Pulled by A.L Jackson
April 5, 2012 by Sapphire Publishing
Paperback, 388 Pages
Bought/Nook Edition

Highschool sweethearts Melanie and Daniel have been inseparable since they met when Melanie was 15. Having an odd family dynamic herself, when she finds love in Daniels family, Melanie flourishes in the relationship and everyone knows that the bond, an unusual almost eerie connection they share will eventually lead to marriage, kids, and the whole enchilada. While all of them know this they don't expect it to come so early, when Melanie becomes pregnant at 17 the family is shocked but supportive, Daniel is scared but actually ready and proud to be a father, with the support of his parents and the love of his sister, Daniel knows he can take care of Melanie and the baby. After a few months of getting used to the idea, plans have been made, marriage has been talked about and the totally in love couple is excited and happy.

Unfortunately, fate would have other plans.

After Daniel shows Melanie the house he has bought for them, they leave ecstatic, but all of their hopes and dreams as a family come tumbling down in a split second after they are in a car accident. The baby is born too early and dies after a few days, before Melanie even has a chance to meet her. The death leaves the couple absolutely devastated and Melanie on top of losing the baby was hurt in the accident and will have to go to physical therapy to repair the damage. While Daniel is ready to pick up the pieces and move forward, Melanie's parents have a different plan. Having hid the pregnancy from them, they never knew what was going on and Melanie's father is so angry he lashes out destroying everything in his path. At 17, Melanie is still a minor, the parents threaten Daniel with Statutory rape and move Melanie with her mother thousands of miles away from Daniel. Out of cruelty the parents deceive both of them and while Melanie waits for the day she turns 18, the days apart begin taking a toll on her already fragile state of mind, combined with the immaturity of a teenager and the stupidity of misunderstandings days become weeks and weeks become months. The loss of communication drives a deep wedge between the couple and between the lies and a plethora of bad circumstances nine years pass and each of them have settled into lives they hate.

Melanie out of depression and anger gets married to an abusive douche-bag and Daniel pretty much has given up on love, sex is a hobby and all his drive, fire and personality left with Melanie. Each one longs for the other and over the course of the book we flash back to all these events, leading up to the present when fate, that delicious monster brings them back together again. Of course while there's a collision of fierce emotion and sexual intensity, there's some huge elephants in the room, like Melanie's abusive marriage, Daniels future child on the way from a one night stand, the parents, the losses, the lies, the future and that little thing about their connected spirits yet to be dealt with.

The romance in Pulled was intense and by that don't think I mean sex, it was more so emotional romance then physical, although Mel and Daniel heated up many a page. I really liked Jackson's second novel, honestly though I think Pulled should have been marketed as a paranormal romance, while Melanie and Daniel are not mutants or vampires or anything like that, they do have a relationship that takes suspending disbelief to enjoy. The couple basically have a telekinesis bond and can sense each others presence, can hear each others thoughts in dire circumstances and seem to be connected by their souls. In many parts of the novel this worked great, it was fun and different, however in other parts of the novel because it was contemporary romance it didn't work. Some of the scenes contradicted their special "bond" making it really hard for me to understand how a separation of nine years could have even happened. Melanie's marriage to Nicholas was beyond aggravating because there wasn't a second in the novel where she should of been with him, so from a moral stand point it was conflicting, Im against cheating but due to the circumstances the reader cheers for her to commit adultery, not something I was thrilled with. It boggles my mind that Daniel would have never gone after her or called or communicated any contact, especially with the technology available to the characters....makes a girl ponder the question of their logic.

All in all, minor glitches in an overall very entertaining story, Jackson's writing was just tremendous, the woman has an uncanny ability to suck you into her characters head and make you feel literally like your swimming inside her story. I spent most of the time reading Pulled, gasping, cringing and waiting for the characters to reunite, it was so satisfying to finally see them come together I almost passed out.

A.L Jackson is an author on the prowl, ready to pull you into her world of romance and intrigue with a touch of magic, a touch of sadness and a heaping bowlful of happy.

Rating

Pulled is recommended to adult readers and contains: Violence, teen pregnancy, graphic sexuality, domestic abuse, strong language, death, infidelity and issues on grief and depression.

4/5- Contemporary Romance

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