For Jake Wrigley, the future is bleak. Some people are survivors, but he’s getting by on his bad-boy looks and charming smile. He owns a gym, gets into bar fights, and wrestles his demons with rough workouts—both in and out of the bedroom.
For Alyson Road, the future is bright. Life can only improve from where she grew up. She graduated at the top of her law class, cares for her ailing mom, and in her job, she defends those who can’t afford anyone else. Her work is thankless but honest.
Jake’s twin brother has been covering his ass for as long as they’ve been alive, but that all changes when Jake finds himself in front of the fiery public defender, his future in her hands. For the first time ever, he doesn’t want to involve his brother, finally realizing he needs to stand alone, be his own man.
Even if Jake’s never absolved of his past wrongdoings or his heart is never scrubbed of the blackness that resides there, he can do one good deed—protect the beautiful lawyer who touched his soul—until helping her nearly becomes his own undoing.
Make sure you check out the first book in the Crossroads Series – it’s on sale for only 99 cents!
Sometimes the past bleeds into the future.
Bess, a wild party girl running from herself, literally falls victim to her demons when she collapses in the most unexpected of places.
Lane, a tightly wound, up-and-coming CEO who can’t seem to stop enabling his brother, doesn’t know what hit him when Bess falls at his feet and into his life.It was a night she doesn’t remember, and one he can’t forget.
But rather than stay and help the needy college coed, Lane decides to teach his brother a long overdue lesson––a decision that later comes back to haunt him and only adds fury to the transgressions of his past he is already fleeing from.
Years later, Bess and Lane meet again. She doesn’t know him, and he doesn’t share that he knows what happened on that ill-fated night when she almost died. After all, he has a web of complicated lies from his own youth to protect.Both are seeking salvation in the arms of others and ignoring the truth—that the only road to redemption lies in confronting your past.
When the past and present collide, is there any chance at redemption?
Describe Bess in one sentence.
Bess is a messed-up young woman, floundering in college and searching for her identity, until she hits rock bottom and finally gets it together just in time to rescue Lane.
Describe Lane in one sentence.
Lane is a good guy, smart, rich, polished, built, but filled with inner demons––ones he doesn’t even know are there they’re so deeply seeded.
Describe Aly in one sentence.
Aly – Alyson Road has an agenda and nothing is going to stop her from achieving it, not friends, the world around her and definitely not men.
Describe Jake in one sentence.
Jake – Jake is a bad boy, rough, tough, and coated in a hard shell, who doesn’t believe he deserves to be saved and until he meets a girl worth saving himself for.
Favorite and least favorite scene to write in Redemption Lane? Absolution Road? (Without spoiling! 🙂 )
The hallway scene when Lane shows up at the hotel over Christmas. I won’t give spoilers other than the two of them had been going back and forth in every range of emotion, and Lane finally takes a stand. Whew, the chemistry crackled right then and there.
For Jake & Aly in Absolution Road:
The last chapter before the epilogue. Jake and Aly have such an emotional journey, and this chapter is so soft and swoony. It makes all the tears dry up and smiles take up residence. 🙂
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Running. I try to make time for this a few times a week…okay, but that’s not so naughty! I would have to say, my nightly wine and going for a doughnut over the weekend. Hey, I’m a cheap date!
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Living with the same guy for seventeen years so far. Geez, we are both only children, and it’s hard!!! 🙂
If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
All my readers. No joke. If I could, I would meet each and every one.
AND Charlie Hunnam, Tony Goldwyn, and Taylor Kitsch.
Favorite Word and Least Favorite Word?
Favorite: Tiny. I would describe the whole world as tiny…except Pen!$es…
Least Favorite: Rosepetal.
Biggest fear?
Something going wrong with my upload. I loathe uploading.
Deepest regret?
Not traveling abroad during college. I would have loved to get a job in some European town and just live their way of life for a while, maybe fall in love for a season.
Favorite memory?
My fave book memory is meeting my editor in person, face-to-face. We spend countless hours going back and forth over email and chat, picking apart my words, discussing nuances…and just hugging her was so great. I feel like she has been able to peek in my soul…and I love her.
Worst flaw?
I’m not gushy.
Most annoying pet peeve?
Cattiness. Need I say more?
If you could change one thing about yourself…what would it be?
I would be tiny and not 5’11’’.
Either/Or Questions:
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla cake with vanilla icing, vanilla icing filled doughnuts, OR red velvet cupcakes with vanilla icing. No ice cream. I don’t like ice cream unless it has peanut butter in it. OH, I also recently gave up sugar.
Bess or Lane or Aly or Jake?
Bess. She’s so fucked up in college. Well, and Lane & Jake too––in a tub full of vanilla doughnuts.
Warm or Cold?
HOT. I like the heat. The hotter, the better.
Early Bird or Night Owl?
Both. Cliché, but I will sleep when I’m dead. That’s why there’s coffee.
Outdoor or Indoor?
Outdoor when it’s warm. Inside by the fireplace when it’s cold.
Blondes or Brunettes?
Blondies. Big, thick well-built ones…like Charlie Hunnam.
Ketchup or Mustard?
Neither anymore. Ketchup when I was little.
Coffee or Cocktail?
Both. Sometimes together.
Texting or Calling?
TEXTING! I despise talking on the phone.
Leaning my chair back on its two rear legs, I couldn’t help but laugh again before trying to contain myself. This chick and her soft demeanor were all business. Of course, she would be. Who else would work on Christmas Eve? I was pretty certain she could have made me wait until the day after Christmas to post bond, but here she was defending the public on the most holy night of the year.
Add a big heart to the brain, tits, and long legs I’d already noted in her plus column. Maybe I didn’t want to bang her, but rather cherish this sweet thing? The reality of that seemed slim, seeing as the smart, good girls didn’t go for me. Nor did I expect them to. I was the bad boy, and I had the guilty conscience to back that notion right the fuck up.
“Of course, Ms. Road. It’s Jake, by the way. Just J-A-K-E. Full name is J-A-S-O-N, but I haven’t been called that in twenty years.” I mocked her spelling with my very own rendition, teasing the schoolgirl, looking for a reaction like I was in the third grade. “So, let’s get down to brass tacks and get my ass outta here so you can head home to your . . . husband? Boyfriend? He must be waiting for a gem like you to come home to start the holiday, right?”
No harm in trying.
As I spoke, she narrowed her eyes and glared daggers at me. “Are you done with probing into my personal life, interrogating me? I’m pretty sure I’m not the one in jail.”
Obviously annoyed, she followed that volley with another few leg switches. Left over right, right over left. I wanted to grab her knees and spread her limbs and dive in, let my tongue dig deep into her folds, make her let go of all that stuck-up bullshit she had going on while screaming my name. She probably tasted like sweet honey.
Rachel Blaufeld is a social worker/entrepreneur/blogger turned author. Fearless about sharing her opinion, Rachel captured the ear of stay-at-home and working moms on her blog, BacknGrooveMom, chronicling her adventures in parenting tweens and inventing a product, often at the same time. She has also blogged for The Huffington Post, Modern Mom, and StartupNation.
Turning her focus on her sometimes wild-and-crazy creative side, it only took Rachel two decades to do exactly what she wanted to do—write a fiction novel. Now she spends way too many hours in local coffee shops plotting her ideas. Her tales may all come with a side of angst and naughtiness, but end lusciously.
Rachel lives around the corner from her childhood home in Pennsylvania with her family and two dogs. Her obsessions include running, coffee, icing-filled doughnuts, antiheroes, and mighty fine epilogues.
Leaving a comment regarding What I thought of Absolution:
It Sounds AMAZING!! I cant wait to read this book!!
AWESOME!!!
This looks so good!
Both books look like great reads! Thank you! 🙂
Absolution Road sounds like one hot, sexy, awesome read!
great interview and congrats
It does look interesting.
Sounds amazing! It’s been added to my TBR and I one-clicked the first book in the series too. =]
i love this cover!!
So excited to read this series! 🙂
Sounds great. I look forward to reading it.
I’m so excited to read this series.
sounds like a great read!
I thought the book was wonderful. The twist at the end was truly unexpected!