Review, Guest Post and Giveaway: Take This Regret by A. L. Jackson

Hi there gorgeous people!  Welcome to Reading with ABC and today’s stop for the Blog Tour of Take This Regret by author A.L. Jackson. 

Title: Take This Regret by A. L. Jackson

Published: July 28^th, 2011 by The Writer’s Coffee Shop

Source: This book was provided to me for free for by honest opinion

Format: PDF

Challenge(s):

Grade rate: B

********Adult Book*********

There are some mistakes we make that we will regret for the rest of our lives.  For Christian, it was the day he betrayed Elizabeth.

Christian Davison has a plan for his life.  He is determined to become an attorney and to one day take his place as partner in his father’s law firm.  Nothing will stand in his way, not even Elizabeth Ayers and their unborn child.

After Christian cuts her from his life, Elizabeth spends the next five years struggling to provide for her daughter and willing to sacrifice anything to give her child a safe, comfortable life.

For five years, Christian has regretted the day he walked away from his family and will do anything to win them back just as Elizabeth will do anything to protect her daughter from the certain heartache she believes Christian will bring upon them.

When Christian wrestles his way into their lives, Elizabeth is faced with asking herself if it is possible to forgive someone when they’ve committed the unforgivable and if it is possible to find a love after it has been buried in years of hate.  Or are there some wounds that go so deep they can never heal?

They say everyone deserves a second chance.

My Review

Take This Regret is an incredible adult romance by author A. L. Jackson.

Elizabeth (pretty name, right?), had a very hard time with the betrayal of the love of her life. She has made progress in her life, putting her dreams aside and focusing on her daughter Lizzie.  She is a great mother and tries to do her best with the support of her friends and family. What baffled me was her insistence that Christian’s only goal was to hurt her and Lizzie, even when all evidence pointed to the contrary.  Elizabeth was deeply affected by Christian and the callous way that he set her aside when she needed him the most.

For some reason, I like Christian more than Elizabeth.  He did a horrible thing and he had to live with the consequences for a long time; but he was more willing to change and embrace the future.  I think was thawed my heart a little was the amazing, almost instant bond between him and Lizzie.  Even though he failed Elizabeth in the worst way, he tried to be the best father he could be and make up for lost time with Lizzie. 

Characterization was a big plus for Take This Regret.  Other characters, like Natalie, Mathew and Christian’s mother played a big part in the story and were very well developed.

The story is told in alternating points of view, from Elizabeth and Christian’s point of view, which is always refreshing. The plot is fairly simple and the synopsis is more than adequate for the reader to get the gist of it.  Nevertheless, some twists and turns are thrown into the mix to keep the reader  interested.  The writing is truly beautiful, almost lyrical and in it we can feel what the characters are going through. 

I will definitely read more from Ms. Jackson, as I really enjoyed Take This Regret and her writing style.

About the cover:  The cover is pretty, in it we see Lizzie walking on the beach. I think what I love the most is the font.

About the Author

A.L. Jackson first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student.  She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.

Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three beautiful children. Her favorite pastime is spending time with the ones she loves.

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Guest Post

Why Covers are so Important

Hey All! I’m A. L. Jackson, author of Pulled and Take This Regret. I just wanted to thank Insomnia of Books for allowing me to share with all of you today, and on such a cool topic, Why Book Covers are so Important.

So let’s be honest…how many of you have purchased a book based on the cover alone? I have!  Most of us are very visual creatures, our attention caught by the beautiful, the unique, and at times, the incredibly strange. We’re drawn to color and style, sharp lines, and bold words.

But what does that mean for covers?  They say you only have a few seconds to capture someone’s attention on the internet, and when 80% of books today are sold on Amazon and with the massive number of titles that are listed there, it’s now more important than ever for covers to catch a potential reader’s eye. 

There are a few key elements every book cover should have. The first and foremost is it should be pleasing to the eye—something that makes someone browsing titles stop and think, Wow, that’s an amazing cover. This is the point where your cover has done its job in making someone take a closer look at the book itself. The cover should also tell the potential reader something about the story inside, the design consistent with the genre of the book, although it should be unique enough that it stands out from the crowd. It should also give the reader a hint at the amazing story they will find inside.

Covers are so important because it’s the first thing someone sees—the main thing that will tell a potential reader to move or to take a closer look.

So what is it about a cover that draws your attention?

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*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*