Breakout New Adult sensation Monica Murphy returns with a hot new contemporary romance—a heartfelt story of second chances, forgiveness, and redemption.
Commitment. That’s what I really want from Colin. Ever since my brother, Danny, died in Iraq, Colin’s done so much to help me, including giving me a job at his popular restaurant so I can leave my crappy waitressing job at the strip joint. But lying in bed with him every night to comfort him from his horrible nightmares isn’t enough anymore. I know he feels guilty about Danny’s death, about not going to Iraq, but I can’t keep living this double life.
I love him desperately, but he’s got so many demons, and if he can’t open up to me now, then he’ll never be the real partner I need him to be. I gave him a month, and now I’m out of here. If he truly loves me like he says, he knows where to find me.
Commitment. That’s what I really want from Colin. Ever since my brother, Danny, died in Iraq, Colin’s done so much to help me, including giving me a job at his popular restaurant so I can leave my crappy waitressing job at the strip joint. But lying in bed with him every night to comfort him from his horrible nightmares isn’t enough anymore. I know he feels guilty about Danny’s death, about not going to Iraq, but I can’t keep living this double life.
I love him desperately, but he’s got so many demons, and if he can’t open up to me now, then he’ll never be the real partner I need him to be. I gave him a month, and now I’m out of here. If he truly loves me like he says, he knows where to find me.
SHE WANTED TO GO.
But in reality…
All she wanted was for him to tell her…
But it looks like she’d be waiting in vain –
because no matter how palpable the sexual tension, the emotion and even the
attraction between the two of them, their past would always get in the way. It
was something none of them had wanted, but was helpless to stop.
All she wanted was for him to commit to her,
to ask her to stay, to finally ADMIT to her his feelings. Colin has been Jen’s
savior ever since her brother died and her parents forget about her. She did
some crappy things she wasn’t really proud of, and keep some of these to
herself. For a while now, she has been living with Colin, and working for him. They
had a nice platonic relationship going on – or at least one of them maintained
it at that, until it wasn’t enough anymore. Her past is starting to creep up to
her, and he didn’t want her around. She knew, one way or the other, she needed
to move on.
Cole Wilder is the epitome of too much.
Haunted by nightmares on a daily basis,
Colin had been living in guilt for the death of his best friend Danny in Iraq. They
should have enlisted together, but on the last minute, he backed out. He tried
to convinced him too, but he was too determined to save his country. They didn’t
part on good terms at first, but have settled their differences and have
communicated through the internet throughout his deployment. He gave him three
promises. These promises had made Jen somewhat off limits. Now, Jen has decided
to leave him. She had silently given him an ultimatum to find his balls, man up
and tell her how he feels.
BOTH of them had demons from the past and it’s
not just Danny. Out of desperation, Jen did things she didn’t know she was
capable of. She was afraid revealing this to Colin would finally seal a coffin
to their relationship.
I found this book over Netgalley, and one
glimpse at the blurb, I knew I have to read this one. I wasn’t disappointed. Three
Broken Promises is a story of forgiveness, courage and second chances. Don’t
ever miss reading this one!
This book had caused me so much ache, but
the ending was pretty much worth it. I was really glad to finally see them both
together, having worked out their issues, and admitting their feelings for one
another. It may have taken a while, a couple of tears, and some heartbreaking
moments but - Monica Murphy made my last day of 2013 a great one.
“You’re going to turn me away yet again, aren’t you?” she asks when I don’t say anything. The irritation in her voice rings clear as her entire body goes tense. “I can’t believe it. I offer myself up to you with no strings attached and you’re trying to figure out how to let me down easy. God, I am such a moron.”
Unable to hold myself back, I rush toward her, angry that she would insult herself. Panicked that she really is going to walk away and I’m going to lose my chance. Thinking too much sucks. I need to just let it happen. Take this opportunity that she’s presenting me.
And let her go when our time is up.
“You’re not a moron,” I murmur, reaching for her. I cup her face in my hands and position her so she has no choice but to meet my gaze. I skim my thumbs across her cheeks, feel her shudder at my touch. “You make an offer like that and a man needs to process it first.”
The unshed tears still glimmer in her eyes and one escapes, leaving a damp trail across her skin. Leaning in, I stop its descent with my lips, tasting the salt, hearing the catch in her breath. “We do this and it’s not going to be some half-assed thing, you know,” I whisper.
She closes her eyes, her tears tangled in her long, thick lashes. “What’s it going to be, then?”
“A discovery.” I nuzzle her nose with my own, breathing in her scent, her very essence. God, I could devour her! It’s taking everything within me to keep calm and not unleash all over her. “An exploration.”
“That sounds like . . . research.” Her breath hitches in her throat when I drop a tender kiss on the tip of her nose.
Chuckling, I shake my head. “It’s the farthest thing from research.” I drift my lips across her cheek, blazing a hot path on her petal-soft skin. “You’re right when you said I don’t do commitment. The closest thing I’ve ever been to commitment is . . . what I share with you.”
She tentatively places her hands on my hips, her fingers curling into the waistband of my jeans. Having her hands on me sends little darts of fire throughout my insides, making me harden in an instant. She has no idea what sort of effect she has on me. How much restraint I’m using at this very moment not to throw her over my shoulder like an oversexed caveman and cart her off to my bedroom.
“But it can be no more than friendship with added . . . benefits.” I lift my head so I can look into her troubled gaze. She doesn’t like what I have to say and I don’t like it either, but I have to be honest. Stringing her along and making her believe this is something more is a mistake.
The two of us together would never work. I’m too damn selfish. I’d disappoint her. I’d hold her back when she needs her freedom. I’m not worthy of her. She’s everything sweet and good in my life, where there’s little sweet and good remaining.
I’ve kept her—and our relationship—as pure as possible even after all of these years. With the realization that she’s leaving me, that we’ll never be together again, I need to take my opportunities where I can.
Jen bites her lip and drops her gaze. “I can handle that.”
Her body language is more than telling me she doesn’t really want to handle that, but I can’t worry about it now.
I want her too damn much.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite. A wife and mother of three, she writes New Adult and contemporary romance for Bantam and Avon. She is the author of One Week Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend.
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