A STANDALONE ROMANCE. Keir McGregor has a deep, dark secret that could destroy the woman he loves… From the New York Times bestselling author of The Pact and The Lie comes a new standalone contemporary romance to make you laugh, cry and swoon. Jessica Charles shouldn’t have even been in London when the unthinkable happened. She should have been back at home in Edinburgh, perhaps hanging with … back at home in Edinburgh, perhaps hanging with her boyfriend, having drinks with her sister or doing yoga with her group of friends. She should have been going on in her normal, dependable life as always.
But on that fateful day in August, when a mentally-ill ex-soldier opened fire in public, Jessica’s world changed forever.
Now single and crippled from the gunshot wounds, Jessica finds herself scared and alone, losing faith in herself and humanity with each agonizing moment that passes.
That is until a stranger enters her life. A stranger who makes her live again.
Keir McGregor has always been the strong, silent type. Throw in tall, dark, and handsome and you’ve got pretty much the perfect Scotsman.
Except Keir is anything but perfect. He’s got a past he’s running away from and a guilty conscience he can’t seem to shed. But the more time he spends with Jessica, the more he falls in love with her.
And the more his secret threatens to tear them apart.
He may have been a stranger to her.
But she’s never been a stranger to him.
NOTE: The Debt is a complete STANDALONE novel…you do NOT need to read any of the other McGregor books to read this one.
The Debt follows a couple who do not appear in any of the other books and it is its own self-contained story.
The Debt is rated 18+ for dirty-talking Scotsmen, profanity, and numerous sexy times. For those sensitive to bad language and explicit sex, please be aware.
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Karina Halle hit it out of the park with The Debt. Keir is the featured McGregor in this one and I loved the themes his character brought to the story. Military-related PTSD, the burden of watching your team return home broken, the responsibility we all have to report life-threatening concerns, and how guilt creates a debt that can never fully be paid. The heroine Jessica also brings a massive amount of emotional turmoil which stems from childhood events as well as the aftermath of surviving a mass shooting. Ms. Halle shows that PTSD is not limited to our treasured soldiers.
The romance element in this novel is strong, sexy, and beautifully complex due to some issues the characters are working through. However, you can see the relationship conflict in The Debt from a mile away. It is massively predictable and avoidable which was annoying to me personally but I absolutely could not negate the other wonderful parts of this story. 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. Check it out!
Note: Each book in this collection of standalones can be read separately and in any order as they focus on a different McGregor brother and his respective romance. The books linked together by these men include the following standalones as of November 2016.
The Pact (2014)
Winter Wishes (2015)
The Offer (2015)
The Play (2015)
The Lie (2016)
The Debt (2016)
I love these books about the McGregor’s They are Scottish and hot and sexy accents. Keir has a secret holding himself responsible for another’s actions. He meets Jessica in a bar and the sparks grow though she is quite down on herself. Very good story, love that they bring in the other McGregors too.
I liked it, but I didn’t looooove it like the other ones. The story line was just okay-ish for me. Keir and Jessica were good characters, they just didn’t knock my socks off. So yeah, that’s all I got. *shrugs*
Lachlan will always be my fav.
~ 4.5 Stars ~
I freaking adore Karina Halle. It seems like no matter what she writes, it just speaks to me. I first fell in love with her work with the The Artists Trilogy, which is a darker series. Ever since then, I’ve just devoured whatever she puts out. I love the fact that her writing flows together and just grabs my attention from start to finish, no matter what genre/style she is writing. Dark, funny, light, angst…she’s done it all and I’ve enjoyed every one. The Debt is absolutely no exception. In fact, it brought me my second favorite character out of all her books. Sorry, Keir, Javier still has my heart but you chipped away at it and broke a piece off for yourself. 🙂
Jessica Charles was victim to a mass shooter while visiting friends in London, turning her world upside down. Now she finds herself struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered world and body. The life that she had known before is now all drastically different. She’s scared and feels alone and has to take each day as it comes. Some days OK, some days not OK. It isn’t until a chance run in with a handsome, rough edged man that she discovers just how much she needs someone by her side and help her get through everything.
Keir McGregor has his own story and is also struggling to rebuild his life. His past haunts him constantly and he’s holding on to guilt that is festering inside of him and eating him up. He hasn’t really faced his past as he should but when he meets Jessica, his plans change. He also realizes just how much he needs someone and she seems like the one that just might be made for him. Will his past continue to haunt him and keep him from getting the girl or will he face it head on and conquer them both?
“The world is unforgiving, and if you don’t fight your way though it, you’ll be left behind.”
This story will gut you. Not once, but twice. Possibly more. And to some, that may sound scary but that’s what makes a good book, right? Something that makes you feel so passionately about that you experience the emotions along with the characters. I certainly did that with this. But overall, there’s hope and it will mend you back together. It won’t always be pretty. It will hurt. There are a lot of things in this book that many people can and will relate to one way or another and I think many will be able to connect with both Keir and Jessica.
So, I’ve already said this when I started my review but I love Keir. When I went back to look at my highlights and to process my thoughts about The Debt, almost everything was about him. Something that he said or did that made my heart thump harder and my entire body tingle. He’s this strongly built guy with a huge heart but his haunted by his past. When Jessica comes into his life, you get to really see how kind and loving he is. He ALMOST stole my heart.
“You deserve to feel beautiful”
“I want to make you feel beautiful. Will you let me?”
I think that Jessica is a very relatable character. She’s strong and bold and tries to use that to piece her life back together but she’s afraid to admit that she needs help. She’s feisty, stubborn, loyal and loving but a lot of insecurities come from her tragedy. That’s what makes her so human. So relatable.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. If you are looking for a little angst and a lot of hope, coupled with a few “broken” characters, then this might be the book for you. I will always recommend Karina Halle books and this is close to one of the top ones for me.