Rex Gunner. As bitter as he is beautiful.

The owner of the largest construction company in Gingham Lakes has been burned one too many times. His wife leaving him to raise their daughter was the last blow this single dad could take. The only woman he’ll let into his heart is his little girl.

Rynna Dayne. As vulnerable as she is tempting.

She ran from Gingham Lakes when she was seventeen. She swore to herself she would never return. Then her grandmother passed away and left her the deed to the diner that she once loved.

When Rex meets his new neighbor, he knows he’s in trouble.

She’s gorgeous and sweet and everything he can’t trust.

Until she becomes the one thing he can’t resist.

One kiss sends them tumbling toward ecstasy.

But in a town this size, pasts are bound to collide. Caught in a web of lies, betrayal, and disloyalty, Rex must make a choice.

Will he hide behind his walls or will he take the chance?

Series:

Fight For Me

Book 1

Can be read as a standalone

Book Type:

Contemporary romance

Review + Excerpt: Show Me The Way

A.L. Jackson’s standalone series starter, SHOW ME THE WAY, delivers all the feels with a story about second chances between two neighbors who’ve been running away from their past.

We first meet seventeen-year-old Rynna Dayne on the night that changed everything, frantically packing her things, needing to leave the small town intent on hurting her, leaving her beloved grandmother whom she loved so much, but just knowing she had to get away. But years later, rife guilt and grief at her grandma’s death, she’s back at Gingham Lakes ready to pick up her dreams of running the family diner.

“Don’t every let anyone chase you from what belongs to you, Rynna Dayne.”

Fearful she’d run into those that hurt her, she instead collides with neighbor Rex Gunner and his adorable daughter. But Rex is cold, hard—he’s been through too much to let anyone in. He’s barely getting by as a single dad, his daughter was his entire world—the only girl he would ever let into his heart… she owned the whole of it.

“I don’t have any chances left to take… I’ve already used up all the ones I’ve been given, and if I take anything else? I’d be nothing but a thief.”

But Rynna, she was always there, chipping away at the hardness, warming up that cold within and soon, he wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of her.

As Rex expected, however, the past comes back to threaten all the goodness that was just beginning to take shape. Rynna and Rex find themselves at the center of a web of lies, betrayals and a past that could shatter the hope of a beautiful future.

Jackson’s evocative writing draws you in to Rynna and Rex’s story, making you feel their heartbreak and hesitance, their longing for love. The enemies-to-lovers feel gives the story an extra charge, making the emotional payoff all the better. Fast-paced and sexy, you’ll be done before you know it, feeling fully satisfied with the happy ever after of such a hard-fought love story.

My laughter was soft. Incredulous. Disbelief that this girl could come battering into my life and the only thing it took for her to knock down my walls was all that kindness and faith. “Thanks,” I muttered. Twisting off the cap, I took a long pull, ice-cold amber gliding down my throat.

Rynna eased out to the far edge of the porch. Her back was to me, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared out at the peace that hummed around us.

Lost in thought.

Contemplation.

The girl was so damned gorgeous I was having a hard time differentiating the emotions that thrummed and danced and glowed. It was a war against the ones that screamed and warned and howled. The chaos in my heart and mind made me want to rip the hair from my head.

Scream out in frustration. Or maybe drop to my knees and plead for some clarity.

Because everything I’d lived my life on somehow felt like a lie.

With Rynna, I knew it was all or nothing. I couldn’t keep shutting her down and shutting her out. Couldn’t keep giving her these warnings without giving her a reason.

It was time to give her all of me.