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When We Collide
From the bestselling author of Pulled and Take This Regret comes a new gripping tale of loss and love.
William has spent six years running from his past and the last eight months trying to rid his mind of the dreams that increasingly haunt his nights. Trapped in a world of false ambitions and feigned affections, William knows he’s reached a breaking point and something’s going to give.
Maggie had lived her entire life without hope until one man showed her what it meant to be loved. He’d been her light in a lifetime of darkness. Six years ago, that darkness stole him away. Without him, she’s surrendered herself to an existence she doesn’t know how to escape.
When the family William left behind is struck by tragedy, he is called back to the one place he’s sworn to never return to again.
In a moment that will change his life forever, William comes face to face with the girl who, with one look, captured his heart. He is unable to ignore the buried desires and the hope for the future they’d once believed they’d have.
Now William is ready to fight to take back what had been stolen from him six years before.
But he never imagined what that fight might cost him.
A.L. Jackson gives you an intimate look into the lives of a family bound by an unseen connection in this romantic thriller with a supernatural twist.
William has spent six years running from his past and the last eight months trying to rid his mind of the dreams that increasingly haunt his nights. Trapped in a world of false ambitions and feigned affections, William knows he’s reached a breaking point and something’s going to give.
Maggie had lived her entire life without hope until one man showed her what it meant to be loved. He’d been her light in a lifetime of darkness. Six years ago, that darkness stole him away. Without him, she’s surrendered herself to an existence she doesn’t know how to escape.
When the family William left behind is struck by tragedy, he is called back to the one place he’s sworn to never return to again.
In a moment that will change his life forever, William comes face to face with the girl who, with one look, captured his heart. He is unable to ignore the buried desires and the hope for the future they’d once believed they’d have.
Now William is ready to fight to take back what had been stolen from him six years before.
But he never imagined what that fight might cost him.
A.L. Jackson gives you an intimate look into the lives of a family bound by an unseen connection in this romantic thriller with a supernatural twist.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 7, 2012
508 people are currently reading
10975 people want to read
About the author
A.L. Jackson
91 books14.5k followersA.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, FALLING STARS, REDEMPTION HILLS, TIME RIVER, and MOONLIT RIDGE novels. Start your binge with the first book in her latest series, From Here to Eternity! A broody single dad, a heroine on the run, and all the steam and suspense!
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
GET TO KNOW ME EVERYWHERE
Website: www.aljacksonauthor.com
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Text "aljackson" to 33222 for special updates!
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Represent by Brower Literary & Management
subrights@browerliterary.com
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, FALLING STARS, REDEMPTION HILLS, TIME RIVER, and MOONLIT RIDGE novels. Start your binge with the first book in her latest series, From Here to Eternity! A broody single dad, a heroine on the run, and all the steam and suspense!
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
GET TO KNOW ME EVERYWHERE
Website: www.aljacksonauthor.com
Facebook: facebook.com/aljacksonauthor
Twitter: @aljacksonauthor
Instagram: @aljacksonauthor
Snapchat: aljacksonauthor
Newsletter: http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson
Reader Group: http://smarturl.it/AmysAngelsRock
Text "aljackson" to 33222 for special updates!
Want to know what music inspires my books?
I have book specific playlists on Spotify!
https://open.spotify.com/user/1255231879
Represent by Brower Literary & Management
subrights@browerliterary.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 881 reviews
November 11, 2012
5+ stars!!!!
Books like this remind me why I absolutely ADORE reading. Books like this that grab me, hold me captive, envelop me in the story and leave a mark on my heart.
Once again, the phenomenally talented AL Jackson brings us a gorgeously written, emotionally charged love story that that was heart wrenching, beautiful and uplifting.
This book highlights the gut-wrenching horrors of abuse, the beauty of a second chance, of finding the strength to stand up for yourself and for those you love, and of the healing power of love.
The dedication at the beginning of the book says it all:-
“Because it shouldn’t hurt to be touched.”
When William first saw Maggie, he felt drawn to her. But Maggie has known no kindness in her life. Born into an abusive home and now shadowed by an abusive boyfriend, Maggie is fragile, damaged, and feels unworthy of love, but at the same time is sweet, kind-hearted, self-sacrificing, and deserving of so much more than life has thrown at her. William wants nothing more than to help heal her and to save her from the life she’s surrounded by. Slowly, he gains her trust and in secret they begin a beautiful relationship.
“I’ll be whatever you need me to be.”
But on the night when they are supposed to escape together something goes horribly wrong and they are torn apart.
“Every part of me knew she was forbidden, that her heart already belonged to whatever shit she’d been out through in her life, but I couldn’t stop myself from wanting her to stay.”
Now, six years later, William is feeling trapped by his life – his loveless relationship, his stressful job leading to a career he no longer cares about and despite everything he did to try and move on from the pain of that night, William can’t get the image of the brown eyed girl he fell in love with back home out of his head. The girl who pushed him out of her life. The girl he could save because she wouldn’t let him. The girl he can’t forget.
When a situation forces William to return home for the first time since he left, he finds the truth behind what happened that night and has to find a way to save the girl he’s always loved.
Okay… first, I just need to gush for a moment over how much I adore AL Jackson’s writing style. Seriously, she has a true gift for making you feel . Her writing style is beautiful, evocative and deeply touching. She makes you hover at this delicious point, almost near tears, not necessarily from sadness, but just from an overflow of emotions. I crave this feeling in books. The kind that lets me know I have fully connected on an emotional level with the characters. It just compels you to read more. Love, love, love!!!
This story is told in a blend of present day events and flashbacks, both from William and Maggie’s POVs, putting you right into their minds but with an understanding of the memories that have shaped them and the events that have brought them to where they are today.
The hurt and abuse that Maggie went through made my heart ache. Her pain, how worthless she was made to feel, how strongly she held herself together. It was horrific. Tragic. You can just feel her desperation as she tries to hold it all together and do what she thought was the right thing. Sacrificing herself for to save those she loved most. It was absolutely heart breaking.
“Every part of me had William written on it, the way I thought and what I saw.
What I desired and where my dreams laid.
No, I could never have him. I’d made too many mistakes. I had stayed on the same path that he had tried to save me from.
But I had never stopped wanting him.
Loving him.
He’d fought for me .
And I’d let him go without putting up my own fight.”
I felt for William so strongly. He was just such a good, protective guy, trying so hard to do the right thing in an impossible situation. What do you do when your love is forbidden by the very person you love? I was so caught up with his emotions – in the horrible situation of seeing the girl he was in love with trapped in an abusive life she refused to be saved from. I ached for him. I felt for him. I rooted for him. For how badly he wanted to help her, bring her happiness, and save her from the life she clung to.
“I knew she was broken, knew no matter where she ended up in life, her past would always be there to haunt her, knew she had so much to overcome. But I also knew, underneath it all, she was strong. I saw it in her eyes and felt it in her spirit. I knew she was kind and good, knew she was beautiful. And I knew I was never going to stop loving her.”
As hard as it was to read some of the scenarios, I found both William and Maggie’s actions very understandable. Its so easy to look in on someone else’s pain from the outside and think that maybe you would have done things differently but situations like these are impossible to judge by anyone except the people living them. I felt for their heart ache and for the mistakes they made even as I understood why they were making them. Everyone deals with pain differently and all I wanted was to root for them and hope that they would find a way heal the hurt. It was a tragic situation to be in and the beauty of this one was that they made a second chance for themselves.
“I don’t know how to stop loving you.”
I don’t think there is a single person out there who can claim to have lived their lives always making the right calls. Everyone makes mistakes. But how you deal with your mistakes, and what you do to go about correcting them… I think those are the things that define you and it was what defined both Maggie and William.
I can't tell you how teary the love scenes made me. They were just so beautifully written and so strongly charged with heightened emotions. The descriptions focus more on the emotions rather than the acts but this is still definitely an adult book.
As the ending built, I was just in a frenzy of anticipation. My heart beat was erratic. I honestly doubt I blinked (except maybe to clear the tears). I just needed everything to be right so badly!!
And not only was the ending everything I wanted but there was a gorgeous epilogue that beautiful highlighted the healing they went through.
This book has easily made my favorites list!
AL Jackson is truly one of the reining queens of second chance love stories. I can’t say enough good about her books. Everyone, absolutely everyone, MUST read them!! <3
CASTING (see above and below)
I'm undecided about William... its either this guy
or this guy
But, to me, this is definitely Maggie
(I'll finalize my casting tomorrow)
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August 27, 2016
5 HEART WRENCHING STARS
DAMN....WHAT A BOOK!!! It was utterly fantastic. I have read all of AL Jackson's books and every single one of them have moved me to a place that no other author has been able to do. Her books are beyond words, the emotion that is written into every line and every word is perfection. The palpable feelings that exude from her characters are indescribable. Her books have a pulse that beat through my body and make my heart soar. The flow of her stories, the pace, everything about them is incredible. I think I can only call them BRILLIANT because that's exactly what I was thinking and feeling while reading When We Collide. AL has managed to take a subject that is really hard to deal with and talk about, and has written it in a way that makes your mind reel and your heart ache. She has managed to create a brilliant masterpiece and relay and incredible message.
"BECAUSE IT SHOULDN'T HURT TO BE TOUCHED"
That one line I think describes EVERYTHING about this story. Maggie Krieger is a damaged and abused girl. She has lived in an abusive home all her life, is beaten down, crippled by fear and excruciatingly insecure, she has no self worth. She doesn't know a normal life, a normal home.
"I'd never know what home meant. To me it'd been a prison, a place I longed to escape. A place where horrors were harbored, concealed behind closed windows and lies." -- Maggie
She's stuck in a home trying to protect her sister and mother from an abusive father. She meets Troy who is nice to her and woos her but lands up being more of a monster than her father is. One night at a bonfire party she spots William or should I say William spots her across the field. There is an instant pull or draw that occurs between the two of them. William is the complete opposite of Maggie. He comes from a wonderful loving family and has everything going for him. He is home for the summer from UCLA when he spots Maggie at that party and an unexplained need to protect her takes hold of him. It's something that he just can't seem to explain or understand.
"Every part of me know she was forbidden, that her heart already belonged to whatever shit she'd been put through in her life, but I couldn't stop myself from wanting her.." -- William
Maggie is broken, she has too many emotional issues and scars. She's scared to make a break, choose a different life and her fear is crippling. It stops her from trying to escape the hell she lives in. It terrorizes her. It's extremely hard to read. Her relationship with William starts out as a friendship and grows to something amazing but it's not able to withstand the issues that arise in the early stages and they crumble and fall apart. Completely devastated by the end of their relationship William runs away from his family and life to get away from the memories that will haunt him. Six years later they are both struggling with day to day life. William is in a loveless marriage and working at a job he hates. He is trying to escape memories of Maggie and the broken heart she left him with. Maggie is in an abusive marriage to a man that is pure evil. William get's a call from his brother Blake that his Aunt Lisa is dying of cancer and that his mother really needs him. He makes a life altering decisions to come home and be there for his family but when he does come home he gets the surprise of a lifetime and is faced with a major life choice.
"I had spent my life believing I was happy. Until the day Maggie Krieger sent my world careening out of control. I knew then that having her was the only thing that could ever right it." -- William
The fight that takes place to save Maggie from the abuse and torment she is suffering at the hands of her husband is unbelievable. It's not for the faint of heart. Its dark, intense and heavy. I sobbed, clutched my chest thinking, I was honestly not going to make it through the book. It's heart pounding and gut wrenching. You want a happily ever after so bad!! The abuse is so hard to read, the need for Maggie to escape it is so huge. This story surpassed just the abuse though, it's a story of LOVE being able to save you from something so horrible, a love that is also able to heal wounds that run deep. A story of hope and second chances. No matter what horrors you have faced, you can find that courage in yourself, dig deep and make a choice to escape and live a happy, joyful life that you deserve.
There is one line in this book that left a lasting impression on me
" Make me remember what it feels like to be loved." -- Maggie
William is that man for Maggie. He is her light in the darkness, her sun in the shade, her hope, her everything. He gives her life, he inspires her to fight for happiness, makes her feel that she deserves to be loved. He gives her the love that Maggie so desperately needs. The kind of love that every single human being deserves. It's amazing and heart warming.
Underneath all the scars that lined my body and lined my soul, William saw me. And he loved me as much as I loved him." -- Maggie
I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it. I would really recommend anything by this amazing author. She has NEVER disappointed me!! This book is most definitely one for the favorites shelf and I can't wait to read more from her.
DAMN....WHAT A BOOK!!! It was utterly fantastic. I have read all of AL Jackson's books and every single one of them have moved me to a place that no other author has been able to do. Her books are beyond words, the emotion that is written into every line and every word is perfection. The palpable feelings that exude from her characters are indescribable. Her books have a pulse that beat through my body and make my heart soar. The flow of her stories, the pace, everything about them is incredible. I think I can only call them BRILLIANT because that's exactly what I was thinking and feeling while reading When We Collide. AL has managed to take a subject that is really hard to deal with and talk about, and has written it in a way that makes your mind reel and your heart ache. She has managed to create a brilliant masterpiece and relay and incredible message.
"BECAUSE IT SHOULDN'T HURT TO BE TOUCHED"
That one line I think describes EVERYTHING about this story. Maggie Krieger is a damaged and abused girl. She has lived in an abusive home all her life, is beaten down, crippled by fear and excruciatingly insecure, she has no self worth. She doesn't know a normal life, a normal home.
"I'd never know what home meant. To me it'd been a prison, a place I longed to escape. A place where horrors were harbored, concealed behind closed windows and lies." -- Maggie
She's stuck in a home trying to protect her sister and mother from an abusive father. She meets Troy who is nice to her and woos her but lands up being more of a monster than her father is. One night at a bonfire party she spots William or should I say William spots her across the field. There is an instant pull or draw that occurs between the two of them. William is the complete opposite of Maggie. He comes from a wonderful loving family and has everything going for him. He is home for the summer from UCLA when he spots Maggie at that party and an unexplained need to protect her takes hold of him. It's something that he just can't seem to explain or understand.
"Every part of me know she was forbidden, that her heart already belonged to whatever shit she'd been put through in her life, but I couldn't stop myself from wanting her.." -- William
Maggie is broken, she has too many emotional issues and scars. She's scared to make a break, choose a different life and her fear is crippling. It stops her from trying to escape the hell she lives in. It terrorizes her. It's extremely hard to read. Her relationship with William starts out as a friendship and grows to something amazing but it's not able to withstand the issues that arise in the early stages and they crumble and fall apart. Completely devastated by the end of their relationship William runs away from his family and life to get away from the memories that will haunt him. Six years later they are both struggling with day to day life. William is in a loveless marriage and working at a job he hates. He is trying to escape memories of Maggie and the broken heart she left him with. Maggie is in an abusive marriage to a man that is pure evil. William get's a call from his brother Blake that his Aunt Lisa is dying of cancer and that his mother really needs him. He makes a life altering decisions to come home and be there for his family but when he does come home he gets the surprise of a lifetime and is faced with a major life choice.
"I had spent my life believing I was happy. Until the day Maggie Krieger sent my world careening out of control. I knew then that having her was the only thing that could ever right it." -- William
The fight that takes place to save Maggie from the abuse and torment she is suffering at the hands of her husband is unbelievable. It's not for the faint of heart. Its dark, intense and heavy. I sobbed, clutched my chest thinking, I was honestly not going to make it through the book. It's heart pounding and gut wrenching. You want a happily ever after so bad!! The abuse is so hard to read, the need for Maggie to escape it is so huge. This story surpassed just the abuse though, it's a story of LOVE being able to save you from something so horrible, a love that is also able to heal wounds that run deep. A story of hope and second chances. No matter what horrors you have faced, you can find that courage in yourself, dig deep and make a choice to escape and live a happy, joyful life that you deserve.
There is one line in this book that left a lasting impression on me
" Make me remember what it feels like to be loved." -- Maggie
William is that man for Maggie. He is her light in the darkness, her sun in the shade, her hope, her everything. He gives her life, he inspires her to fight for happiness, makes her feel that she deserves to be loved. He gives her the love that Maggie so desperately needs. The kind of love that every single human being deserves. It's amazing and heart warming.
Underneath all the scars that lined my body and lined my soul, William saw me. And he loved me as much as I loved him." -- Maggie
I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it. I would really recommend anything by this amazing author. She has NEVER disappointed me!! This book is most definitely one for the favorites shelf and I can't wait to read more from her.
May 25, 2021
I couldn't finish this book, I really tried to. I didn't even read it intentionally. I downloaded the epub thinking it's When We Collided but after a chapter or 2, I noticed that this is no YA. Anyway, so I read a few more then put it on hold in November. I wasn't impressed. I decided to continue it now and downloaded the audio. It's BAD. I don't recommend the audiobook at all.
I know some consider it unfair to rate a book if it wasn't our intention to read it or whatever (especially if we DNF) but I've actually read a lot of contemporary romance and I've enjoyed it before so it's not like I'm reading a cooking book and decided to DNF.
Maggie is really weak and yes, she's abused but I just couldn't stand her. The drama and angst were too much. She doesn't do anything about it. The characters made some very stupid decisions and I lost interest. They weren't relatable and it's just not my kind of book. Everything was too dramatically problematic to the point it became surreal. The story was hard to believe especially since we live in the 21st century. People do have choices nowadays especially since she's living in a first-world country. The melodrama was too much.
I know some consider it unfair to rate a book if it wasn't our intention to read it or whatever (especially if we DNF) but I've actually read a lot of contemporary romance and I've enjoyed it before so it's not like I'm reading a cooking book and decided to DNF.
Maggie is really weak and yes, she's abused but I just couldn't stand her. The drama and angst were too much. She doesn't do anything about it. The characters made some very stupid decisions and I lost interest. They weren't relatable and it's just not my kind of book. Everything was too dramatically problematic to the point it became surreal. The story was hard to believe especially since we live in the 21st century. People do have choices nowadays especially since she's living in a first-world country. The melodrama was too much.
May 8, 2017
Last night I finally handed When We Collide over for formatting. No more editing and no more tweaks. It was hard to let it go, but it was time. I hope William and Maggie's story touches you the way it did me, and may all women, men, and children know it shouldn't hurt to be touched.
February 25, 2015
F**k, this was a tough one to finish. I felt my emotions all over the place. A tale of lost love, heartbreak, domestic violence, young love, older love, abuse - it had it all. Really as I was getting towards the end I really was not sure how it was going to end. It's one of those books that has left me with a headache - I find if I read a very emotionally charged book I end up with a headache at the end of it. I think I need something light to read now.
March 17, 2015
4.5 I'll never regret you STARS
Throughout this read, my heart was in a vice, tears pooling in my eyes, head throbbing with the need to do something, to stop the hurt, the pain, the abuse. At times, I wanted to be destructive and lash out at the injustice of it all.
The dedication says it all “Because it should not hurt to be touched.”
This book is about abuse, domestic violence, anger, betrayal and most importantly about how someone can live in terror their entire life, truly believe they are worthless until someone does something. Until someone actually SEES that person and changes it all.
William's life changes when he first lays eyes on Maggie. Both drawn together inexplicably despite reason or circumstance.
“I’d spend my life believing I was happy. Satisfied. Until the day Maggie Krieger sent my world careening out of control.”
"Maggie, this girl who had taken me hostage, body, mind, and spirit."
“I’m scared of this, of finally having something I've wanted so badly, but I’m more scared of losing it.”
This is a raw, heartbreaking and love reaffirming story that will twist you in knots and leave you emotionally exhausted but it is so worth the read!
Throughout this read, my heart was in a vice, tears pooling in my eyes, head throbbing with the need to do something, to stop the hurt, the pain, the abuse. At times, I wanted to be destructive and lash out at the injustice of it all.
The dedication says it all “Because it should not hurt to be touched.”
This book is about abuse, domestic violence, anger, betrayal and most importantly about how someone can live in terror their entire life, truly believe they are worthless until someone does something. Until someone actually SEES that person and changes it all.
William's life changes when he first lays eyes on Maggie. Both drawn together inexplicably despite reason or circumstance.
“I’d spend my life believing I was happy. Satisfied. Until the day Maggie Krieger sent my world careening out of control.”
"Maggie, this girl who had taken me hostage, body, mind, and spirit."
“I’m scared of this, of finally having something I've wanted so badly, but I’m more scared of losing it.”
This is a raw, heartbreaking and love reaffirming story that will twist you in knots and leave you emotionally exhausted but it is so worth the read!
July 12, 2014
“William. My secret, my heart. The beautiful man I’d lain with for hours under the stars, our lives poured out in a torrent of stories and words. The way he held me while I shared the ones that hurt me the most. How he touched me, the way he made me feel incredibly safe. How that hold had escalated from safety to ecstasy as the soft pads of his fingers would dance across my lips when he locked himself to me, the perfect weight of his body, the expression on his face when he came. The heartbreak in his eyes when I told him goodbye.”There are some love stories that will take you on such intensely emotional journeys, shake you to the very core of your being, make you scream, cry, curse, throw things against walls, but also fill you with more hope than you ever thought possible – THIS is one of those books. William and Maggie are going to become two names you might forget one day but you will never forget their story. You will never forget how much it hurt to ‘live’ their life with them, how much emotion you invested in their happiness and how cruel you learned life could be to those who least deserve it.
William has been raised in a loving and supportive household, his family tiesbeing the pillar or everything he is, everything he knows and everything he holds dear. One night while sitting around a bonfire with some friends, he sees Maggie and he is inexplicably drawn to her. Everything about her mesmerizes him – her every shy movement, her every reluctant word, her every timid glance directed his way – their connection is irreversibly forged that night. But Maggie is a troubled young woman. Her fragility comes from never having known what being loved felt like. Her history of domestic abuse has marked her deeply, scarred her self-confidence and made her see herself as unworthy of love. Damaged. Tainted. When she meets William she has already allowed the next abusive man into her life. William is like a bright light at the end of a dark and scary tunnel but Maggie is uncertain of whether she can take the necessary steps to reach that light. What first begins as a friendship, gently develops into an over-consuming bond.
“William had been the only one who had ever cared enough to really see me.”
For the first time, Maggie learns what it feels like to be loved, cherished, protected. William’s love is the first beacon in her young life and it fills her with something she's never dared to feel – hope. But for Maggie it is easier to accept and expect the cruelty coming from a man’s violent hand than the devotion and kindness that Williams offers her. Eventually some demons are hard to fight and the young lovers are torn apart, taken from each other by such unspeakable evil, breaking their hearts and forcing them to spend the next six years living far from each other. Their lives resume like nothing ever happened between them but neither of them are able to forget what they had.
“I’d buried it all in a place just under the surface where the memories of her touch ran rampant in my fantasies, freed only in the lonely moments of the night.”
Six years later, Williams returns to his home town, disillusioned with life, relationships, himself, but desperate to see again the girl that forever stole his heart. Unfortunately, life for Maggie has only become worse, making William realize that some decisions made in the heat of the moment can carry cruel repercussions. The more he learns about her current life, the more he hates himself for leaving her, making this a story of not just second chances but also about seizing life when it matters the most so that every waking moment is not spent in regret and what-ifs.
“I knew she was broken, knew no matter where she ended up in life, her past would always be there to haunt her, knew she had so much to overcome. But I also knew, underneath it all, she was strong. I saw it in her eyes and felt it in her spirit. I knew she was kind and good, knew she was beautiful. And I knew I was never going to stop loving her.”
William’s feelings of guilt are palpable, their taste bitter in our mouths, their heaviness hard to absorb. His love for Maggie is noble and pure but it takes the entire book to redeem him in our eyes for the decisions he made as a young man. His journey of redemption is one that he travels bravely and with strength of character. Maggie, on the other hand, is the ultimate victim in this story as life has rarely shown her any kindness. Her sadness and pain are so deeply ingrained into her, compartmentalizing her mind, making it capable of shutting down when pain, sadness, humiliation, helplessness become unbearable. She drifts through life like a ghost, constantly overwhelmed by the demons that are gently crushing her beautiful spirit into oblivion. It is difficult to imagine going through what she lived through every single day of her life and not shattering like a glass. But not Maggie. She might appear fragile and weak but her strength and resilience shine through her. We can’t judge any of the decision that she makes at any point in her life because when one is dealt such a bad hand, one is allowed to deal with it all the best they know how and even make mistakes in the process. Every decision she has ever made has been motivated only by selflessness and total regard for the wellbeing of the ones she loved. She is a heroine you will welcome into your heart, never resent for her actions and only respect her even more for them.
“I’d been building up to this, searching for the courage to find my voice, for the place inside me that knew it was okay to ask for what I wanted.”
I guarantee you will find this book to be tempestuous, brutal, grueling, impossible to take at times, but it will also warm your heart, leave you happy in the end and hopefully just a little bit more grateful for the positives in your own life. This is the second novel by A.L. Jackson that I have read and I am ready to build this woman a shrine. Right after she pays for my therapy sessions.
~ N ♥
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June 25, 2015Currently on sale for $0.99 until June 28th, 2015.
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I don't know how should I rate this one. One on hand, the writing is awesome and emotional engagement score is really high. On the other hand, this book just make me so sad and angry. Honestly, I felt negatively for almost 90% of the book. Is this something I want to read for leisure? I prefer more happiness in my reading material.
A big portion of this book was told from the hero, William's POV. He is this sad guy who fell in love with the wrong girl. Or maybe I shouldn't say 'wrong', but definitely someone that is so difficult for him to love.
Maggie is a girl grew up in an abusive family. Her childhood history was not describe in detail but we got the gist of it. She was pretty messed up psychologically. Thinking that getting a boyfriend might take her away from her home, she hooked up with Troy, the local dirtbag, only to find out she leave one hell for another.
William is the only person who truly see her and love her unconditionally, but her cowardice drove him away. Six years later, their path cross again when William came back to town. Will Maggie get her second chance with William again?
I really sympathize with William. Coming back to his hometown after avoiding it for years, only to see his girl married the dirtbag who abuse her. There is even a child who might or might not be his. And there's nothing he could do beside watching them from a distance.
When it comes to Maggie, the inner feminist in me is so angry with her. Why did she stayed with an abusive husband for six goddamn long years. I want her to wake up and look at herself. Stop being delusion or living in her own bubble.
Later on when we learn about her life after William's departure, I started to sympathize with her. Though I still want her to be strong and stand up for herself. I wonder if William didn't came back, will she still be there for the rest of her life.
Almost towards the end, I had no idea how things will turn out. I'm at the edge of my seat awaiting how things will play out for William. Oh God. I just so worried about these two. I want him to save his girl so bad because she's definitely someone that need to be save by a knight in shining armor.
I just wish the author could have spent more time dedicated to the couple being happy together after all the frustration and heartbreak that I had to went through to make the overall experience more worth it.
Recommended for those who want to shed some tears and enjoy a heartbreaking and emotionally exhausting book.
Amazon Link
I don't know how should I rate this one. One on hand, the writing is awesome and emotional engagement score is really high. On the other hand, this book just make me so sad and angry. Honestly, I felt negatively for almost 90% of the book. Is this something I want to read for leisure? I prefer more happiness in my reading material.
A big portion of this book was told from the hero, William's POV. He is this sad guy who fell in love with the wrong girl. Or maybe I shouldn't say 'wrong', but definitely someone that is so difficult for him to love.
Maggie is a girl grew up in an abusive family. Her childhood history was not describe in detail but we got the gist of it. She was pretty messed up psychologically. Thinking that getting a boyfriend might take her away from her home, she hooked up with Troy, the local dirtbag, only to find out she leave one hell for another.
William is the only person who truly see her and love her unconditionally, but her cowardice drove him away. Six years later, their path cross again when William came back to town. Will Maggie get her second chance with William again?
I really sympathize with William. Coming back to his hometown after avoiding it for years, only to see his girl married the dirtbag who abuse her. There is even a child who might or might not be his. And there's nothing he could do beside watching them from a distance.
When it comes to Maggie, the inner feminist in me is so angry with her. Why did she stayed with an abusive husband for six goddamn long years. I want her to wake up and look at herself. Stop being delusion or living in her own bubble.
Later on when we learn about her life after William's departure, I started to sympathize with her. Though I still want her to be strong and stand up for herself. I wonder if William didn't came back, will she still be there for the rest of her life.
Almost towards the end, I had no idea how things will turn out. I'm at the edge of my seat awaiting how things will play out for William. Oh God. I just so worried about these two. I want him to save his girl so bad because she's definitely someone that need to be save by a knight in shining armor.
I just wish the author could have spent more time dedicated to the couple being happy together after all the frustration and heartbreak that I had to went through to make the overall experience more worth it.
Recommended for those who want to shed some tears and enjoy a heartbreaking and emotionally exhausting book.
November 3, 2012
LOVED IT!! A.L. has done it again! When We Collide was an incredible ride I stayed up all night to finish, and still wish I wasn't done with yet! Yeah...that good.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of going back and forth present day/in the past; but I actually find myself craving it in A.L. Jackson's books! I feel like she hits you with flashbacks at the perfect time, and just the perfect amount to keep you craving them, as well as the present
William and Maggie have a love, and a connection that can surpass anything and swear I could feel their connection jumping off my kindle! My heart would grip or expand with theirs and the sense of hope, loss, fear and longing throughout the book was so real to me I felt like I was living it.
I loved Maggie, hated a decision of hers but understood it 100% Everything about Maggie's character was real, I ached for her and her view of herself; and cheered her on when she would start to understand just how much she was worth! She's broken, so broken, but not once did I feel like it was too much; she doesn't pity her life and feel sorry for herself. Everything she does is for her love of someone else.
And William.....oooooooooh William. I loved loved loved that man. Everyone needs a William. To have a man protect you, and love you like that, unconditionally, is something women dream of. I feel like the best way to describe William would be a faulted hero. The best kind. He's not perfect, no one is, but his faults are what add to his character and make us fall in love with him that much more.
Buy it. Read it. Love it.
Her books grip me and leave me wanting more, I promise you this one is no different!!!
Normally I'm not a huge fan of going back and forth present day/in the past; but I actually find myself craving it in A.L. Jackson's books! I feel like she hits you with flashbacks at the perfect time, and just the perfect amount to keep you craving them, as well as the present
William and Maggie have a love, and a connection that can surpass anything and swear I could feel their connection jumping off my kindle! My heart would grip or expand with theirs and the sense of hope, loss, fear and longing throughout the book was so real to me I felt like I was living it.
I loved Maggie, hated a decision of hers but understood it 100% Everything about Maggie's character was real, I ached for her and her view of herself; and cheered her on when she would start to understand just how much she was worth! She's broken, so broken, but not once did I feel like it was too much; she doesn't pity her life and feel sorry for herself. Everything she does is for her love of someone else.
And William.....oooooooooh William. I loved loved loved that man. Everyone needs a William. To have a man protect you, and love you like that, unconditionally, is something women dream of. I feel like the best way to describe William would be a faulted hero. The best kind. He's not perfect, no one is, but his faults are what add to his character and make us fall in love with him that much more.
Buy it. Read it. Love it.
Her books grip me and leave me wanting more, I promise you this one is no different!!!
February 8, 2018
That book sucked the life out of me.
It is depressing.
It has a gloomy tone.
Of course, it would be sad because it involves lots of cases of abuse but the way it is written makes it not only sad but also boring and I thought of dropping it many times.
***********************************************
After having finished reading it, I feel I need therapy or something that would serve as therapy, a big chocolate cake or wine or pizza, or something like that :) Maybe a dirty fun book, I don't know...
***********************************************
I felt both sad, and bored and pissed off while reading this book. I thought there could have been many ways of an escape from the abuse she endured for so many years but none taken!
Why not go to the police????? This is something I will never understand!
If you are abused, , you should go to the police.
And there is someone who you love, and who loves you as much and wants to save you... Why do you feel guilty because of something bad you didn't do but that is done to you? Why don't you feel worthy enough to be saved and loved? This is also something I had a hard time to understand...
***********************************************
After blaming her so much, I should also blame the man who loved her so much because it wouldn't be fair otherwise.
Come on man, she is the girl who is head over heels in love with you who agreed to What makes you think she would choose an asshole over you? Can't you see there is something else behind the lies? Can't you think of the possibility of something bad that might have happened to her instead of thinking that she changed her mind overnight?
***********************************************
Well... so she was too wrong to refuse to be saved or to go to the police and he was too wrong to believe that she didn't want to go with him, choosing other people over him...
These mistakes led to many more life threatening mistakes and 6 years of misery until things can finally be resolved. I normally love strong heroines and heroes that act wisely. The hero and the heroine in this novel disappointed me.
***********************************************
In life, there are times when we are hopeless, helpless and desperate and no one can do anything to prevent it and there are cases where you could have done something but never had the courage. The cases here in this book sounded as if there could have been things to do for an earlier survival but no one did anything to stop the abuse or the tragedies for a really long time...
***********************************************
I had a hard time rating this book and then decided that "2,5 stars" would be fair, but not 3.
Maybe the way it is written with too many descriptions and fewer dialogues, or maybe the way the hero and the heroine acted in times of tragedy gave me the hell of a time, or maybe it is just me having had my fair share of abuse in life and not being able to tolerate it any more in the books...
So long story short, I didn't love this book because it made me sad, frustrated and depressed... It made me feel like drowning in water, not being able to breathe...
And this is what I am going to do with this book... sorry...
It is depressing.
It has a gloomy tone.
Of course, it would be sad because it involves lots of cases of abuse but the way it is written makes it not only sad but also boring and I thought of dropping it many times.
***********************************************
After having finished reading it, I feel I need therapy or something that would serve as therapy, a big chocolate cake or wine or pizza, or something like that :) Maybe a dirty fun book, I don't know...
***********************************************
I felt both sad, and bored and pissed off while reading this book. I thought there could have been many ways of an escape from the abuse she endured for so many years but none taken!
Why not go to the police????? This is something I will never understand!
If you are abused, , you should go to the police.
And there is someone who you love, and who loves you as much and wants to save you... Why do you feel guilty because of something bad you didn't do but that is done to you? Why don't you feel worthy enough to be saved and loved? This is also something I had a hard time to understand...
***********************************************
After blaming her so much, I should also blame the man who loved her so much because it wouldn't be fair otherwise.
Come on man, she is the girl who is head over heels in love with you who agreed to What makes you think she would choose an asshole over you? Can't you see there is something else behind the lies? Can't you think of the possibility of something bad that might have happened to her instead of thinking that she changed her mind overnight?
***********************************************
Well... so she was too wrong to refuse to be saved or to go to the police and he was too wrong to believe that she didn't want to go with him, choosing other people over him...
These mistakes led to many more life threatening mistakes and 6 years of misery until things can finally be resolved. I normally love strong heroines and heroes that act wisely. The hero and the heroine in this novel disappointed me.
***********************************************
In life, there are times when we are hopeless, helpless and desperate and no one can do anything to prevent it and there are cases where you could have done something but never had the courage. The cases here in this book sounded as if there could have been things to do for an earlier survival but no one did anything to stop the abuse or the tragedies for a really long time...
***********************************************
I had a hard time rating this book and then decided that "2,5 stars" would be fair, but not 3.
Maybe the way it is written with too many descriptions and fewer dialogues, or maybe the way the hero and the heroine acted in times of tragedy gave me the hell of a time, or maybe it is just me having had my fair share of abuse in life and not being able to tolerate it any more in the books...
So long story short, I didn't love this book because it made me sad, frustrated and depressed... It made me feel like drowning in water, not being able to breathe...
And this is what I am going to do with this book... sorry...
December 21, 2023
I re-read this novel for book club. I first read it in 2013 and enjoyed it much more then than I did now.
I found that ten years ago it was all about the love story and the angst. This time around I felt that I had focused more on the abuse and the inner turmoil of the characters.
A.L. Jackson is a wonderful author and I plan to read more of her recent novels.
I found that ten years ago it was all about the love story and the angst. This time around I felt that I had focused more on the abuse and the inner turmoil of the characters.
A.L. Jackson is a wonderful author and I plan to read more of her recent novels.
October 4, 2016
Oh my God, this book!!!!!
I went into this blind, bought this book on a hunch. I'd really liked the cover. I decided to go ahead and read it because it had really great reviews.
Let me first acknowledge the writing in this book. It was exceptional, fluid, a melody of words.I was so invested right from the start. Before the first chapter ended I had to know more about Will and Maggie's story. It sucked me right in. From the start there's obvious tension between the two main characters who's POV the book alternates from. They share a history full of secrets and heartache. Those secret have destroyed lives and kept Will away from home for six years.
Maggie has had a pretty messed up existence. She had gone from an abusive home, where she was violated and abused, right into a relationship with the douche king Troy. Troy treats Maggie like crap and coupled with her home life, Maggie has turned into a fearful, insecure, timid mess. Then she meets Will and they are instantly drawn to each other. You see Will becoming fiercely over protective with her and building a relationship that surpasses friendship. As time goes on, things don't end well with Maggie and Will. So when the opportunity presented itself, he left his home and tried to forget about Maggie...never happened.
During a visit home for the funeral of his aunt, they are reunited and the plot unfolds...and boy does it unfold. The feeling, the need, the connection between these two is unreal, yet beautiful to read. It hurt so bad to read some of these pages. I felt for them but I was also completely unprepared for some of the topics. They're are hard and gut wrenching. My heart went out to Maggie. Troy, on the other hand, I wanted to die a slow miserable death that mirrored his existence. What a mother f'ing a-hole! Can you call a guy a c* nt?
I didn't know if I would be able to make it through anything involving him. He was vile, hateful, the ultimate villian. I still can't get over some of the things he did. There is certainly a special place in hell for the men Troy represents. I gotta move on, I'm getting pissed all over again. Anyway, the topics are tough, dealing with issues—sadly to say—that too many women have experienced. You will be on a emotional rollercoaster, so prepare yourself. By the end of this book I didn't have a fingernail left. I was anxious, afraid, hopeful and so on. I really don't have a the words to express what took place in this book nor do I know how to articulate the urgency of it. This is just one of those stories you have to experience.
So, to sum it up...beautiful writing, lots of mystery, Troys the douche king, possibly a c*nt and the books an emotional piece of brilliance. This book is a requirement and it was my pleasure to read it.
I went into this blind, bought this book on a hunch. I'd really liked the cover. I decided to go ahead and read it because it had really great reviews.
Let me first acknowledge the writing in this book. It was exceptional, fluid, a melody of words.I was so invested right from the start. Before the first chapter ended I had to know more about Will and Maggie's story. It sucked me right in. From the start there's obvious tension between the two main characters who's POV the book alternates from. They share a history full of secrets and heartache. Those secret have destroyed lives and kept Will away from home for six years.
Maggie has had a pretty messed up existence. She had gone from an abusive home, where she was violated and abused, right into a relationship with the douche king Troy. Troy treats Maggie like crap and coupled with her home life, Maggie has turned into a fearful, insecure, timid mess. Then she meets Will and they are instantly drawn to each other. You see Will becoming fiercely over protective with her and building a relationship that surpasses friendship. As time goes on, things don't end well with Maggie and Will. So when the opportunity presented itself, he left his home and tried to forget about Maggie...never happened.
During a visit home for the funeral of his aunt, they are reunited and the plot unfolds...and boy does it unfold. The feeling, the need, the connection between these two is unreal, yet beautiful to read. It hurt so bad to read some of these pages. I felt for them but I was also completely unprepared for some of the topics. They're are hard and gut wrenching. My heart went out to Maggie. Troy, on the other hand, I wanted to die a slow miserable death that mirrored his existence. What a mother f'ing a-hole! Can you call a guy a c* nt?
I didn't know if I would be able to make it through anything involving him. He was vile, hateful, the ultimate villian. I still can't get over some of the things he did. There is certainly a special place in hell for the men Troy represents. I gotta move on, I'm getting pissed all over again. Anyway, the topics are tough, dealing with issues—sadly to say—that too many women have experienced. You will be on a emotional rollercoaster, so prepare yourself. By the end of this book I didn't have a fingernail left. I was anxious, afraid, hopeful and so on. I really don't have a the words to express what took place in this book nor do I know how to articulate the urgency of it. This is just one of those stories you have to experience.
So, to sum it up...beautiful writing, lots of mystery, Troys the douche king, possibly a c*nt and the books an emotional piece of brilliance. This book is a requirement and it was my pleasure to read it.
September 9, 2016
5 EMOTIONAL, HEART-WRENCHING STARS
A.L. Jackson does it again, with another emotionally intense book that sucked me in, ripped my heart out, but left me weeping happy tears.
I fell in love with William and Maggie. When we meet them at the beginning of the book, they are both living lives that they hate and are both utterly broken and miserable. When William returns to his home town and his family after a six year self-imposed exile, he runs into Maggie, the girl that changed his whole life over the course of one summer six years previously, before both of their hearts were broken and they were torn apart.
With all of the years between them, and everything that they have both endured, they are both still deeply in love with each other, although the obstacle that was between them all those years ago, is still very much present, and now even more dangerous – Maggie’s violently abusive husband. But even the threat of that violence is not enough to stop the two soul mates from being drawn to each other.
“I don’t know how to stop loving you.” *sniff* The scene where this line appears just broke me. I was a sobbing mess!
The story is told from both William and Maggie's POV, so you get to see all of the intimate details as the timeline flicks between the present day and flashbacks to the summer where they met and fell in love. Their story is beautifully sweet but also heartbreakingly tragic. The emotion is just poured out onto the page and as a reader you feel everything that they feel.
The characters are very real. Both William and Maggie made questionable decisions in the past, but as their backstory unfolds, you understand why things happened the way they did. William’s family also play a big part in the story, and they are absolutely amazing. Loving, forgiving and unendingly supportive, I loved them all.
I’m not usually a fan of books featuring domestic abuse, but A.L. Jackson weaves her magic and creates a story that is absolutely incredible. The abuse is there, and it’s hard to read, but it’s not overwhelming. It’s the absolute love that William and Maggie feel for each other that carries the story - the way that William is there for Maggie, how he is prepared to fight for her and willing to do anything to make her safe, and Maggie finding her strength in that. It’s about the overwhelming knowledge that they belong together, finally clamining each other and their battle to be a family and heal from all that they have endured. And it was amazing!
I stayed up reading this book until after 3am this morning, and then was up again early to finish it. I cried, I cheered, and I cried some more. There is a happy ending, but it’s an intensely emotional ride to get to it. The final few chapters had me on the edge of my chair with my heart pounding. But it is balanced with an epilogue that ties the story up beautifully.
I absolutely loved this book. The writing is so stunningly beautiful, it firmly puts A.L. Jackson up there as one of my favourite authors. Her books are not just stories, they are an experience, and if you haven’t read one of her books yet – get on it!!!
A.L. Jackson does it again, with another emotionally intense book that sucked me in, ripped my heart out, but left me weeping happy tears.
I fell in love with William and Maggie. When we meet them at the beginning of the book, they are both living lives that they hate and are both utterly broken and miserable. When William returns to his home town and his family after a six year self-imposed exile, he runs into Maggie, the girl that changed his whole life over the course of one summer six years previously, before both of their hearts were broken and they were torn apart.
With all of the years between them, and everything that they have both endured, they are both still deeply in love with each other, although the obstacle that was between them all those years ago, is still very much present, and now even more dangerous – Maggie’s violently abusive husband. But even the threat of that violence is not enough to stop the two soul mates from being drawn to each other.
“I don’t know how to stop loving you.” *sniff* The scene where this line appears just broke me. I was a sobbing mess!
The story is told from both William and Maggie's POV, so you get to see all of the intimate details as the timeline flicks between the present day and flashbacks to the summer where they met and fell in love. Their story is beautifully sweet but also heartbreakingly tragic. The emotion is just poured out onto the page and as a reader you feel everything that they feel.
The characters are very real. Both William and Maggie made questionable decisions in the past, but as their backstory unfolds, you understand why things happened the way they did. William’s family also play a big part in the story, and they are absolutely amazing. Loving, forgiving and unendingly supportive, I loved them all.
I’m not usually a fan of books featuring domestic abuse, but A.L. Jackson weaves her magic and creates a story that is absolutely incredible. The abuse is there, and it’s hard to read, but it’s not overwhelming. It’s the absolute love that William and Maggie feel for each other that carries the story - the way that William is there for Maggie, how he is prepared to fight for her and willing to do anything to make her safe, and Maggie finding her strength in that. It’s about the overwhelming knowledge that they belong together, finally clamining each other and their battle to be a family and heal from all that they have endured. And it was amazing!
I stayed up reading this book until after 3am this morning, and then was up again early to finish it. I cried, I cheered, and I cried some more. There is a happy ending, but it’s an intensely emotional ride to get to it. The final few chapters had me on the edge of my chair with my heart pounding. But it is balanced with an epilogue that ties the story up beautifully.
I absolutely loved this book. The writing is so stunningly beautiful, it firmly puts A.L. Jackson up there as one of my favourite authors. Her books are not just stories, they are an experience, and if you haven’t read one of her books yet – get on it!!!
April 17, 2013
5 beautiful, heartbreaking stars!
Review to come soon, but for now meet:
Maggie
"I’d never known what home meant.
To me, it’d been a prison, a place I longed to escape. A place where horrors were harbored, concealed behind closed windows and lies.”
“Had I been marked for this life before I was born? Fated before time to suffer at the hands of the ones who were supposed to care for me? Or was it the choices I had made that led me here? Did one fatal mistake send me on a collision course, or was this simply a consequence of a lifetime of naivety and fear?”
William
“Sometimes I wished I could erase the mark she’d left on me, that I could finally be free of this ache. Another part of me held onto it because it was the only thing she’d left me with. The only thing I had to prove that what we’d shared had been real”
Review to come soon, but for now meet:
Maggie
"I’d never known what home meant.
To me, it’d been a prison, a place I longed to escape. A place where horrors were harbored, concealed behind closed windows and lies.”
“Had I been marked for this life before I was born? Fated before time to suffer at the hands of the ones who were supposed to care for me? Or was it the choices I had made that led me here? Did one fatal mistake send me on a collision course, or was this simply a consequence of a lifetime of naivety and fear?”
William
“Sometimes I wished I could erase the mark she’d left on me, that I could finally be free of this ache. Another part of me held onto it because it was the only thing she’d left me with. The only thing I had to prove that what we’d shared had been real”
August 15, 2018
2.5 stars
This was pure heartbreak. Anguish, frustrating situations and bad decisions. I'm hesitant to call the heroine weak, That being said, that doesn't change the fact that I was immensely disappointed and angry with her for Even though I do realize her characterization was realistic, I want more from my heroines.
The writing in itself was beautiful, but the story dragged (with a lot of jumps from past to present - until the very end of the book - and there was a lot of telling instead of showing when it comes to the buildup of the relationship) and in the end the HEA (actually, HFN) wasn't worth it for me. There wasn't any joy in reading this.
It's late at night here and I wish I had time to read another, happier book to erase the memory/feelings of this one from my head. It was honestly a depressing, frustrating read.
------------------
POV: 1st person (dual)
story: 1.5
writing: 4
heroine: Maggie, 24y. 2 stars. I wanted her to be stronger.
hero: William, 27y, 3.5 stars. He was better than the heroine, but still, he could/should have taken more charge.
secondary characters: 2
couple/romance: 2
instalove? Yes. They feel instantly drawn to each other and fall in love quickly.
steam: Low.
angst: Super high. This book is 99 % angst.
enjoyment: 1.5
ending:
This was pure heartbreak. Anguish, frustrating situations and bad decisions. I'm hesitant to call the heroine weak, That being said, that doesn't change the fact that I was immensely disappointed and angry with her for Even though I do realize her characterization was realistic, I want more from my heroines.
The writing in itself was beautiful, but the story dragged (with a lot of jumps from past to present - until the very end of the book - and there was a lot of telling instead of showing when it comes to the buildup of the relationship) and in the end the HEA (actually, HFN) wasn't worth it for me. There wasn't any joy in reading this.
It's late at night here and I wish I had time to read another, happier book to erase the memory/feelings of this one from my head. It was honestly a depressing, frustrating read.
------------------
POV: 1st person (dual)
story: 1.5
writing: 4
heroine: Maggie, 24y. 2 stars. I wanted her to be stronger.
hero: William, 27y, 3.5 stars. He was better than the heroine, but still, he could/should have taken more charge.
secondary characters: 2
couple/romance: 2
instalove? Yes. They feel instantly drawn to each other and fall in love quickly.
steam: Low.
angst: Super high. This book is 99 % angst.
enjoyment: 1.5
ending:
March 8, 2013
A male hero who saves a scarred and broken heroine.
This book should have been up my alley. I should have loved this... Except I didn't.
The reviews made me put this in my top tbr shelf. Gushing declarations with terms like breathless, amazing, gut-wrenching won me over. The cover was also beautiful. But to say this was a disappointment was an understatement.
Whilst reading I found myself checking the time, wondering when i was going to finish. This was so close to a DNF for me but I hate not finishing books. The pace was excruciatingly slow and not in a good way. I skimmed the last 30% of the book even though that was where all the action was because I just couldn't get into the story.
The story itself is just so unbelievable in every way. The couple know each other for 3 months and are together for two weeks. Yet this period of time was enough for 6 years of unbearable pain. I'm finding it hard to believe that a love of that magnitude exists. The decisions made by the two leads also irked me. I feel harsh because I don't know what it's like to be stuck in a cycle of abuse but the heroine was too much of a pushover. It was like she was consciously making a decision to stay miserable. The hero wasn't strong enough for me. He didn't fight hard enough.
Overall, the story just didn't do it for me.
This book should have been up my alley. I should have loved this... Except I didn't.
The reviews made me put this in my top tbr shelf. Gushing declarations with terms like breathless, amazing, gut-wrenching won me over. The cover was also beautiful. But to say this was a disappointment was an understatement.
Whilst reading I found myself checking the time, wondering when i was going to finish. This was so close to a DNF for me but I hate not finishing books. The pace was excruciatingly slow and not in a good way. I skimmed the last 30% of the book even though that was where all the action was because I just couldn't get into the story.
The story itself is just so unbelievable in every way. The couple know each other for 3 months and are together for two weeks. Yet this period of time was enough for 6 years of unbearable pain. I'm finding it hard to believe that a love of that magnitude exists. The decisions made by the two leads also irked me. I feel harsh because I don't know what it's like to be stuck in a cycle of abuse but the heroine was too much of a pushover. It was like she was consciously making a decision to stay miserable. The hero wasn't strong enough for me. He didn't fight hard enough.
Overall, the story just didn't do it for me.
March 3, 2013
I was immensely disappointed with this book. I first got a sample through Amazon which got me hooked, however, the decisions the two main characters, William and Maggie, make irked me to no end, especially Maggie's. Now, Maggie was an abused child and found herself in an abusive relationship which I know is a pattern well documented in real life. Maggie was aware of this pattern and was given multiple opportunities to get out through others intervention or through her own will. Making the choice to get out is hard and I can forgive the first two examples as she was young and was dealing with truly horrific recent events. Her last two efforts, though, while made of her own will, were just jaw dropping-ly dumb. All I could think was "why would you try to escape while he is around and you are all alone knowing your abusive partners patterns?" Reading these events was like watching a bad horror movie when someone goes into the haunted house on their own and you know they are going to get killed. This feeling from horror movie, fine, from a smart book, not at all.
Maggie isn't alone in her poor decision making, William had a doozy of a bad choice. His choice is essentially the catalyst for the entire book so it makes some sense, though the decision is still pretty surprising since he knows Maggie's history and they love each other so much. Overall this book was maddening, literally, reading this book actually made me angry.
Maggie isn't alone in her poor decision making, William had a doozy of a bad choice. His choice is essentially the catalyst for the entire book so it makes some sense, though the decision is still pretty surprising since he knows Maggie's history and they love each other so much. Overall this book was maddening, literally, reading this book actually made me angry.
February 19, 2013
I wish I could of written this when I finished the book in the wee morning hours, when my heart was racing & I was feeling all kinds of emotions. I have calmed down since then. Let me start by saying I’m pretty sure I am turning a new leaf by going into books blind, I feel like the less I know the better the experience. If I already know if there is a HEA then how can I appreciate all the feelings that come with it? When We Collide was everything I was looking for & going in blind only made the experience so worth it. I would not say this is a “dark read” (and I love those) but if you are looking for rainbows & butterflies this book is not for you. It deals with difficult issues & the author writes so amazingly, you feel everything. I already said previously I felt like I could see, taste & touch. The book goes from past to present & from his POV to hers and never once did I feel confused or mixed up. The flow was perfect! This is my first A.L Jackson book & I will definitely be reading more from this very talented author. My heart was racing; I was nervous, happy, sad. Hell I just freaking loved it! I don’t know if it’s just a case of the right book at the right time for me, however…. Finally a book I can add to my 5 star shelf. Ohhh and best of all ladies it’s a stand-alone.
April 7, 2018
** Spellbinding ** is the one word that sums up this story. This book is like a vise on your heart. You just absolutely bleed for these characters. The writing is superb and I felt every throb of pain the characters go through emotionally and physically. A.L. is the QUEEN of angst ...*tissue alert* ;'(
"I could only see the woman who had haunted my years and now possessed my future."
"I could only see the woman who had haunted my years and now possessed my future."
December 20, 2012
Oh my god this book sounds AMAZING! I can't freaking wait to get my ands on it! Finished it and immensely enjoyed it as I have enjoyed all of A.L. Jackson's books. This one was very intense. The story so powerful. The characters captivating. Gripping from beginning to end.
January 27, 2013
Book Review: When We Collide – A.L. Jackson
Powerful storytelling at its finest! An account of a six-year struggle of unrequited love, loss, abuse and family devastation.
“Underneath the scars that lined my body and lined my soul, William saw me. And he loved me as much as I loved him.”
”I had spent my life believing I was happy. Satisfied. Until the day Maggie Krieger sent my world careening out of control. I knew then that having her was the only thing that could ever right it.”
A.L Jackson took the ballpoint pen by the literary horns with ‘When We Collide,’ and didn’t hold back! To say this book is a light-hearted, warm and fuzzy love story would not be an accurate description. Going by the wad of soggy Kleenex by my side should give you a clearer indication, that actually, this book is one intense journey that will captivate you then fill you with nagging dread simultaneously, as events slowly start to unfold.
Domestic abuse is never an easy subject matter to delve into, but Jackson has the ability to deliver it with an honest and beautifully crafted thrall that makes shying away utterly impossible, as you fall in-love with her writing style and the well-drawn characters that wind their way into your book-loving beating heart. Its books like this that remind me of why I love to read!
But this book isn’t totally embraced in darkness, there are parts that are truly beautiful, the love that these two kids feel for each other will mesmerise as you follow each protagonist in their six-year struggle - written in first person narrative in the past and present. This book is an angst fuelled forbidden love fest, and I loved every moment of it. Yes…even the moments I read through my fingers!
*
William Marsch fled his small town hometown in Mississippi six-years ago, with a broken heart. Leaving her behind was the only way he could move forward – into a high-flying pressured job and a loveless professional relationship, his present circumstances couldn’t have been more further from the once true self he left behind in that small town, as he vowed NEVER to return.
Maggie still thought of him everyday. William was the only man she had ever truly loved. The night she let him go was the hardest moment of her life – but it was a necessity, the reasons too abhorrent to voice. That reason still haunted her everyday, made her life almost unbearable as domestic violence continued to play second fiddle to her down-trodden and miserable life. Her only refuge and light to her shattered and torn soul comes in the form of her beautiful little boy, Jonathan.
When William receives a call from his ‘now’ estranged older Brother, Blake, pleading with him to come home as his beloved Aunt is dying, he expected another brush-off, but William, with his crumbling loveless relationship and accountancy job from hell surprises Blake by agreeing to return for a short time.
“I’d lost myself somewhere along the way, and maybe my subconscious was telling me it was time I found that person again, because I sure as hell wasn’t happy with who I’d become.”
As his thoughts continuously lingers back to her, he is apprehensive to see Maggie again, and yet he cannot deny the magnetic pull – the NEED to catch just a glimpse. But when he sees her at his Aunt’s reception, he wasn’t quite prepared for the emotion flood-gates of open, like a tidal wave, rocking his world to the core.
Maggie never thought she would see him again, but it’s still there… the love, the regret, the devastation she felt six-year’s ago as it consumes her, crashing down on her with a vengeance, that is until… PANIC sets it. Because when a love so powerful, so all-consuming and forbidden embraces two young hearts, with it comes something else; a whole new set of, Consequences.
*
Follow this intense and heart-wrenching story of sacrifice, compassion, hope and the promise of second chances.
When We Collide also give a strong and inspirational message. Although a work of fiction, Maggie’s circumstances are, unfortunately, not unique in the world we live in outside of the printed page. There are many reports of domestic violence in the home and A.L Jackson has bravely depicted this story with compassion and honesty.
A truly outstanding story that is beautifully constructed and has been allocated pride of place on my favourites and awe-inspiring shelf.
5 STARS!
Powerful storytelling at its finest! An account of a six-year struggle of unrequited love, loss, abuse and family devastation.
“Underneath the scars that lined my body and lined my soul, William saw me. And he loved me as much as I loved him.”
”I had spent my life believing I was happy. Satisfied. Until the day Maggie Krieger sent my world careening out of control. I knew then that having her was the only thing that could ever right it.”
A.L Jackson took the ballpoint pen by the literary horns with ‘When We Collide,’ and didn’t hold back! To say this book is a light-hearted, warm and fuzzy love story would not be an accurate description. Going by the wad of soggy Kleenex by my side should give you a clearer indication, that actually, this book is one intense journey that will captivate you then fill you with nagging dread simultaneously, as events slowly start to unfold.
Domestic abuse is never an easy subject matter to delve into, but Jackson has the ability to deliver it with an honest and beautifully crafted thrall that makes shying away utterly impossible, as you fall in-love with her writing style and the well-drawn characters that wind their way into your book-loving beating heart. Its books like this that remind me of why I love to read!
But this book isn’t totally embraced in darkness, there are parts that are truly beautiful, the love that these two kids feel for each other will mesmerise as you follow each protagonist in their six-year struggle - written in first person narrative in the past and present. This book is an angst fuelled forbidden love fest, and I loved every moment of it. Yes…even the moments I read through my fingers!
*
William Marsch fled his small town hometown in Mississippi six-years ago, with a broken heart. Leaving her behind was the only way he could move forward – into a high-flying pressured job and a loveless professional relationship, his present circumstances couldn’t have been more further from the once true self he left behind in that small town, as he vowed NEVER to return.
Maggie still thought of him everyday. William was the only man she had ever truly loved. The night she let him go was the hardest moment of her life – but it was a necessity, the reasons too abhorrent to voice. That reason still haunted her everyday, made her life almost unbearable as domestic violence continued to play second fiddle to her down-trodden and miserable life. Her only refuge and light to her shattered and torn soul comes in the form of her beautiful little boy, Jonathan.
When William receives a call from his ‘now’ estranged older Brother, Blake, pleading with him to come home as his beloved Aunt is dying, he expected another brush-off, but William, with his crumbling loveless relationship and accountancy job from hell surprises Blake by agreeing to return for a short time.
“I’d lost myself somewhere along the way, and maybe my subconscious was telling me it was time I found that person again, because I sure as hell wasn’t happy with who I’d become.”
As his thoughts continuously lingers back to her, he is apprehensive to see Maggie again, and yet he cannot deny the magnetic pull – the NEED to catch just a glimpse. But when he sees her at his Aunt’s reception, he wasn’t quite prepared for the emotion flood-gates of open, like a tidal wave, rocking his world to the core.
Maggie never thought she would see him again, but it’s still there… the love, the regret, the devastation she felt six-year’s ago as it consumes her, crashing down on her with a vengeance, that is until… PANIC sets it. Because when a love so powerful, so all-consuming and forbidden embraces two young hearts, with it comes something else; a whole new set of, Consequences.
*
Follow this intense and heart-wrenching story of sacrifice, compassion, hope and the promise of second chances.
When We Collide also give a strong and inspirational message. Although a work of fiction, Maggie’s circumstances are, unfortunately, not unique in the world we live in outside of the printed page. There are many reports of domestic violence in the home and A.L Jackson has bravely depicted this story with compassion and honesty.
A truly outstanding story that is beautifully constructed and has been allocated pride of place on my favourites and awe-inspiring shelf.
5 STARS!
December 30, 2012
I was so into this book in the beginning , then somewhere in the middle I started to get bored with it .. but I stuck with it and BOY am I glad I did WHAT AN AMAZINGLY AWESOME READ !!!!
“I don’t know how to stop loving you.”
William has spent six years running from his past and the last eight months trying to rid his mind of the dreams that increasingly haunt his nights. Trapped in a world of false ambitions and feigned affections, William knows he’s reached a breaking point and something’s going to give.
Maggie had lived her entire life without hope until one man showed her what it meant to be loved. He’d been her light in a lifetime of darkness. Six years ago, that darkness stole him away. Without him, she’s surrendered herself to an existence she doesn’t know how to escape.
When the family William left behind is struck by tragedy, he is called back to the one place he’s sworn to never return to again.
In a moment that will change his life forever, William comes face to face with the girl who, with one look, captured his heart. He is unable to ignore the buried desires and the hope for the future they’d once believed they’d have.
Now William is ready to fight to take back what had been stolen from him six years before.
But he never imagined what that fight might cost him.
“I loved her. Oh God… I loved her. She was everything, ripped me apart and made me whole.”
I really loved this story. It's definitely an Emotional one, but it's one that I'm glad to have read as there is Love, the kind that seeps through the pages and just grabs at you, the kind that just makes you feel good, so this is one Worth Reading!
Now,the characters were so well written. Maggie , She's shy, kind, but is in a relationship that's just so abusive at times, it was just shocking at what this guy had done to her, and in ways I found her story just really believable as she's basically with someone that is just like her Father and I think I really saw Maggie grow to be a stronger character, you'll read what move she finally makes.
From the beginning I knew things were going to be rough for William. The turmoil that raged within him was too much to be held inside, and at some point he was bound to snap. But the way he reacted to his circumstances was real and believable. I immediately wanted to know more about his past and how he came to be the person he was. Will was a very layered character, and I gravitated towards him without hesitation. Maybe it was his flaws. Or maybe it was the fact that he knew he needed to change some things about himself that made his character all the more appealing. Either way, I loved his point of view and his development throughout the story.
“Because it shouldn't hurt to be touched.”
Troy is a demeaning and abusive man, who takes what he wants when he wants it not caring who he hurts in his path of destruction. He truly was the bad seed in this book .. It would of been nice to have a little of his past to see what led him to be the way that he was ...
Great Read for sure My Favorite one of A.L. Jackson's for sure
“I don’t know how to stop loving you.”
William has spent six years running from his past and the last eight months trying to rid his mind of the dreams that increasingly haunt his nights. Trapped in a world of false ambitions and feigned affections, William knows he’s reached a breaking point and something’s going to give.
Maggie had lived her entire life without hope until one man showed her what it meant to be loved. He’d been her light in a lifetime of darkness. Six years ago, that darkness stole him away. Without him, she’s surrendered herself to an existence she doesn’t know how to escape.
When the family William left behind is struck by tragedy, he is called back to the one place he’s sworn to never return to again.
In a moment that will change his life forever, William comes face to face with the girl who, with one look, captured his heart. He is unable to ignore the buried desires and the hope for the future they’d once believed they’d have.
Now William is ready to fight to take back what had been stolen from him six years before.
But he never imagined what that fight might cost him.
“I loved her. Oh God… I loved her. She was everything, ripped me apart and made me whole.”
I really loved this story. It's definitely an Emotional one, but it's one that I'm glad to have read as there is Love, the kind that seeps through the pages and just grabs at you, the kind that just makes you feel good, so this is one Worth Reading!
Now,the characters were so well written. Maggie , She's shy, kind, but is in a relationship that's just so abusive at times, it was just shocking at what this guy had done to her, and in ways I found her story just really believable as she's basically with someone that is just like her Father and I think I really saw Maggie grow to be a stronger character, you'll read what move she finally makes.
From the beginning I knew things were going to be rough for William. The turmoil that raged within him was too much to be held inside, and at some point he was bound to snap. But the way he reacted to his circumstances was real and believable. I immediately wanted to know more about his past and how he came to be the person he was. Will was a very layered character, and I gravitated towards him without hesitation. Maybe it was his flaws. Or maybe it was the fact that he knew he needed to change some things about himself that made his character all the more appealing. Either way, I loved his point of view and his development throughout the story.
“Because it shouldn't hurt to be touched.”
Troy is a demeaning and abusive man, who takes what he wants when he wants it not caring who he hurts in his path of destruction. He truly was the bad seed in this book .. It would of been nice to have a little of his past to see what led him to be the way that he was ...
Great Read for sure My Favorite one of A.L. Jackson's for sure
September 18, 2012
This review will also be posted at www.mysecretromancebookreviews.com
William left his family and his home town 6 years ago and never looked back at the reminder of what he lost and the pain he felt. He was broken inside and angry at the world and especially at Maggie. He lived in an unhappy life and had a job he hated… he was living one miserable day at a time. The dreams that wake him every night are haunting him and do not make any sense, or are they not dreams but something else? William finally came back home for a short visit, but stayed longer than planned because a chance encounter has now changed everything he once believed. While his family loves him, they don’t know what happened all those years ago and worry that he will leave again and not look back. He has a hard fight ahead of him and a dangerous one as well, but he doesn’t care he only wants the wrongs of the past to be righted.
Maggie, oh Maggie the life you were forced to live is one I would never wish on another living being. You did what you had to do to protect the ones you loved and sacrificed your own peace, happiness and worth to do it. My heart broke for Maggie so many times that I couldn’t help but feel the pain of the abused she was forced to live through. She is so broken and fragile but at the same time so very strong to do whatever it takes to protect the most precious person in her life, her son, even from the devil himself…. A mother’s love is something so powerful that words cannot begin to describe it.
When Maggie and William still feel the connection and bond that is there between them, even from a distance, they know that the only way to find happiness and the love that they have been missing is to find a way to be together so that they can begin to heal the new and old pains. Will William’s love be able to heal Maggie from all that she has been through or is she too far broken and beaten? There is an old saying that goes “love heals all wounds”, and I have always believed that to be true. A.L. Jackson has proven once again that love does indeed heal all wounds, both physical and emotional when the love that is given is pure and true. Books like Pulled, Take This Regret, and now, When We Collide pull at our emotions and hearts, they show us that love isn’t always perfect and mistake free, and love can hurt on many different levels, but true love is worth the fight we face to finally be happy in the end.
December 30, 2024
Tempted by all those five stars reviews I succumbed to the temptation and I read it.
I wasn’t impressed.
Yes, it’s good.
The writing style and the execution are flawless.
The doomed lovers that are divided by a villain and by a lot of misunderstandings. Check.
The secret child. Check.
The tension building until the dramatic ending. Check.
The happy ending. Check.
So, what.
The heroine was a martyr, one straight from Rome when the first Christians were tortured and burned. Or given as a tasty meal to lions.
Too much. She went from an abusive home to another, and all by her own choice.
She also submitted her child to an abusive father. No, I don’t appreciate such level of victimization, of self flagellation.
When a victim does nothing to escape their situation and let everyone mow them over time and again, well, I don’t even feel any angst and compassion.
It was too much.
The hero was another person that didn’t have my sympathy. He simply left, even if he knew the heroine might be in severe distress. Ok, she dumped him. But he knew why.
His reaction was anticlimactic, since he vowed she was his soulmate, his destiny, yada yada.
Not convinced at all.
The heroine has been married for six years to an abusive ahole that beats her and rapes her every night. Just because she’s afraid. And she’s been exposing her own son to him. Not only coward, but also not decent for a parent. She could have done a different choice, who knows why she didn’t. Too dumb, this is what I think. And I have no sympathy for dump people. She could have left with the hero, no she stayed because the villain who raped her and then married her threatened to rape her sister. Really? In what country are they living? Too ott. Not believable that she could really believe him.
The hero had some kind of girlfriend sugar mummy that he dumped when he went back to his hometown because he was tired of being used as her toy boy. Yuck.
I don’t think I will remember this book in a week’s time.
I wasn’t impressed.
Yes, it’s good.
The writing style and the execution are flawless.
The doomed lovers that are divided by a villain and by a lot of misunderstandings. Check.
The secret child. Check.
The tension building until the dramatic ending. Check.
The happy ending. Check.
So, what.
The heroine was a martyr, one straight from Rome when the first Christians were tortured and burned. Or given as a tasty meal to lions.
Too much. She went from an abusive home to another, and all by her own choice.
She also submitted her child to an abusive father. No, I don’t appreciate such level of victimization, of self flagellation.
When a victim does nothing to escape their situation and let everyone mow them over time and again, well, I don’t even feel any angst and compassion.
It was too much.
The hero was another person that didn’t have my sympathy. He simply left, even if he knew the heroine might be in severe distress. Ok, she dumped him. But he knew why.
His reaction was anticlimactic, since he vowed she was his soulmate, his destiny, yada yada.
Not convinced at all.
The heroine has been married for six years to an abusive ahole that beats her and rapes her every night. Just because she’s afraid. And she’s been exposing her own son to him. Not only coward, but also not decent for a parent. She could have done a different choice, who knows why she didn’t. Too dumb, this is what I think. And I have no sympathy for dump people. She could have left with the hero, no she stayed because the villain who raped her and then married her threatened to rape her sister. Really? In what country are they living? Too ott. Not believable that she could really believe him.
The hero had some kind of girlfriend sugar mummy that he dumped when he went back to his hometown because he was tired of being used as her toy boy. Yuck.
I don’t think I will remember this book in a week’s time.
April 27, 2016
A.L. Jackson has done it again. When We Collide is PHENOMINAL!!!!! I don't know how she does it but every book I have read by her has pulled at every hearts string I have. This one was even harder for me because of the sensitivity of the subject matter. I have to say she made me feel everything Maggie and William felt throughout the entire book. I felt like I was a part of the story. I have to say Troy was a real douchebag. I don't feel bad for him at all for what happens to him in the book. I truly felt Maggie's pain and suffering, I felt so bad for her. She wanted to make things better but Troy just kept pushing all the right buttons to manipulate her to what he wanted. I do wish that William would have stuck with his instincts a little more, probably could have avoiding some of the things that happened.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loved Pulled and Take This Regret.
This will for sure have a spot on my favs shelf:)
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loved Pulled and Take This Regret.
This will for sure have a spot on my favs shelf:)
November 9, 2012
I received a copy of this book as an ARC from the author.
I have to say, she has once again hit it out of the ballpark for me. This was a raw and emotional read and I was honored to be asked to read and advanced copy.
I previously anticipated new releases by well-known authors and have found that authors such as A.L. Jackson and other debut authors are hitting the mark for me and I find myself eagerly anticipating their new releases. If you haven't read her other two books, you don't know what you are missing and will definitely be on my "Authors To Watch" list for her next book.
This was the story of William and Maggie and how they fall instantly in love and what it takes to make their relationship work. Are the odds against them? Are their issues insurmountable? The book is filled with much anticipation and suspense. The supporting characters are wonderful too. To take a phrase from the book, "it stole my breath away."
Totally a 5 star read for me.
I have to say, she has once again hit it out of the ballpark for me. This was a raw and emotional read and I was honored to be asked to read and advanced copy.
I previously anticipated new releases by well-known authors and have found that authors such as A.L. Jackson and other debut authors are hitting the mark for me and I find myself eagerly anticipating their new releases. If you haven't read her other two books, you don't know what you are missing and will definitely be on my "Authors To Watch" list for her next book.
This was the story of William and Maggie and how they fall instantly in love and what it takes to make their relationship work. Are the odds against them? Are their issues insurmountable? The book is filled with much anticipation and suspense. The supporting characters are wonderful too. To take a phrase from the book, "it stole my breath away."
Totally a 5 star read for me.
January 27, 2013
It took me a little while to really get hooked into this book. At first I thought it was too much negative emotion without any good, but as the story continued and we got to see glimpses of the past to really get pulled in by Maggie and William's relationship, I couldn't stop reading. This book was crazy intense. My fingers hurt to even type this review because I broke down and chewed all my fingernails off too far. :) At one point I was so nervous I even started to sweat and I hate to sweat, but this book was worth it. If you are looking for a light read, this is not for you, but if you are looking for something gut wrenching, you have found your book. A friend of mine described When We Collide as "tragically beautiful" and there really aren't more perfect words to describe this book. 
November 6, 2012
Great book. If I could give it 4.5 stars, I would. The only negative part for me was the literally constant back and forth from his POV, to her POV, to present day, to 6 years ago. I don't typically have issues with stories going back and forth in time but when it's done in both POVs, it's like reading four books at once. And it happened constantly, kind of confusing me at times.
The author did an extraordinary job portraying the thoughts and scarred emotions of an abused child and woman. The cycle of fear overtaking the desire of breaking free from the violence and control of an abuser. I felt her pain. I felt her fear. William was such a good guy. I wish every victim had a William. First book I've read from this author. I'll definitely read more from her.....
The author did an extraordinary job portraying the thoughts and scarred emotions of an abused child and woman. The cycle of fear overtaking the desire of breaking free from the violence and control of an abuser. I felt her pain. I felt her fear. William was such a good guy. I wish every victim had a William. First book I've read from this author. I'll definitely read more from her.....
January 16, 2022
Yine aynı puanı vericem.
1 gecede okunan, hüzünlü, sürükleyici, tutkulu bir aşk hikayesi. Fazlasıyla tekrar vardı bu da sıkıyordu ama onun dışında sevdim. Tabi çeviri, düzenleme vs bunlara hiç girmiyorum ne de olsa yayinevi belli çok fazla beklentiye gerek yok.
1 gecede okunan, hüzünlü, sürükleyici, tutkulu bir aşk hikayesi. Fazlasıyla tekrar vardı bu da sıkıyordu ama onun dışında sevdim. Tabi çeviri, düzenleme vs bunlara hiç girmiyorum ne de olsa yayinevi belli çok fazla beklentiye gerek yok.
September 11, 2014
There are books that you enjoy, and then there are books that breathe life into you. This is a story that touches the soul, that anchors you to the earth in bone-crushing sadness and sends you soaring through the clouds on the waves of true love. All through reading this book, my emotions tumbled over one another. I felt the angst, I experienced the anguish, I cowered in fear and I yelled in anger. When We Collide touches on those real raw moments in life that we all go through. Regret, shame, and impossible, gut-wrenching love. I couldn’t put this book down, I connected with the characters on so many levels. The storyline was built with pieces of originality, with plot twists and unforgettable moments that stole little pieces of my heart.
William Marsch is a broken man. From the outside, he’s known as a man who has it all. A coveted top position with an LA firm, a beautiful, successful girlfriend - the world at his fingertips. And not one part of it mattered to him. He’s a man going through the motions, burying his misery and the pain of regret. Having his heart torn out years earlier has hardened him - forced him to turn his back on his family and shut them out of his life for 6 long years. As hard as he fights to forget, to burn the memory of her touch from his skin, she is always there. Her face taunts him from behind closed eyes, the sound of her voice torments his dreams, along with an unfamiliar child, fighting for his life. Maggie...the girl of his dreams, the girl that he fell helplessly in love with. And the girl that ultimately destroyed him.
Maggie Krieger’s life has not been easy. At the mercy of her abusive father, she learned from a young age that the only way to avoid pain, was to hide - to be invisible. In a small town, that isn’t the easiest thing to do, the rumors of her horrific home life trailing behind her as a sinister reminder that she will never be good enough, that this is the life she is destined to lead. A fateful night has her path colliding with William’s - a handsome older boy who seemed to see right past her walls, his eyes telling her that she couldn’t hide from him. William’s interest in her is evident, and before long, Maggie begins to open parts of herself up, to let her real self shine through. Their path isn’t a simple one, their growing love is tumultuous, their stolen moments forbidden. When Maggie chooses to stay in the life she was handed, and not pursue a future with William, both of their worlds are irrevocably shattered – setting in motion a turnstile of events that will forever change their lives.
This book was so emotional to me, when William returns to his home town years later and faces the life he lost, it brought me to tears. Just the pure anguish he felt, A.L. Jackson did a phenomenal job of portraying his sense of loss and regret. I loved the connection between William and Maggie, their story spanned years and when they finally come face to face, its as if no time has passed. Maggie is harboring a shocking secret however, and it has eerie similarity to the dreams that haunt William each night – a young boy. A six year old boy.
When the past and present collide once again – will the outcome be different? Can Maggie be saved from the life she wrongly chose all those years before? Who is this child that haunts Will’s subconscious at night? If you are looking for a read that will open your soul and leave you feeling raw and a little broken, this is a book for you. When We Collide is a tale that heals as much as it hurts and takes you on a journey with two very unforgettable characters. Experience this love story, its not one you will soon forget.
xo Cassia
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My heart had come alive and then been crushed in what had felt like the same breath.
William Marsch is a broken man. From the outside, he’s known as a man who has it all. A coveted top position with an LA firm, a beautiful, successful girlfriend - the world at his fingertips. And not one part of it mattered to him. He’s a man going through the motions, burying his misery and the pain of regret. Having his heart torn out years earlier has hardened him - forced him to turn his back on his family and shut them out of his life for 6 long years. As hard as he fights to forget, to burn the memory of her touch from his skin, she is always there. Her face taunts him from behind closed eyes, the sound of her voice torments his dreams, along with an unfamiliar child, fighting for his life. Maggie...the girl of his dreams, the girl that he fell helplessly in love with. And the girl that ultimately destroyed him.
I loved her. She was everything, ripped me apart and made me whole.
Maggie Krieger’s life has not been easy. At the mercy of her abusive father, she learned from a young age that the only way to avoid pain, was to hide - to be invisible. In a small town, that isn’t the easiest thing to do, the rumors of her horrific home life trailing behind her as a sinister reminder that she will never be good enough, that this is the life she is destined to lead. A fateful night has her path colliding with William’s - a handsome older boy who seemed to see right past her walls, his eyes telling her that she couldn’t hide from him. William’s interest in her is evident, and before long, Maggie begins to open parts of herself up, to let her real self shine through. Their path isn’t a simple one, their growing love is tumultuous, their stolen moments forbidden. When Maggie chooses to stay in the life she was handed, and not pursue a future with William, both of their worlds are irrevocably shattered – setting in motion a turnstile of events that will forever change their lives.
I’d fallen for the first time in my life and I’d fallen hard. That fall had left me battered and scarred.
This book was so emotional to me, when William returns to his home town years later and faces the life he lost, it brought me to tears. Just the pure anguish he felt, A.L. Jackson did a phenomenal job of portraying his sense of loss and regret. I loved the connection between William and Maggie, their story spanned years and when they finally come face to face, its as if no time has passed. Maggie is harboring a shocking secret however, and it has eerie similarity to the dreams that haunt William each night – a young boy. A six year old boy.
We collided, body and soul, mouths and hands and whispered pleas.
When the past and present collide once again – will the outcome be different? Can Maggie be saved from the life she wrongly chose all those years before? Who is this child that haunts Will’s subconscious at night? If you are looking for a read that will open your soul and leave you feeling raw and a little broken, this is a book for you. When We Collide is a tale that heals as much as it hurts and takes you on a journey with two very unforgettable characters. Experience this love story, its not one you will soon forget.
“You can’t leave before you get the chance to start.”
xo Cassia
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