Vaughn and River were the high school sweethearts
everyone expected to fail. And they did. But not because of any shortage of
love. Oh no. The town bad boy and the bubbly class president had that in
spades. What they didn’t have was the truth—or the ability to defeat the forces
that kept them apart. Vaughn never left River completely, however, because the
night he left town for good, they conceived a child. Now Vaughn has returned to
earn back his family—and River’s love—any way he can.
Thrown Down
Synopsis:
He has one last chance to deserve the girl of his
dreams...
Overachiever River Purcell was never supposed to be a
struggling single mom, working double shifts just to make ends meet. Nor was
she supposed to be abandoned by her high school sweetheart, breaking her heart
into a thousand jagged pieces. Now Vaughn De Matteo is back in town, his sights
set on her...and River is in danger of drowning a second time.
No one believed Hook's resident bad boy was good enough
for River. Not even Vaughn himself. But he'll fight like hell to win back the
woman he never stopped loving, to keep the daughter he never expected, and
convince himself he's worth their love in the process––even if he has to rely
on their fierce and undeniable sexual chemistry.
But even as River's body arches under his hungered touch,
the demons of the past lurk in the shadows. Waiting for Vaughn to repeat his
mistakes one last time...
Buy Links:
EXCERPT:Forty-nine months and three days.That was how long it had been since he’d seen her.Vaughn swayed to the right, his shoulder slamming up against the wall. Then he kind of just hung there, counting forward and backward from one to ten. Not helping. Not helping. His stomach pitched at the sight of River walking through the drunks, like a nurse walking among the wounded on a battlefield. She could still knock his lights out on sight. Not that he’d doubted it for a second. But God, if it were possible, she’d grown even more beautiful over the last forty-nine months. Her blond hair was tied up in a ponytail, a pencil stuck through the base, in a way he remembered well enough to make his throat go raw. In a short black skirt and fitted white T-shirt, River tried to look the part of indifferent barmaid, but didn’t pull it off.Not by a stretch.Eyes Vaughn knew were just a shade darker than cornflower blue flitted to each table, and her fingers tugged on the skirt’s hem self-consciously every time she approached a new one. When she fumbled with the notepad, recovering with a nervous laugh, a choked sound left Vaughn. “Riv,” he whispered.She looked up so fast, he might as well have shouted. The sudden impact of having River’s focus on him after such an extended period of time without it released a rushing sound between his ears, blocking out the sad lounge act…and apparently someone asking if he needed a table. Because when Vaughn snapped back to reality, a man he towered over by at least a foot was in his face. Snapping his fingers.“I wouldn’t…” Vaughn shook his head to clear it, experiencing a resurgence of anger, this time for having his attention diverted from where he needed it to be. On River.“I wouldn’t advise snapping your fingers in my face again.”“Why’s that, huh?”A toss of blond hair snagged Vaughn’s gaze as his angelic ex-girlfriend zigzagged through the crowd, drawing more than just his notice. Ah no, quite the opposite. She was putting on an unwitting show for every man in the room, attracting lecherous looks by virtue of being her beautiful self, light in a dark tunnel, same way she’d always been.Finger snapped in front of his face. Again. “This is my place and I asked you a question.”“This is your place?” Vaughn asked. God, one hour back in Jersey and already his accent had thickened from water to oil. “You hired River Purcell to clean up tables?”“That’s right.”Vaughn plowed a fist into the underside of the man’s jaw, watching him fall backward onto the sticky concrete floor with detachment that slowly morphed into satisfaction. So much for calm, he thought, shaking out his right hand.
About Tessa:
Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The
day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop,
driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.
Her most valuable life experiences were learned
thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle.
Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the
magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community
College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several
stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance
writing continued to demand her attention.
She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband
of eight years and four-year-old daughter. Although she is severely
sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about
people falling in love.
Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Entangled
Genre: Adult Contemporary
Part 2 in an ongoing series
My Thrown Down Review . . .
This is technically the third in this series but it can be read as a standalone. River Purcell and
Vaughn De Matteo were high school sweethearts. However, it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns for these two back in Jersey. For one, Vaughn's upbringing has made him believe that he's not worth much so when a shining start like River likes him its hard to believe but he fell in love anyways. For two, not all were happy for this union and would be happy to see them fail.
Trying to do the right thing Vaughn's leaves for the army hoping that River would wise up and live the life she's destined to have. Upon returning he finds River still there waiting. Not one to kick a gift horse in the mouth he plans to claim her until he gets sidetracked with his worries and insecurities causing him not only to leave but break River's heart.
What he also didn't realize is not only did he break her heart he left her with more then he realized. After 49 months he finally finds out that River is not only still where he left her but is a single mom. After finding out that truth he goes back to Hook to do what he should have done 49 months ago.
"It's not easy, Vaughn. Do you know what you're asking to take on here?"
"Yes," he rasped. "But I'm not asking, I'm begging."
River's determined to do raise her daughter by herself, so the last things she wants is for Vaughn to come back into their lives, just to leave again and hurt them. However, Vaughn's dirty talking ways have a way of getting her to take a chance on what should have always been.
River and Vaughn are one of those high school couples that were actually made for keeps but they had a bumpy road to get their. Even in high school Vaughn had that dirty talking bad boy down pat, now many years later and it's just evolved to the point that it made it impossible for River to say no to him.
I have to admit that this series has started out slow for me but it's picking up momentum. Sure it has all the things that I love about Tessa Bailey and her dirty talking alpha men but I've felt like there has been something missing. With Thrown Down I felt that missing piece being filled and I was much more engaged with this story.
3.5 Dirty Talking Thumbs up!
. 5Lauren
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