With twenty books under her belt, it’s a little surprising More of You was my first A.L. Jackson read. Though I have many of her books waiting on my Kindle, apparently receiving the paperback of this book was the push I needed to make time for this author. I really appreciated the chance to participate in the release of this book on Instagram!
As the story began, I was certain More of You would be an easy, five-star read. It’s exactly the type of book I love: Romantic suspense, slow-burn, second-chance romance, and it even featured the renovation of a dilapidated old home! I adore each of these things and it seemed as if this novel was tailored to me. I enjoyed learning more about the characters through the alternating points-of-view and the past perspectives, which shed light on the current events the characters were experiencing. The chemistry between Jace and Faith was off the charts and their denial of their attraction made the story all the more exciting. I also really appreciated the added suspense and mystery in the story. These plot points were very well done and only added to my eagerness to keep flipping pages.
BLURB:
My daddy warned me never to fall for a boy like Jace Jacobs . . .
The second I saw him walk through the door, I knew he was trouble.
A gorgeous rebel with a bad attitude and a huge chip on his shoulder.
My heart warned me. I didn’t listen. I saw something protective and good beneath the fierce, tough exterior.
I fell hard and fast.
He promised we’d be together forever, and then left me with a broken heart.
Now, ten years later, Jace Jacobs is standing at my door.
Sexier than he’s ever been.
Provocative and commanding.
Successful and powerful.
The man I always knew he would become.
But I promised myself I’d never lose my heart to him again.
Even time couldn’t dim our chemistry. One glance of his intense eyes, and I become weak. One brush of his hand, and he brings me to my knees.
Little do I know, Jace holds the key to everything I’ve lost and everything that threatens my future.
Now he will either save me, or he will break me all over again . . .
As I made my way further into the story, a few quirks I noticed about the author’s writing began to become more apparent. I noticed almost every thought or sentence was the start of a new paragraph, making many of the pages look as if I was reading poetry. As the book progressed, this became more evident and happened with greater frequency. I don’t know if this is the routine style in all of her books or if it was unique to More of You, nonetheless, I couldn’t help but be distracted by it. I felt as if these choppy sentences and one or two-word paragraphs greatly took away from the flow of the story. It seemed as though while the story wore on, the author was exhausted by the writing process and ready for her own book to end. The blurb is a great example of this issue, as it’s written with the same structure as many of the pages are.
Another issue I had towards the latter half of the book was the repetition of the characters sayings, tedious descriptions of what the other looked like, or what their goals were when life settled down again. I felt many of these things could have been edited out to streamline the story a bit and keep the readers’ interest. Overall, this started out as a hit for me and completely fizzled out towards the end. If it weren’t for the choppy sentences and paragraphs, and their increase toward the end of the story, I would have been able to avoid skimming and continue being invested in the book. It’s hard not to be disappointed after the great start and numerous five-star reviews I’ve seen. I definitely will pick up another A.L. Jackson book in the future to compare her writing style in More of You to her past works. Her storytelling is phenomenal but I felt as though the actual writing was quite elementary, unfortunately.
Ashes Books & Bobs 