For Jake Wrigley, the future is bleak. Some people are survivors, but he’s getting by on his bad-boy looks and charming smile. He owns a gym, gets into bar fights, and wrestles his demons with rough workouts—both in and out of the bedroom.
For Alyson Road, the future is bright. Life can only improve from where she grew up. She graduated at the top of her law class, cares for her ailing mom, and … mom, and in her job, she defends those who can’t afford anyone else. Her work is thankless but honest.
Jake’s twin brother has been covering his ass for as long as they’ve been alive, but that all changes when Jake finds himself in front of the fiery public defender, his future in her hands. For the first time ever, he doesn’t want to involve his brother, finally realizing he needs to stand alone, be his own man.
Even if Jake’s never absolved of his past wrongdoings or his heart is never scrubbed of the blackness that resides there, he can do one good deed—protect the beautiful lawyer who touched his soul—until helping her nearly becomes his own undoing.
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4.5*
Absolution Road is a completely captivating, emotional, and gripping book. It’s the second in the Crossroad series- we finally get to see inside Jake’s head and find answers and resolutions to the questions we were left with in Redemption Lane.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Jake, he wasn’t the most compelling character in his brother’s book, honestly. But I completely fell for him, almost from the start.
While Lane had his burdens to bear, Jake was the one living with the real demons. But he’s never been one to analyze or delve deeply into his feelings- he’s been living his life, almost just going through the motions- running his gyms, working out, and having cheap meaningless sex. Until Alyson enters his life. He’s not sure what it is about this buttoned-up lawyer that gets to him, but there’s something about her that makes him feel things he’s never quite felt before.
“She ignited something inside me, a desire to protect and care for her, or some weird crap like that. What was this- Oprah?”
Like Resolution Lane, Absolution Road is a really heartfelt, emotional read. Jake and Alyson’s realtionship is not smooth sailing, at all- they encounter quite a few obstacles on their path to finding love, some that are easily worked through, while others will have you on the edge of your seat with your heart in turmoil.
I loved the growth we see in both Jake and Aly as the book goes on. Jake starts to take control and take responsibility for his actions- he realizes it’s time for him to grow up and not rely on Lane to bail him out any longer. We see Aly start to come out of her self-imposed shell, shed some of her insecurities, and blossom.
Everything about this book is so well done, Rachel did such an amazing job bringing these characters and story to life.
I have to say I loved this book more than the first one in this duet set. Jake is so much more tortured by the past than Lane was. He wanted vindication for what happened to them. When he met his own version of kryptonite in Alyson I loved that I got to see the softer side of him that I was hinted at in Redemption Lane. I did not like Camper at all, I thought she was self-involved and unworthy of being part of Jake’s life. Jake is such a strong character but doesn’t feel as though he is worthy of anyone’s love including his brothers. He feels like he is the screwed up twin and that Lane is perfect with his perfect life. The inner struggle that Jake deals with was heartbreaking but it helped him grow. Then there is Alyson “Aly” and she has her own demons she is struggling with. What happened in this book broke my heart and brought me to tears a couple times over. This story was exciting, maddening, sexy, romantic, jaw dropping and page turning. I didn’t want this story to end but I couldn’t stop myself from reading the next page. A MUST READ BOOK!!! Strong characters, strong story and amazing relationship.