Effortless by Jennifer Van Wyk is live!
This is such a beautiful story! A swoony and heartfelt second-chance-romance, and a gorgeous story of reconnection with the one who got away.
Amazon
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Blurb
Who knew a cancelled flight would turn out to be the best night of my life?
He didn’t know what my life was like before he offered me a seat at his table.
I don’t know how, but he could see I was crumbling inside.
I had become an expert at hiding my true feelings and life’s desires but with Cash, he saw through the mask I had grown accustomed to wearing.
That night with him was the first time I was able to be myself. He listened to me.
For the first time in my life, I felt free, wanted, and cherished. But more than that, I felt seen.
Our time together was effortless but unforgettable.
But the night came to an end too soon.
The first time I saw her I could see a sadness in her eyes. As the night went on, the sadness lifted and I found myself doing anything I could to make it disappear.
But the night we spent in each other’s arms wasn’t enough. I needed more with her. Not just her body, her heart and mind.
For the past sixteen years I’ve dreamt of her, compared everyone else I meet to her, and longed for just one more night with her.
Then she walked into my small town and changed my life forever.
Now I can only hope her accepting my love comes as effortless as loving her.
Review
4 stars!
This is such a beautiful story! A swoony and heartfelt second-chance-romance, and a gorgeous story of reconnection with the one who got away.
This is the third book in the Lake Family series (the second full-length novel), and it’s the story of Cash Lake. Years ago during a freak snow storm, a cancelled flight led Cash to spend the night with a beautiful girl. They shared a freakish connection, talking late into the night before spending a hot and unforgettable night together, but both got on their planes the next day and went back to their lives..It’s been sixteen years, and now Hadley has shown up in his small Tennessee town, and she’s about to rock his whole world.
Hadley grew up with wealth and privilege but was trapped by her parents who were all about image. Practically forced into marriage and a life that she didn’t want, she has finally broken free, and she’s starting fresh with her teenage daughter in the small town of Red Oak. She has settled in well and is loving her new life, and things only get better when she and Cash find each other once again.
OMG, the chemistry between these two is insane right from the very first moment! They know each other, they are thrilled to see each other, and they don’t hold anything back in reconnecting. Though the attraction is strong, they don’t just dive into a romantic reconnection. Cash acknowledges that Hadley has just gone through a major life change, and he’s willing to wait for her to be ready for all that he wants with her, but he makes his desires known, and we get a wonderful build-up to something that you just know is going to be epic.
“I shouldn’t have let you go,” I whisper. “Knew it. That morning when I watched you walk to your gate at the airport, something in me said to chase you. I didn’t. I fucked that up for us. I let you walk away from me, and it felt like I was letting go of a part of me.”
There’s no stupid behaviour, no game playing, just two people who want to be together, and who slowly and functionally work their way up to it, not hiding anything from each other, and going all in when they’re ready. It’s so wonderfully functional and I loved watching them find their way to each other.
“How can it be that I spent one night with you a lifetime ago and you’re here with me now, and you still take my breath away? How did I never stop wanting you all that time?”
Cash is a wonderful romantic hero! He is sweet and thoughtful, understanding and kind. He’s romantic and a gentleman, and he’s not afraid to put himself out there for his girl. And when they finally take the big step into actually being together, the man is alpha and domineering in all the best ways, and the sexy time is seriously steamy!
“Spent one night with you and I’ve missed you for sixteen years,” I admit. “You got in my heart and I haven’t been able to get you out.”
This is a wonderful, sweet, family romance, written just how Jennifer Van Wyk writes best. There are lots of sweet moments, lots of small-town living experiences, and lots of family involvement. Hadley has a teenage daughter and fantastically entertaining friends in her life, and Cash has his family who unreservedly have his back, but also live to taunt him, so there’s lots of fun times spent with the side characters.
“This is about Hadley, isn’t it?”
I know my face gives everything away because I can feel how big my smile is.
“It’s about Hadley,” Corbin confirmed. “Look at his face. He can’t even hide it.”
“He looks like he’s constipated,” Boone adds, laughing. “Why are you making that face? Don’t do that around Hadley. She’ll be a runner for sure.”
There is a bit of drama external to the relationship which brings some depth and an opportunity for more character growth, and I really enjoyed watching Cash and Hadley work their way through it, standing strong together, and loving each other through everything.
“You were the one for me then and you still are. Always will be.”
This book is sweet, beautifully romantic and full of swoon, and I loved it!
4 stars!
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review
Lake Family series
Serendipity (#0.5) (Leah & Stone)
Review
Free: Available from Prolific Works
Indescribable (#1) (Brock & Naomi)
Review
Buy: Amazon
Effortless (Cash & Hadley)
Review
Buy: Amazon
Forbidden (Corbin & Ryker)
To be released 2022
Remarkable (Boone)
To be released
Excerpt
“Tied up or blindfolded?”
“Umm…” I don’t know which to ask for because both sound incredibly hot.
“Blindfold,” he decides. “We’ll tie you up later.”
“What if I want to tie you up?”
“I’m open to that. Whatever I do to you, you can do to me,” he promises.
My breath comes out in a tremble, excited for what’s not just next to come for me, but for the fun we’ll have with me tying him up.
With tender movements, he binds the silky material around my head, cloaking me in darkness.
“You trust me?”
“Completely.”
“Good. Can you see?”
“Only a little bit of light.”
“Good girl. You were honest with me.”
My legs rub together at the term good girl.
Without my eyesight, every sensation is heightened. The way his calloused fingertips trail over my soft skin. His woodsy, spicy scent mixed with sex. The sound of our heavy breathing.
“Hang tight,” he tells me and I feel the bed shift.
“Cash?”
“I’ll be right back,” he says, but I can tell he’s not next to me.
I wait impatiently for him to return and feel him climb onto the bed. The sound of ice clinking in a glass alerts me of what’s about to happen.
I tense up at the first touch of ice to my scorching skin, over my nipple, down the center of my stomach, across my smooth mound.
The air around us feels as if it’s crackling.
“Ahh!” I cry out when he slides the ice cube over my most sensitive part.
All while he’s murmuring sweet words that feel like a caress.
My hands reach for him and he chuckles. “Not your turn, babe.”
“I want to touch you.”
“Leave your hands on the bed or I’ll tie you up, too.”
I can hardly breathe, I’m so turned on.
I hear him reach into the glass for another ice cube and he places it once again between my legs before trailing it up my body, over my nipple. “Open.”
Cash traces my lips with the ice cube before placing it in my open mouth. “Suck.”
I suck and he asks, “Do you taste yourself?”
“Mmm,” I hum, letting him know I do taste myself on the ice and that I love it.
“Good girl,” he repeats words to me he used earlier that had me squirming beneath him.
“I’m going to fuck you now, Hadley. It’s not going to be gentle or soft and you’re going to keep this blindfold over your eyes the entire time. You understand?”
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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