I may have carried her out of that fire, but the truth was, Bree saved me.
From The Embers, an all-new not-to-be-missed, standalone catastrophic romance from USA Today bestselling author Aly Martinez is available now!
In the aftermath of tragedy, it’s strange the
things you remember.
The deafening boom as the house exploded.
The paralyzing fear as I searched for my wife.
The blinding smoke burning my eyes as I carried her out.
But carved into my soul for the rest of my days would be the earth-shattering realization that the woman in my arms wasn’t my wife.
Bree and I were the only survivors—not that either of us were truly living after that night. As a single dad with nowhere else to go, I moved into her guest house. And somehow, through the guilt and grief, we forged an unlikely team.
It took years, but I watched the gradual
return of her smile—slow and life-altering.
The two of us could sit outside for hours, talking about nothing, and it filled the massive hole in my chest with new life.
I may have carried her out of that fire, but the truth was, Bree saved me.
As we healed, the secrets and lies of the past smoldered in the ashes, threatening to ignite again.
Our love was born from the embers, and
together we would go up in flames.
Add FROM THE EMBERS to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2ZwA5Fs
My Review:
5 STARS
WOW! Just. Wow.
This is my first book by this author, though I have some in
my library that are currently unread, and she has been highly recommended by
other reader friends before. I was
contacted by another author who reached out to bloggers who previously had
reviewed her books, asking for bloggers who would be willing to review an ARC
of an upcoming release for Aly Martinez.
I read the blurb. It sounded
great, but emotionally packed. I am
normally a rom-com girl. I thought about
it for a few hours, and it kept coming back to my mind. I knew I had to read this book. I grabbed the ARC and read it and I am not
sorry. It is written in first person
from a dual POV.
I was right that this book is emotionally packed. I felt all the emotions, deeply. Yet I never felt manipulated to those
feelings like sometimes happens in an emotional book. This book is incredibly well-written. I am not a crier, but this one brought me to
tears. Reading this book, I felt
irritation, shock, deep grief, anger, betrayal, fear, and love. There are so many twists and turns. The hits just kept coming at Bree and Eason. The author does an amazing job tracing their
journey from the “before”, through the “during”, and finally leading them
through to the “after” of the tragedies they face. I understood both characters, their
motivations, and their feelings each step of the way. There are many twists and turns that I refuse
to reveal because they are part of the experience of reading this book.
Eason is a good man.
He has a heart of gold, despite it being ripped from his chest multiple
times. Bree is amazing. She is fierce, loving, and protective of
those she loves. She is also unafraid to
admit when she has been wrong. Both
would do anything for their kids, who I must say are precious and a wonderful
part of the book that brought me many smiles.
They face so, so much. I love
when they form an unbreakable unit to deal with everything together. They have deep feelings for each other
because of their shared experience.
Their connection is strong, and I loved them together.
There are some steamy moments, but this book is all about
the emotions the characters feel as they rebuild their lives. And the happily ever after is perfect. Yes, they do eventually get there. And it is wonderful to behold. I have a feeling I will be thinking about
this book for a long, long time. As a blogger, I am blessed to read a lot of
great books. That said, I have no doubt
though that this is going to be one of my top reads of the year. I took a chance, stepped away from my comfort
zone, and I am not sorry. I will be encouraging everyone to read this book and
go on the wild ride that Eason and Bree take to their HEA. And I will
definitely be reading more books by this author.
Excerpt
Using my arm to block my face, I
carried her lifeless body to the door. The knob seared my palm as I yanked it
open, but the pain didn’t even register through the adrenaline. The sound of my
feet pounding down the driveway echoed in my ears as the fire crackled behind
me. Our closest neighbor was over half a mile away, but there was no way they
hadn’t heard the explosion. The fire department would be there soon.
Once I got Jessica safe, I’d go back
for Bree. They’d find Rob. Everyone would be okay.
“Eason,” she croaked in my arms.
My feet were still moving as I
sprinted away, but time stopped as her voice permeated my senses.
It wasn’t possible.
She was covered in soot, and my eyes
were caked with ash and what I would later learn to be blood, but I could still
make out the large flowers on her yellow—
“Uh, no. It’s my dress that your wife borrowed and I had to
do an entire Tom Cruise Mission Impossible
thing to get it back last week.”
Oh, God.
I kept running until the wind changed
direction, clearing the smoke. With my heart in my throat, I prayed that my
still ringing ears had deceived me. I set her down and used the inside of my
shirt to clear my face.
“Eason,” she croaked.
But once again, she wasn’t my wife.
“Oh, God,” I breathed, watching as
she rose on unsteady legs. Tears carved twin riverbeds through the ash on her
cheeks.
“What happened?” Bree asked, her
green eyes focused on the blazing inferno behind me.
Acrid guilt devoured me. “I…”
I saved the wrong woman.
I left the mother of my child in a burning building.
My final broken promise to the woman I’d vowed forever to
was, “I’ll be right back.”
Bile crawled up my throat. “I don’t
know.”
I glanced back at the house, the heat
of the roaring fire scorching me even from yards away. Overwhelming grief hit
me as I realized there was no way I could get back through those flames.
Oh, God. Jessica.
In the middle of tragedy, it’s
strange the things that become engrained into your memories. Years later, I
wouldn’t be able to tell you how long it took the firetrucks to get there. I
couldn’t tell you what time it was or what I had been wearing. But I would
never be able to forget the absolute devastation on Bree’s face when she
realized we were the only two standing outside the burning house.
“Where’s Rob?” she rasped, her voice
sounding like it had traveled over a mile of gravel before exiting her throat.
“And Jessica. Where are they?” She took an urgent stride toward me.
“I tried…” I doubled over into a fit of coughing. It was probably for the best. There was no way I could have finished that thought.
About Aly
Martinez
Originally from Savannah, Georgia, USA
Today bestselling author Aly Martinez now lives in South Carolina with her
husband and four young children.
Never one to take herself too seriously, she enjoys cheap wine, mystery leggings, and olives. It should be known, however, that she hates pizza and ice cream, almost as much as writing her bio in the third person.
She passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a super-sized tumbler of wine by her side.
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