New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jay Crownover continues her delightfully sexy Saints of Denver series with the next thrilling standalone, SALVAGED! Don’t miss this amazing new novel and grab your copy today!
Hudson Wheeler is a nice guy. Everyone knows it, including his fiancée who left him with a canceled wedding and a baby on the way. He’s tired of finishing last and is ready to start living in the moment with nights soaked in whiskey, fast cars, and even faster girls. He’s set to start living on the edge, but when he meets Poppy Cruz, her sad eyes in the most gorgeous face he’s ever seen hook him in right away. Wheeler can see Poppy’s pain and all he wants to do is take care of her and make her smile, whatever it takes.
Poppy can’t remember a time when she didn’t see strangers as the enemy. After a lifetime of being hurt from the men who swore to protect her, Poppy’s determined to keep herself safe by keeping everyone else at arm’s length. Wheeler’s sexy grin and rough hands from hours restoring classic cars shouldn’t captivate her, but every time she’s with him, she can’t help being pulled closer to him. Though she’s terrified to trust again, Poppy soon realizes it might hurt even more to shut Wheeler out—and the intense feelings pulsing through her are making it near impossible to resist him.
The only thing Poppy is sure of is that her heart is in need of some serious repair, and the more time she spends with Wheeler, the more she’s convinced he’s the only man with the tools to fix it.
EXCERPT:
I didn’t want her to be scared of anything ever again.
Things at home had been rocky, rougher than class-five rapids in winter, but I was paddling for my life and prepared to ride it out. I couldn’t let go. I wouldn’t let go. I saw Poppy the day she walked through my shop and I started to feel how sore my hands and my heart were from holding on.
Her head was down, focused on the tips of her shoes. Her shoulders were hunched over and her long hair hid her face. She was skinny, so skinny, nothing but skin and bones. She was nothing that I should have noticed, not because she was clearly doing everything in her power to be invisible, but because I was supposed to have my eyes locked on my future and doing whatever I could do to salvage it. But I did notice her and I couldn’t look away once I did.
She was obviously terrified, clearly out of her element and uncomfortable, but it wasn’t her unease that called to me…it was her loneliness. I could feel it filling up the space that separated us. Stretching, growing, expanding until it was all I was breathing in and exhaling back out. It was bitter on my tongue and heavy across my skin because I knew the feeling well. I lived with it pressing me down and pushing me forward every minute of every day. The reason I was so set on the way things had to be, the reason I was singlemindedly set on settling down and building a life with the girl that was slipping through my fingers was because I never again wanted to be as alone as this girl was. I didn’t want to be left and forgotten. I’d barely survived it the first time.
I did my best to sell her a car that was as beautiful as she was…a classic with clean lines and a flawless finish. She picked something practical and boring but that was ultimately safe and reliable. I understood her choice but it grated and annoyed me long after she left the shop. When she wasn’t standing in front of me, she should have been easy to forget; after all, everything in front of me, everything I had been working for and toward, was falling down in front of my eyes. My world was collapsing in on itself and everything I thought I was so goddamn sure about turned out to be nothing more than lies and illusions. In the middle of all of it, I couldn’t forget her sad eyes and shivering, shaking form. Her loneliness clung to me, unshakable and unforgettable. I didn’t think I would see her again and against my better judgment I often found myself wondering how she was doing and if she had gotten a handle on all the things that seemed to be crushing her under their inescapable weight.
I was wrong about seeing her again, just like I was wrong about thinking that doing everything in my life differently from how my mother had lived hers would ensure my happiness and a future built on an unshakeable foundation. I was wrong about hard work and sacrifice being enough. I was wrong about
holding on when what I was holding on to desperately wanted me to let go. All I was left with was bleeding palms, rope burns around my heart and scars on my soul.
The next time I saw Poppy Cruz it was my loneliness that was filling up the space, suffocating me, choking me, making me forget to handle her with care. I was nothing more than a vast, open wound. One that was raw, aching, throbbing, and leaking my heart and shattered emotions out everywhere. I felt like I’d lost everything, like my entire life had been nothing but a waste of time, nothing more than building blocks knocked over with the swipe of a careless hand. The girl I loved didn’t love me back, my future was ultimately nothing more than a fuzzy, fractured blur. I couldn’t see anything clearly other than waste and ruin.
But I saw her. And I saw that I scared her.
It was the last thing I wanted to do but my loneliness was just as big and just as consuming as hers was. It spread out, hungry and angry, looking to consume anyone that might try and challenge its reign.
I tried to pull myself together, apologized because I knew our paths would cross again now that she lived next door to my best friend. I didn’t want to be another man that she was terrified of. I locked the loneliness down, wrestled it into submission, and tried to quiet down the wild inside of me that was howling, screaming at the loss of its mate. I wanted to be nothing more than gnashing teeth and tearing claws but I swallowed those instincts and allowed myself to be like a kicked puppy that just wanted to whimper and cry.
Poppy had been through more than I could imagine. She was the one I couldn’t look away from, but even then, she managed to slip past me and disappear. She looked like honey but she moved like a ghost. I memorized everything about her even though she hardly let me see her face.
I wasn’t supposed to be looking at anything other than how to salvage the mess my life was in, but she was all I could see.
REVIEW:
3.5-3.75 stars
***
I liked this book but I didn't love it. I was slightly disappointed because I really loved the previous book, Riveted, and was looking forward to Poppy and Wheeler's story. I was looking forward to Poppy getting the HEA she deserved, but too many things bothered me to totally love it. I had to reread this book immediately after I finished so that I could clarify my feelings.
This is Poppy and Wheeler's story. Poppy has had a hard time. She recently moved to Denver after being kidnapped, raped and beaten by her husband (who then killed himself). She is scared to be around people and leave her house. She is slowly recovering with the help of new friends and her sister. Wheeler is a car mechanic who recently broke up with his long term girlfriend after she cheated on him, only to find out she was actually gay AND pregnant with his baby. Poppy feels bad for him and makes overtures to become friends, bringing him a puppy she got from her job at a vet clinic. Wheeler has been intrigued by Poppy since he met her, but the puppy might be too much responsibility with a baby on the way, so he offers joint-custody of the puppy with Poppy. They begin spending time together, becoming friends, and it gradually leads to more. But things are very messy with Wheeler's ex, the baby on the way, and Poppy's past coming back to haunt her. They manage to make it through all of that together, but it is a rough ride.
I liked Poppy and Wheeler. They were both good people who had been through a lot in life through no fault of their own. Wheeler never had a father. His mother was a drug addict that left him at a fire station as a small child. He bounced from foster home to foster home. His only "family" figures were his girlfriend's family so when she cheated on him and he called off the wedding, he lost them from his life. Poppy had religious zealot parents who mistreated her. She lost a baby after the father beat her up to make her miscarry. Then she married an abusive husband who beat her. When she ran away to safety, he followed her and beat and raped her, before killing himself in front of her. They just both had a bad time and a lot to recover from. Poppy especially was very damaged and skittish around people, especially men. They really deserved some peace and happiness.
I did have a few problems that kept me from tipping from like to love for this book:
- At times, I felt like Poppy got the short end of the stick with Wheeler. I felt like Wheeler was too nice to Kallie, his ex who cheated on him. It felt like she still leaned on him a lot and they were still very close. I know they were together for years, but he let her walk on him. He, Kallie and the baby were a family. Poppy felt like an outsider to me. I felt really bad for Poppy because she lost a baby when she wanted it so bad. She had been through so much. She deserved to be someone's number one priority and have her dreams come true. She definitely was not his priority. I felt like Kallie and the baby were such a huge part of the storyline that it overshadowed the romance. I think Wheeler would have stayed with her if he hadn't found out Kallie was gay. He got drunk and very upset on the day that was supposed to be his wedding day with Kallie. I didn't understand why he was so upset if he was over her and moving on. Poppy got the consolation prize of being an "auntie" figure to the baby (her word) and she was going to soak up anything she could get. I felt really sad for her. Wheeler was a nice guy and he had to be careful with Poppy because of her past abuse, so he was timid with her. He did not chase her or go after her, instead let her come to him. I understood why, of course, but he was not the instigator in the relationship. He didn't pursue her and I'm not sure he would have if she hadn't made the first move. I know it was realistic and I understood that intellectually, given everything Poppy had gone through. I just never really felt that epic love between Wheeler and Poppy.
- I felt like the pacing of the book was a bit off. There are parts where the story skips weeks or months at a time. That made it hard for me to see the couple's relationship growth and comfortableness with each other. At other times, the relationship moved really slowly for me, but it was realistic.
- The ending left me wanting more. Again, I understood this intellectually and it was realistic, but I like my romance novels with firm HEA's tied up in a bow.
But I did like this book. I thought the story was interesting. I liked Poppy and Wheeler. They became friends first and their relationship moved slowly and realistically into more. I loved the addition of their shared dog, Happy. I liked catching up with the gang from the rest of the series. Overall, this was a good read, just not exactly what I was expecting. I still definitely think it is worth reading. And there is a great epilogue to end the series and catch up with all the other couples.
****
GIVEAWAY:
About Jay Crownover:
Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men, The Point, and the Saints of Denver series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her dogs.
