Book Info:
Title:Crashing Back Down (Crashing #1)
Author: Kristen
Hope Mazzola
Release date:
November 7, 2013
Blurb:
18+ New Adult romance
Mags
McManus has just become a war widow in her mid-twenties. Her late husband,
Randy, left for the Army right after their wedding. Instead of celebrating his
homecoming and living in marital bliss with her soulmate, Mags finds herself
living in constant agony. Dealing with the guilt of still living without Randy,
are Randy's best friends and parents.
Rising from the ashes of this tragedy, Mags starts to learn how to love and trust again, finally being able to find happiness. But sometimes things really are too good to be true and again Mags learns how cruel the world can be as she crashes back down.
Rising from the ashes of this tragedy, Mags starts to learn how to love and trust again, finally being able to find happiness. But sometimes things really are too good to be true and again Mags learns how cruel the world can be as she crashes back down.
Buy Links:
Coming Soon
Excerpt:
Sipping on our
wine and laughing along with story after story, and joke after joke felt
amazing. Being able to not feel confined or restricted in my new-found
happiness of my relationship with Walker was one of the most amazing feelings I
could have ever hoped for. Jim leaned over, topping off Liz’s and my wine
glasses with the end of the bottle of rosé, winking at me. Our little scuffle
fell into the past and our wonderful pseudo father-daughter relationship went
on as normal. Jim had always known about my father walking out on my family
when I was just a kid, and from day one he made it his mission to treat me like
a daughter. Even though, with the loving fatherly advice, comes some hard pills
of honesty to swallow, I would not have traded him for the world.
“How has work
been treating you, Margret?” Jim relaxed back into the couch, pulling his
hiccupping, giggling, wife into his arms.
Sighing, I
rolled my eyes. “There was an electrical fire.” Liz gasped and threw her hand
over her mouth, and I continued, “Oh, don’t worry, no one was hurt. It was my
wing of the hospital, so where the offices are, not where the patients' rooms
are.” Once Liz looked relieved I added, “So, I haven’t been to work for a bit, but
they are still paying me. It’s been a sweet deal. I have to go back soon,
though.”
“I bet.” Jim laughed to himself, shaking his
head and smiling as he took another sip from his glass.
Walker’s phone
vibrated in his pocket and he got up to answer it. I continued to small talk
with my in-laws about what Jim was going to do in retirement. Even though he
deserved to have some time for himself to relax after working as a mechanic for
over forty years, I could tell that he was not thrilled about the situation.
“Yup, I’m going
to have loads of time on my hands. If you ever need something fixed around the
house or on that old truck of yours, you’ll definitely know where to find me.”
He huffed and grumbled a little and Liz shook her head.
“I told him if
he didn’t want to retire that he could just cut back a little on his hours. But
you know Jim; he’s an all or nothing type of guy.”
Walker strode
back into the room, yawning and then beamed down at me. “That was, uh, Jeff.”
He rubbed the back of his neck again, trying to find the appropriate words for
where this conversation was going. Even though the McManus’s knew Walker and
Randy were inked, it was not something that they enjoyed hearing about. In this
case, ignorance was bliss and I could see Walker’s face twisting a little to
find the words.
I got up from
the couch and looked at him with a playful smirk. “Do you want to go hang out with
him for a bit?”
Walker’s grin
grew and he nodded. “Yeah, that would be great, he seems a little lonely right now.
That’s usually the only time he ever calls.”
We hugged Liz
and Jim goodbye, and confirmed our new plans of Sunday family dinners. Once the
door was safely shut behind us, Walker threw his arm around me and started to
walk us back to my house.
“Jeff has
enough time tonight to do the tattoo I wanted.” His eyes lit up, shining from the
street lights lining our short distance home.
I could feel
the excitement oozing from Walker’s pores.“You’re going to finish your leg
tonight?” I looked up at him and couldn’t help but smile at his goofy, grinning
expression.
“Yes. But I
have kind of a new idea. It’s going to be perfect.” He hugged me tighter to his
side and opened up the passenger side door of his truck for me.
I stopped short
of getting in, and he looked down at me with a questioning eyebrow raised. I
looked up at him, put my hand on his cheek and smiled.“Let’s take the Mercedes!
She needs to get out of the garage, and that way you don’t have to drive after
your tattoo.”
Walker leaned
down and kissed me softly on my forehead, breathing gently. “You’re the best.
That would be amazing.”
I ran inside
and grabbed my car’s keys off the holder next to the door. I drove it so little
that I did not feel the need to have the keys bulking up my key chain. My bag
already felt like it weighed a thousand pounds most days, I needed all the help
I could get to lighten it up.
I opened the
detached garage door and slid into my comfortable tan leather seats. Walker
climbed in after me and took a huge breath in. “She smells new!” He shot me a
quick smirk and rested his hand on my knee. “Thanks again for driving and
coming with me. I feel better about getting work done when you’re there.”
Before starting
the engine, I looked up into Walker’s warm stare and melted. “Walker, I’d do
anything for you. Just like you would for me. Now let’s go get a needle driven into
that leg of yours.”
It was so
surprising how quiet and smooth my car was compared to Randy’s old truck. I
knew that the main reason I drove it was for comfort and memories, but driving
the Mercedes again reminded me why I had fallen in love with it during my test
drive. It took turns perfectly, had an upgraded sound system with satellite
radio, turn by turn navigation, seat cooling and heating, all leather, power
and wood grain; she was completely decked out.
Once the chime
over the door dinged, making our entrance known to the almost empty tattoo
shop, my heart started to race. Even though I was not the one about to get a
new piece of work, I still felt anxious. Memories of my recent endeavor sent
chills down my spine while I rubbed my hip bone. My tattoo had healed
wonderfully and it just felt like skin again, but I didn’t think I would ever
be able to forget just how it felt to get my bird inked into my skin.
With a big,
beaming grin, Jeff came out to greet Walker and me in the lobby. “Hey guys,
come on back. I just finished drawing out the new stencil of your compass. It’s
going to be fucking sick, man.”
Walker walked
over and half-hugged Jeff. “Yeah, man! I’m stoked. Let’s go check it out.”
Walker’s arm wrapped around my shoulders and he kissed the top of my head
before starting to head back into the tattooing section of the shop.
Jeff’s station
was all prepped and ready to go for Walker. I chuckled a little when Jeff
pulled out the razor and started to shave Walker’s lower leg.
Walker shot me
a playful smirk. “What’s so funny, punk?”
I crossed my
arms over my chest, taking my seat a few feet away from the table Walker was
lounging on like he was at a spa instead of a tattoo shop. “Oh, nothing. I just
think it’s funny to see my boyfriend’s leg getting shaved by another dude, that’s
all.” I smiled back at him with a cocky grin until I looked at Jeff’s awed
expression as he stared at me then Walker.
I threw my hand
over my gaping mouth at my casual title drop. I had never used that term to
refer to Walker before and the realization of how comfortably it rolled off my
tongue took me aback.
Quickly, Jeff’s
expression turned excited and beamed up at Walker. “This tattoo makes more
sense now. Congrats guys, I’m happy for you!”
His words were
sincere but I didn’t understand what he meant by the tattoo making more sense.
I hadn’t seen the sketch yet, and assumed Walker was still getting the compass
as he had planned months back.
I jumped up
once the stencil was in place to see what was going on for myself. Already on
Walker’s leg was a tattoo of a red fish on a line, and a boat with a fisherman
who had caught it.Just like planned, there was a compass ready to join in the
collage and I couldn’t understand what Walker’s new idea was, or what Jeff
meant by his comment. But, instead of getting to the bottom of it, I decided to
approve of it and see for myself when it was finished.
Walker clapped
Jeff on the shoulder, excitedly checking out the outline of the image that
would soon be on his body forever. “Jeff, that’s perfect! Let’s do this!”
Walker’s body
relaxed back onto the table and found a comfortable position. When he gave Jeff
a swift head nod, the buzzing sounded and the gun went to work. The entire
time, Walker stared at me with loving eyes, talking to Jeff and me about
nothing too important. Soft jazz music played in the background and I clung to
Walker’s hand. It flexed every time Jeff passed over his bone or got close to
the tender sections of his ankle.
Stopping to
wipe the sweat from his brow and stretch out his back, Jeff looked down at us.
“Walker, you wanna get this color in here, or call it a night?”
Walker’s eyes
shot me a questioning look and I shrugged. “If you want to finish it tonight, I
don’t mind.” I didn’t have anywhere to be and it was only eleven.
Walker nodded
at me. “Yeah, let’s get this sucker finished!”
Taking his
seat, Jeff smiled and got back to work without another word, concentrating hard
on color combinations and making sure the water and compass blended in
seamlessly to the boat and fish. I glanced over a few times to see the
masterpiece starting to really become amazing. “Babe, it’s gorgeous!” I squealed.
Curiosity took
over and I had to ask Jeff. “Where is everyone? I’ve never seen the shop empty
before.” It was odd to me that we were the only ones in the shop that night;
every station was empty, not even the burly owner was there.
“Well, I
actually bought the shop last week and decided to keep the shop closed on
Sundays.” Jeff seemed so stoked about his new-found status as
owner-artist-operator, and I could not have been more thrilled for him.
“That's
wonderful! You’ve wanted to open your own shop since I can remember.
Congratulations!” Walker smiled
at my excitement, flinching a little when the white started to go in for the
finishing touches.
Jeff stopped
for a second to shake out his hand. “Yeah, I’m going to use Sundays to tattoo
my friends and shit, and give the guys a night off. They bust their balls all
week and if they’re not careful they’re gonna get fucking arthritis and ruin
their careers. No amount of money is worth me losing one
of my best guys from overworking
them.”
I nodded my
head in approval of Jeff’s decision; it was nice to hear him talk about how
caring he was. The notion was comforting and I was so glad someone so kind-hearted
had finally caught a break and started to follow his dream.
Next thing we
knew, Walker’s ink session was finished and he was checking out his new piece
in the mirror. “Jeff, it’s perfect! Mags, come take a look.”
I bent down to get face to face with his
freshly tattooed shin. The water was deep blue and rolling under the boat,
splashing up over the fish breaching, and then crashing into rocks where a
compass lay on its side.
Then, I saw it,
a mistake and I gasped. “Wait, Jeff!” He looked down where I was pointing,
obviously not seeing what I was. “Jeff! That’s an M! Not an N for north!”
He looked down
at me like I was a crazy person and then shot a switch look over to
Walker before speaking. “Yeah,
that’s what he wanted, and now that you guys are together, it makes sense why
he changed the design of it.”
I gaped at
Walker, hoping he would say something, but he just stood there, staring at the
floor, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Well, Walker, explain this
right fucking now or I am leaving your ass here and you can Goddamn walk home!”
I was furious
and confused and panicking. Walker jumped up off the table, and wrapped his
arms around me, drawling sweetly in my ear, “Please, don’t be mad babe. But,
Mags…” his eyes were pleading as he pulled away just enough so I could look at
him, still scathing mad. “You’re my true north. No compass would point me in
any other direction but to you.”
My Review: 5 Stars
I am so tied up in knots after reading this book. Kristen did a fantastic job of depicting the grieving process, such a great job, at times it was hard for me to read. I absolutely loved Mags, Walker, Cali, Mitch, Liz and Jim and even Jeff. Finding happiness would be very difficult after such a cruel loss. I understand how Mags would feel guilty being happy when she lost her husband. But then to find out why and how, only to have the why and how rip away what she's just embraced? I want to go on and on about this book, but really have to hold myself back from giving too much away. The end of this book broke my heart, and I didn't even see it coming. I'm hoping there's a book two at the very least. I need to know what happens next, cause leaving it like this is just not how it should be.
About the
Author:
Kristen Hope
Mazzola is an up and coming independent author from sunny South Florida. Crashing Back Down was her debut into the
literary world. Kristen is currently working on the rest of her Crashing
Series, which will include a sequel, Falling Back Together, and a prequel,
Walking Away. She even has a few more
tricks up her sleeve, with more characters to introduce and more twists to
unravel, so keep your eye on this talented young author!
When Kristen
is not driving a pen into paper, she enjoys reading all different genres and
fishing. “There is just something so
magical about water and the calm it brings to my life,” says Kristen. Even though writing is not her only career she
is pursuing, Kristen hopes to one day be a full time writer. Having a day job
and a busy life, makes finding time for writing difficult, but anything
worthwhile in life is difficult. Loving life, writing, and fishing basically
make up her world.
Author Social
Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/khmazz
Tumblr: http://khmazz.tumblr.com
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