Release Day Excerpt, Review and Giveaway: The Certainty of Violet & Luke by Jessica Sorensen

Happy Release Day
to Jessica Sorensen and her new book

THE CERTAINTY OF VIOLET & LUKE!

Violet Hayes’s life is a mess. Between her stalker, Preston, refusing to leave her alone, her parents’ case still being unsolved, and falling behind in school, she always feels on the verge of losing it. When some unexpected news comes her way, it’s the final straw and she ends up doing something that almost costs her life.

Thankfully, she survives and makes a promise to herself to put her life back together and to try and figure out exactly how she feels about Luke Price, the one person that’s always there for her.

But as a recovering alcoholic and gambler, Luke has his own struggles to overcome. He’s also fallen in love with Violet, but fears telling her the truth, that it will scare her away or worse, she won’t reciprocate the feeling.

Plus, there never seems to be a right time to say it, either the case, Preston, or life getting in the way.

Can the two of them ever get enough peace in their lives to conquer their fears and finally tell each other the truth about how they feel?

It’s like he’s fighting to breathe, his solid chest rising and falling heavily with each breath he takes. “You have to start trusting me.”

“I do trust you. Too much,” I whisper, shutting my eyes. “You could crush my heart if you wanted to.” The silence that follows is maddening.

Did I just say that out loud?

One…

Two…

Three…

Time feels endless as I wait for what comes next. I hear him shift on the seat, feeling him scoot closer

“Violet, open your eyes.” His breath dusts my cheeks.

I swiftly shake my head, smashing my lips together. “I can’t.” But I find myself opening my eyes anyway and he’s so close, only inches away from me.

“I would never ever hurt you,” he promises, his hand gently cupping the back of my neck, fingers spreading across my skin. His touch sends a shot of tingles across my flesh and causes me to shiver as he guides me toward his lips. But I’m already leaning in, an invisible current pulling me toward him, like two magnets about to collide.

When we do crash into one another, it’s dangerously intoxicating, steals the air from my lungs, and sends my heart slamming in my chest. I’m already falling again to that place where I feel helpless yet safe. Emotions press their way to the surface, this time too strong to ignore. It hits me like lightning, an electric current surging through my body, overwhelming heat that both brings me alive and kills me at the same time.

I think it’s then that I know what I’m feeling. The thing I’ve been trying to avoid for days now, and I’m both terrified out of my mind yet alarmingly at peace.

What I thought about The Certainty of Violet & Luke

How can you love someone if you’ve never experienced loved at all, if you don’t know what love is? That’s the question of The Certainty of Violet and Luke.

In the aftermath of the devastating trip to Las Vegas, Violet and Luke attempt to put their lives back together. After reaching out to his father, Luke makes some very difficult decisions about his gambling and drinking. I also have to give kudos to Luke's father for the role he plays in supporting Luke through this difficult time.

Luke's also clear about his feelings for Violet. He loves her, but hesitates to tell her because he doesn’t want to scare her into craving an adrenaline rush or worse to deal with it. So he stays silent and I could feel his anguish. 

While Luke is getting his life back together, it’s Violet who is falling… falling apart in a major way for a good part of the first half of the book. She’s in so much despair over the revelations about Preston and the impending arrest of Luke’s mother for her parent’s murders, but a lot of her emotional turmoil is dealing with her feelings for Luke. She’s never known love in her life, so she has no clue what it looks or feels like.She’s falling for Luke and it’s heartbreaking when she thinks --“I’m not supposed to fall in love. I don’t even know what the f*ck it is.”

So there’s a boatload of feelings and inner thoughts from both Luke and Violet in this book, and I loved that about it. I could really feel Violet’s confusion, her depression, how the past has taken its toll on her and yet she is coming to an awareness that she has to be one to change it, and it’s a slow and gut wrenching process.

Luke shows a tremendous amount of bravery by stopping his gambling and drinking and in recognizing his deep feelings for Violet. The changes he makes from where he was at the start of this series are massive in a very positive way. When Luke makes the decision to go to Violet instead of drinking when he’s placed in a tempting and stressful situation, my heart swelled for this for this character and the journey he’s taken in this series. When an author can drive that point home in the span of just a few pages, well, that’s a great read for me.

My heart broke for Violet for most of this book. She’s gone through so much and she’s at that place where she has to decide whether she will pull herself out of the darkness or succumb to it. Her journey here is sad and yet uplifting by the end.

And speaking of endings, this book ends with one of the most wonderful and touching scenes of the series so far. I just loved it! Luke has definitely found a place in my heart.

One reason I like NA is the character's journey to a new level of maturity.. and The Certainly of Violet and Luke has plenty of that journey for both main characters. Luke goes from being a cocky, alcoholic thrill junkie to someone who has the capacity to appreciate and love others in a major way. And Violet, well, she opens her heart and life to good things when she doesn’t even know what good is. It’s a lovely story of two broken people putting their shattered lives back together to find happiness. 

I love Violet and Luke’s story and I recommend this series highly. Fabulous emotional story of two young adults trying to put their past behind them.

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The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Jessica Sorensen, lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

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♥SERIES READING ORDER♥

Book 1: The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden
Available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes
Book 2: The Redemption of Callie and Kayden
Available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes
Book 3: The Destiny of Violet and Luke
Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble , and iTunes
Book 4: The Probability of Violet and Luke
Available on Amazon, iTunes, B&N, and Smashwords
Book 5: The Certainty of Violet and Luke
Available on Amazon, iTunes, B&N, and Smashwords
Pre Order Buy Link for The Resolution of Callie and Kayden (book 6)
Pre Order on Amazon, iTunes, B&N, and Smashwords