi developed really fast which I was surprised about with her past. I was expecting more resistance.

This romance novel also has a little bit of suspense in the end. It was a good twist, kind of expected, but a little drawn out. I don't want to spoil too much.

At the end of the day, I did love the storyline which is why I pushed through the slow bits. Emilee found herself and got some closure which is always amazing. Landon supported her and gave her exactly what she needed which we long in our MMC. This book has it's audience, people who need a little extra trauma mixed in with their regular plotline, but it's not gonna be for everyone.

Always check your content and trigger warnings! I received an ARC of this book to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: 4.5
Engagement: 3.75
Characters: 4
Style: 4
Overall Rating: 4.06/5

Review: I received a free ARC review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book of JA Smith's that I've read, though I have another series ready to go in my TBR that I'm excited to check out.

First off, the trigger warnings for this book are going to be important. I was expecting it to be more lighthearted than it was. There are definitely some heavier themes of abuse, trauma, death of loved ones/grief, and injuries/hospitalization. There are also some descriptive parts pertaining to these things that could be triggering.

There was some suspense mixed in, which gave the story a little more dimension than just a straight romance. I did find myself wanting more fleshed out backstory for some of the motivations (I won't give spoilers!). I wasn't instantly hooked on finding out what would happen, but it picked up nearer to the end when some action starts to go down. I felt most of the twists were set up pretty plainly, especially if you normally read suspense genre, but there were a couple of things that took me by surprise.

Apart from that, the romance was nice with an overwhelmingly sweet MMC who is protective and encouraging. He wants nothing more than to protect the woman who stole his heart. There's some spice, but not over the top. Read if you're looking for a little he falls first, instalove, emotional scars, small town to big city, romance with suspense!