Hunter can’t live with the uncertainty and follows his own dreams, but those aren’t only life-changing for him. When he leaves, Mackenzie understands that her heart is stronger than her head. But now it’s too late, Hunter is gone. Will they find each other again?
***
This box set includes
1.a fighting chance
2.a losing battle
3.a saving grace
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars
Free At Last boxed set contains the three books in this series by Annie Stone; I read them continuously in the box set, so the story was broken down in three parts.
I don’t normally like books with cheating, but there was something about the blurb for this story that sucked me in and I wanted to give it a try. And I am so glad that I did. The journey that Mackenzie and Hunter take from start to finish was a real rollercoaster, but they both do so much growing, both within themselves and as a couple.
When we first meet 17 year old Hunter, he is an angry, arrogant teenager, immediately hating his dad’s much-younger girlfriend just because she IS a girlfriend, and not his mother. Mackenzie is much younger than her boyfriend Carter, and at 25 is closer in age to his teenaged sons, Hunter and Carey. Both boys immediately hate her, and they treat her rather horribly. But Mac gives them reason to see her in a new light and something changes in the way that the three of them connect and interact. Carter being out of town a lot leaves the door wide open for more interactions with his sons, but things are totally on a proper level. At first.
Slowly, Hunter realizes that he’s fallen in love with Mac, but that he can’t have her because she is his father’s girlfriend. Without getting into a plot rehash, I did think that the progression of Hunter and Mac’s friendship-to-romance happens organically. We see the deterioration of her relationship with Carter, and how Hunter and Carey are always there to pick her up. The story spans several years, which makes it all the more excruciating when Hunter blocks Mac out, first because it’s too painful to be around her and then — after they share one amazing night and declare their love for one another — because of a huge misunderstanding. You just want them to work things out and get back together, but he completely ices her out!
There are a lot of potential triggers in this story, as it covers themes of rape, depression, and attempted suicide. There are some passages and dialogue that are a bit clunky, I think due to the translation from this German author. But that didn’t stop me from tearing through this entire book in a single Saturday. I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review for Sunny Shelly Reads book blog.
One day, Carey goes out with Dad. I have no idea what they’re up to, but I don’t really care. I sit out on the porch with my headphones on, listening to Avenged Sevenfold, a beer in hand, the sun beating down on me. It’s awesome, and life is good.
Until something steps in front of the sun, blocking the light. I open my eyes and squint.
Mac. With the sun behind her, she looks like she has a freaking halo. She’s a goddamn angel.
I must be drunker than I thought.
I take off my headphones. “What?”
Oops. That came out harsher than I intended. She narrows her eyes at me. When she would have shrunk back before, there’s fire in her eyes now. Which makes me go hard immediately.
“Don’t take that tone with me, mister.”
I smile at her ridiculous use of mister. “Sorry, Mac.”
That immediately makes her soften. “Okay. You’re forgiven.”
I shake my head in amusement. “What can I do for you?”
“Much better, thank you,” she says. “I was just going to ask if we should fire up the barbecue. I could use a steak.”
“Great idea.” I get up and stretch, which makes me tower over her. She’s not small for a woman, but she’s still tiny compared to me. Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see her observing my naked torso. And I can’t say I don’t like it. Trying to hide my smile, I flex a little. Her cheeks redden in response. I love it.
But it makes her scurry back into the house, so I let my laugh out as I go start the barbecue. With perfect timing, she comes back out with the meat just as the barbecue reaches prime temperature. So I throw the meat on and close the lid.
Mac sets the table and brings out salad and bread. Then she sits down and grabs my earphones. A smile starts on her face, and her head bobs up and down. It’s adorable.
Fuck! I need to stop using such fucked-up words to describe my dad’s freaking girlfriend!
When I finally set a steak on her plate—medium-well—she takes the headphones off. “I love them.”
“You like metal?” I ask, skeptical.
She shrugs. “I’ll listen to anything. I’m not into one particular genre.”
“Cool,” I mumble. And it is. The more I learn about her, the more I like. “I mostly listen to metal.”
“I know.” She smiles. “It drives your dad nuts.”
I laugh. “Yeah. My old man is definitely not a fan.”
She shakes her head and puts a piece of steak in her mouth. A drip of juice runs out the corner of her mouth and down her face. I watch it drop off her chin and land on her breast.
“Oh,” she says, grabbing a napkin to wipe it off. My mouth goes dry.
But all I see is her touching her tits. Maybe I’m visually impaired, but… It is all…I…can…see. Her hands…on her tits.
When she puts down the napkin, I take a shaky breath and say, “I think you missed a bit.” She runs the napkin across her body again, and I enjoy the show. My dick doesn’t, though. He wants to be let out.
“Did I get it?” she asks, looking down at her chest.
I nod, even though I could keep watching her for hours.
“Oh, good. I’m such a messy eater.”
Gulping, I try to tame my racing heart. “So, uh, where are Dad and Carey?” I ask.
She skewers a piece of cucumber with her fork. “There was some trouble with Carey enrolling at the new school. I wasn’t really listening, but I think some documents were missing.”
“What about me?”
“No problem, I guess. No idea.”
I shrug. Whatever. “So why are you home so early?”
She shrugs, rubbing her napkin at a new drop of steak juice on her cleavage. I guess tits are like a catch basin for all kinds of shit. “I need to write some stuff,” she said, “and I focus better when it’s quiet.”
“What kind of stuff?” The words feel far away, because my eyes are still glued to her tits. But I’m still managing to keep up with the conversation. My dad would be so proud. Oh, wait…maybe not, considering the subject…
“We’re making a new brochure, and I was the final choice to write it up.”
“Wow,” I say, finally meeting her eyes. “Out of how many people?”
She pauses for a moment. “Just me.”
I smile, and she laughs, a bit embarrassed. “That makes more sense.”
“You’re so mean!”
“What? You volunteer to do things nobody else would. Just because you like doing things for other people. It’s nice.”
“Ugh! Nice?”
I laugh. “I thought nice was a good thing!”
“Nice is totally boring.”
“No way,” I say, shoveling steak in my mouth and trying not to glance down to see how her tits are faring. “Nice is good.”
“Okay. Then you’re really nice, too, Hunter. Such a nice boy.”
I pull a disgusted face. She got me. Nice sucks. “I am not nice.”
“Ha!”
We both laugh about the absurdity of our conversation, and she is so damn beautiful when she laughs. So indescribably beautiful. And I don’t think she’s ever been this relaxed around me before.
I love it. And, incidentally, so does my dick.
My stories are all about love, but some are of the romantic kind, some of the sad kind and others of the very steamy kind. So if you can stand drama, foul language and sex, you came to the right place.
Sunny Shelly Reads 