Title
Grace for Drowning
Release Date
June 29th
Genre
Contemporary Fighter Romance
Hope is a dangerous thing. I know that more
than most. Everything good I've ever had has been stolen from me — my friends,
my fiancé, my innocence, some would say even my sanity. All I have left is the
cage. Fighting is the only thing that eases the ache inside me even a little.
It’s the only thing that keeps the bottle at bay.
I was content to ride out my life alone. I
was done dreaming that things could be better. But then I met Grace, and
suddenly, all I could do was dream.
She's battling those same demons, only she's
losing. I don’t want to care, but something about her calls to me. That pain in
her eyes is so sharp, so familiar. I know it’s only a matter of time before it
pulls her below the surface.
I can help her, and maybe, just maybe, she
can help me too. For the first time in what feels like forever, I’ve got hope,
and that scares the hell out of me.
This is a full
length novel with no cliffhanger. There will be a sequel, but this book
resolves all the story elements by the end. It is written with dual
perspectives, so both Logan and Grace get their say.
I gave a tiny shake of my
head. It felt like a big gesture, one that should have set the earth shaking
and the sky falling, but it was strangely liberating at the same time. A moment
of clarity in an ocean of confusion. I wanted him. I couldn’t deny that
anymore. I wanted everything those absent words implied. His hands on my body,
his lips on mine. I knew that given a few days, a few hours, maybe even a few
minutes, my pain and self-loathing would resurface and start sabotaging this
again, but right now, in that moment, I was free of that.
Before I could talk myself
out of it, I lunged towards him. He was so tall that I had to stretch up onto
my toes, wrapping my hands around his neck to pull his mouth down to mine. It
sent a powerful longing through me, that height, that sheer bulk. I normally
hate to be reminded how diminutive I am, but I liked how small he made me feel.
There was something strangely comforting about it.
His body stiffened and he
mumbled a curse against my lips. For a moment, he barely moved. I could feel
the war playing out behind his eyes. But then the fight drained out of him, and
his arms enveloped me as he began kissing me back with an urgency strong enough
to be almost frightening. Part of me expected it to feel wrong, a betrayal of
everything I’d had with Tom, but instead my body simply melted against his like
it had always been there, and all other thoughts disappeared.
All my other first kisses
had been timid affairs, but this was something else entirely, fierce and
hungry; an explosion of everything that was simmering inside us. Though I’d
initiated it, Logan quickly seized control. This wasn’t a man who simply stood
by and had things happen to him. Leather-rough palms ran amok across my back
and shoulders, pulling me against him as though he was afraid I’d be snatched
away at any moment. I moaned involuntarily into his mouth as his tongue darted
and teased. In some distant part of me I felt ashamed, but it was dwarfed by
the fire that was coursing through my veins. I’d never been kissed like that
before. Not by Tom. Not by anybody. It felt like a matter of need rather than want.
Life or death.
I’d seen him shirtless
plenty of times of course, but the sight was different now. Erotic, sensual,
and above all, mine. I could barely breathe for how magnificent he looked.
Sculpted and tanned and lit with moonlight; a living breathing Greek statue.
I wanted to touch all of him, to feel each inch between my fingers, in my
mouth, in every part of me. I’d never been so intoxicated by another human
being.
My hands took on a mind of
their own, dancing hungrily across his bare chest. His muscles were so hard,
like his entire body was just skin stretched over stone sculpture. Everything
inside me seemed to clench as my fingers took it all in, the perfectly defined
grooves between his pecs and his abs, the mountainous curl of his biceps. He was
still slick with sweat and hot from the night’s exertion, but that only excited
me more. Images played through my head of him in the arena, his body a perfect
primal machine leveling all of that power at his opposition.
My lack of control seemed
to trigger something in Logan. He reached for my shirt, tugging it over my
head, and then his hands turned ravenous, squeezing my breasts, my ass, the
curve of my hips. It felt like his fingers were everywhere at once, and my body
tingled and burned in response. It was so good to be touched again. I hadn’t
realized how long it had been or how much I missed it, but there was something
exquisite about it — a tactile euphoria that kept me centered in that perfect
moment and scattered all my problems to the wind.
This book was such an emotional ride for me. There are so many different topics that the book touches on, and each one tugs at your heartstrings. You have loss, addiction, love, fear, war, memories. So many different things that everyone can relate to, that people may battle with, but may not have someone like Logan or Grace to help them get through whatever it is they are going through. You immediately love Logan. What he does for Grace, who he is for her, shows how much of a good man he is, he shows his character. I know, he's an MMA fighter so he shouldn't empathise, but he does. And when you learn why he relates to her situation so well, you heart breaks a little for this man. And Grace, when you learn of her loss and her struggle, it makes your heart break a little more. The struggles that these two go through will continuously break your heart over and over, but Maya does an amazing job of giving us their struggles and shows us their strengths too. She shows us the paths they took alone, and the journey they ended up taking together. She does an amazing job of making you feel everything these characters have gone through and go through together. I had a little trouble staying invested in the story from page to page, chapter to chapter, but I thought it was a great story.
I give this book 3.5 hearts
Maya Cross is a writer who enjoys making people blush. Growing up
with a mother who worked in a book store, she read a lot from a very young age,
and soon enough picked up a pen of her own. She’s tried her hands at a whole
variety of genres including horror, science fiction, and fantasy, but funnily
enough, it was the sexy stuff that stuck. She has now started this pen name as
an outlet for her spicier thoughts (they were starting to overflow). She likes
her heroes strong but mysterious, her encounters sizzling, and her characters
true to life.
She believes in writing familiar narratives told with a twist, so
most of her stories will feel comfortable, but hopefully a little unique.
Whatever genre she's writing, finding a fascinating concept is the first, and
most important step.
The Alpha Group is her first attempt at erotic romance.
When she's not writing, she's playing tennis, trawling her home
town of Sydney for new inspiration, and drinking too much coffee.
Website: http://www.mayacross.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/mayacrossbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Maya_cross
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6217503.Maya_Cross
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