All I Need, an all-new emotional standalone from Jennifer Van Wyk is available NOW!

 

Amazon US  |  Amazon Worldwide

 

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Blurb

It took me years to get over my fiancé sleeping with another woman. I thought my luck with men had finally turned around until I walked in on my new fiancé with my maid-of-honor.
I’m done with men entirely. I’m definitely old enough to know better than to let that happen to me again. Trust isn’t something I have in me to give… to anyone. At least, not anymore.
Besides, even if I wanted to give someone my everything, I have nothing left to give.
Now, if Walker could be just a tad less handsome, his relationship with his nephew not quite as sexy and his body… well, let’s not get crazy. His body is just a gift to womankind.

The moment I laid eyes on Ellie, I knew she’d be full of spit and vinegar. And why wouldn’t she be? She’d just caught her fiancé with her maid of honor – and they weren’t chatting about the upcoming nuptials.
I can’t help but push her buttons, she’s sexy as hell when she’s fired up. Or cooking dinner with Miss Polly, or… well, any time, really. Maybe having her work for me in my vet clinic wasn’t the smartest move I’ve ever made considering I can’t stop my body from aching for her.
She said she was done with men entirely, that she’s broken. Still, I can’t help but hope that she realizes she’s All I Need.

 

 

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Review

4 beautifully romantic stars

Another gorgeous read from Jennifer Van Wyk! Sweet, swoony, sexy, and so blessedly functional, this is a gorgeous, angst-free love story with a nice amount of emotion and lots of heart, and such a beautiful read. It’s the reason this woman is an auto-read author for me, I lost myself in the romance of it all and I loved it.

Note – This book does have ties to the rest of Jennifer’s books, set in the same town with cameos from other characters that I have already met and fallen madly for, however it can be read as a standalone.

Elie is having a really bad day. About to walk down the aisle, she finds her groom and her maid of honor going at it just moments before the wedding. It took her years to get over her first love leaving her at the altar a decade ago and it’s taken a long time for her to trust again, and now this! She’s done – with men, with her perfect-on-the-outside life, with all of it. So she takes off in her car and just drives.

Walker is a small town vet who encounters Ellie mid-rage in the middle of the road. Recognising her as a woman at the end of her rope, he sets her up with a dear family friend who takes her in and, when it becomes clear that she’s going to be hanging around for a while, offers her a job at his vet practice.

Walker is a country boy at heart who has dedicated his life to his job, and to helping his twin sister raise her son. His teenage nephew is the centre of his world, and he has lost relationships because of it, because women haven’t understood his need to be there for his family. But no woman has ever affected him like Ellie. He is drawn to her beauty, her strength and her kindness, and though he knows that she isn’t ready for a relationship, there is something between them that is undeniable.

Last night I wanted to kiss her.
Right now?
I want to kiss her. As in, bend her over backwards, change our lives forever with a kiss that leaves us both breathless and aching for more, kiss her.

Though she’s just walked out of a long-term relationship, Ellie is feeling everything that Walker is. She knows her last relationship wasn’t a true love match, and she only realises just how much she was willing to put up with when she encounters the pure perfection that is Walker. OMG, this man is irresistible! He’s sweet and kind, and super-romantic. He doesn’t hide the way he’s feeling from Ellie, putting it all out there in gloriously swoony details, but taking his time with her, making sure that she’s ready for all that he wants from her.

The chemistry is awesome and the UST builds brilliantly, and I was lost in a world of swoon as these two slowly, naturally, and so, so easily, fall into a relationship that is life-changing for both of them.

I don’t know how he did it. I didn’t expect to trust anyone with my heart again.
But I’m throwing it at him and hoping he’s caching it, because my heart? It’s gone for him.

Each glance, each smile, each full-of-emotion kiss… I felt it all!  And as all of that sweetness continues, there’s a whole heap of hotness to go with it as these two get hot and passionate, and I loved seeing them together.

“Once we do this, you’re mine. You get that, right?”
“You say that as if I wasn’t already yours.”

It’s a gorgeous love story, and I loved Ellie and Walker together. They’re so open and honest with each other, they talk about everything going on between them, and it’s so beautiful to watch them create something so special together.

“I love you. It’s a forever thing for me.”

There’s a fantastic cast of side characters that join in Ellie and Walker’s journey. Their family and friends are a great bunch, and as much as I enjoyed meeting the newbies, fans of JVW will love seeing characters from previous books.

There is some drama, but it’s true to the story and isn’t overdone, which I really appreciated. This is a fun, sweet, sexy, emotional and angst-free read that is beautifully heartfelt and completely engaging (with a sensational epilogue!), and I loved it!

4 stars!

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

Jennifer Van Wyk Interconnected Standalones

 

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Excerpt

I bound up the porch steps after parking at an angle behind her and walk through the door as I knock.

Ellie comes around the corner of the kitchen, her blue eyes wide, coffee cup in her hand, pajamas still covering her body. My eyes make a trail from her head to the tips of her slipper covered bare feet. She has on a long tan sweater but the tank top and shorts underneath leave nothing to the imagination. Which, after last night, is vivid.

“Is everything okay?”

“Set the coffee down, Ellie.”

“What?”

“If you don’t want to be wearing that coffee, I’d suggest you place that cup of coffee you’re holding onto the table beside you.”

She looks down at her coffee then up at me again before gently placing it down. Before she stands up straight, I make the space between us disappear, place my hands on her cheeks, and change our lives forever.

The kiss isn’t anything like the chaste kiss we shared after Camilla was born. Having her work for me, seeing her every day has been the most delicious kind of torture there is. The stolen kisses and shared looks, trying not to stare at the way her chest fills out the navy blue scrubs. As my tongue plunges into her mouth, I feel the vibration of her moan. I respond with a moan of my own, wrap my arms around her lower back and pull her in close, our bodies pressing against each other. With our height difference, it’s not as if we’re some perfect fit but it doesn’t matter because it feels perfect. Her body forms to mine and I can’t help when my body reacts.

I let my fingers make a slow trip down her body, our lips not separating for a single second. I brush my thumbs against the outside of her breasts and if my mouth wasn’t already busy devouring hers, I would smile. But I don’t want to waste precious seconds of time. I haven’t tasted enough of her yet.

Her head tilts to the side, allowing me to deepen the kiss. I wrap my arms around her ass and lift, her legs instantly circling my hips making it so I can feel the heat of her center against my hardness. Tongues collide and lips bruise but it’s all so amazing and the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced. Well, aside from last night.

I move slightly, kissing my way down her jaw until my lips find the spot just below her ear. She shivers and I smile, cataloging that little bit of information for later.

“Well good morning, Walker.” At the sound of Miss Polly’s voice Ellie stiffens in my arms but I’m not having it.

“That it is, Miss Polly. That it is,” I say cheerfully, not letting Ellie down no matter how much she squirms.

“I’ll just go add in a few more eggs to the scramble for breakfast. Don’t mind me,” Miss Polly calls out as she walks back out of the room.

“Walker!”

“Ellie!” I tease, tightening my grip on her.

“Would you let me down? Miss Polly is here.”

“And she said not to mind her.”

I move over to a chair in the corner of the room and sit down, allowing her to straddle me. Not a hardship on my part.

“Morning.” I grin and lean up to kiss her on the lips again.

She rolls her eyes but returns my kiss. “Morning,” she mumbles.

“Grumpy, grumpy. I’d have thought you’d be much happier after a good orgasm.”

“Walker, would you shush?” she whisper-shouts looking toward the kitchen where we know Miss Polly is still bustling around.

I reach over to the table she set her coffee on and lift her cup to my lips, taking a sip, pleasantly surprised when I notice that she takes her coffee the same as I do with just a splash of milk, then hand it to her. She smiles, takes a big gulp then replaces the cup on the table. “By the way, I guarantee Miss Polly already knew.  Nothing happens in this house she doesn’t know about.”

She glares at me. “Well in that case, I hope you enjoyed our one and only time.”

“Not happening. That’s something I plan on repeating. Often.”

Hopefully next time there won’t be phones separating us, though.

I can see the pulse in her throat pounding as she thinks about a repeat performance of our phone sex from last night. I wonder if she can feel how it affects me as well. To drive my point home, I press up against her and I can’t help but smile when she gasps.

“Mm hmm. You act so tough. Admit how incredible that was.”

She shrugs but won’t look me in the eye. I move her chin so she’s facing me. “Look at me, Ellie.”

When I finally have her deep blue gaze on mine, I say, “That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced. Second only to finding your vast sex toy collection,” I tease and she bites her lip. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Not with me, okay? Never with me. That was a first for me, too. It’s important to me for you to know that. And Ellie?”

“Yeah?”

I lean in close, my hand on the back of her neck tugs her into me and I lower my voice, my lips grazing her ear as I tell her, “I plan on reliving every single moment of last night with you very soon. But this time, we won’t be on the phone.”

“Soon?” she whispers.

I kiss a slow path down her neck before I let her lean back away from me, but not far. “Very soon.”

 

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About the Author

From the Ground Up was Jennifer’s first published novel and now that she was bitten by the writing bug, has no intention of ever stopping. Jennifer makes her home in small town Iowa with her high school sweetheart, three beautiful, hilarious and amazing kids, one crazy Jack Russell terrier. This is where her love for all things reading, baking, and cooking happen.  Jennifer’s family enjoys camping, boating, and spending time outside as much as possible. You’ll be her best friend if you can make her laugh and follow up with asking her what to read next. When she’s not writing, you can find her cheering the loudest at her kids’ sporting events (read as: embarrassing them), sipping coffee or iced tea out of a mason jar with her Kindle in her lap or binging on Netflix.

 

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