Liv's World of Books: Release Blitz & Book Review: Just Ten Seconds by Jeannine Colette

Just Ten Seconds

by Jeannine Colette

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: Oktober 22nd, 2019

Blurb:

Just Ten Seconds
That’s all it took for my life to change forever.
I left my posh life in Manhattan and escaped to the Hudson Valley in hopes of a fresh start. It wasn’t until I happened upon a bereavement group when I finally found a place I felt understood. I told them my husband was dead when, really, I was the one who had died inside. It was also where I saw the smoldering gaze of Dean Delgado, the single father whom I’d helped just days before.

Just Ten Seconds
That’s all he wishes he had with his late wife.
Despite Dean’s widowed status, he has a robust thirst for life. He’s a protector and a giver. A man who fixes things with his hands, is devoted to his child, and wants to spend his days with me. I try to avoid him, knowing a woman with my past has no business being in this man’s life. With every run-in, he makes me laugh. With every touch, he ignites me. And with every second, he makes me feel like myself again.

Just Ten Seconds
That’s all it took for me to fall in love with Dean Delgado.
I'm in too deep and my secrets are about to be exposed. I only hope he can forgive me for the lies I never meant to tell.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46155300-just-ten-seconds

Buy now:

Amazon US https://amzn.to/35RujA3
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2P7TdWb
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2BtICgd
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/32JBsjO
Free with Kindle Unlimited

About the author:

Jeannine Colette combines angst and humor in her sexy, standalone romance novels. Her stories feature dynamic heroines, and swoon-worthy heroes, who have to abandon their reality in order to discover themselves . . . and love along the way.

A graduate of Wagner College and the New York Film Academy, Jeannine went on to become a Segment Producer at CBS News and NBC. She left the television industry to focus on her children and pursue a full-time writing career. She lives in New York with her husband, the three tiny people she adores more than life itself, and a rescue pup named Wrigley.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

My review:

One of the most beautiful stories that I’ve read this year.

I absolutely loved how the story started and I instantly fell in love with Dean, Amanda and Mara. I loved Mara’s friend Jackie as well as all the secondary characters that played a part in making this story so great. Sometimes it’s the little things that count, and in this book the big and small parts worked together beautifully.

‘”Life is rich. It’s full of experiences that make up who we are. Life’s too short to be uncomplicated. It’s the obstacles, both the good and bad experiences, that make it worth staying here for the long haul.”’

Although it felt as if the story slowed down a bit after the great start, I think that all in all it had a good pace. The characters were both somewhat broken and branded by their pasts.

Especially Mara's story was more complex than I expected because there wasn't just one thing she had to overcome but she had quite the emotional baggage to carry around. Her past wasn't so easy to let go of and always at the back of her mind, giving her nightmares and sleepless nights. Until a stranger, cradling his daughter to his chest, rushed into the café she was working at, looking for help. Those eyes of his were felt deep within her as if he could look through her wall and into her darkest secrets.

‘Your worst day is another’s boring Tuesday. So, you do what your mother has always told you to do. You get up. You go to work. You live. Well...you pretend to live. Until one day, a man walks in and alters the course of your life but this time for the better.’

Dean Delgado was such a sexy gentleman, one I wish for myself. I might be old school but his good manners made him a thousand times hotter than any of those asshole book boyfriends out there. But each their own. =P

He was the sweetest guy ever and a great father; selfless, devoted, with a huge heart and so much love to give. Dean lost his wife and lived for his daughter. But what about his own happiness? It isn't until he received help from Mara, a courageous waitress, that he begins to feel emotions he never thought would be possible for him again.

‘He’s a unique kind of man. A mix of confidence with an earnestness in his words. I might not be the expert on decoding honest men, but he looks you right in the eye while he speaks, and it makes me feel like he is a man of purpose. A man of integrity. It draws me to him like a moth to a flame.’

I just loved those wonderful characters and it was such a beautiful story that really moved me. It was not heavily emotional all the time like those ugly cry books but it had some very deep emotional moments throughout the story which made the story so fantastic and even more heartfelt.

It was understandable how the characters were confused about their feelings for each other since they were both still in a raw place. When you lost a loved one, it’s like either going numb or losing control over your feelings that ride a rollercoaster.

‘I had a life. A beautiful one that was filled with so much promise...so many promises...and one day it just ended.’

The story wasn’t unpredictable but I loved the small moments most and how the characters fought to find happiness again. I highlighted so much in this book because it was so good!

‘”He’s a man who fixes things with his hands. Most of all, he fixed me. He taught me to laugh again. He taught me it’s okay to open my heart.’

The story was told from Mara's POV and although I loved how it was written, I think a few chapters from Dean's view would have made it even better because he also dealt with a heavy heart and seemed a little lost and looking for directions. I was very intrigued by him and that's probably why I loved the epilogue so much.

This story didn't let me go so easily and I can only urge you to read it too!