Review / Blog Tour: Falling Embers (Tattered & Torn #2) by Catherine Cowles

“A top must read for 2022”
—Samantha Young, New York Times bestselling author

Falling Embers, an all-new must read moving romance from Catherine Cowles, is available now!

I’ve loved Calder Cruz from the moment he taught me how to fly. Racing down a mountain and giving me the release I so desperately needed. My understanding. My safe space.

Hadley has fought for a life of her own ever since her sister’s kidnapping. When she was drowning in expectations and family pressures, Calder was always the one who understood her.

Until one night changed it all. From best friends to strangers in a single breath.

She’s like a fire that lives inside me. Even when I thought it was all burned out, there were still embers that lived in my bones.

Calder knows what it’s like to almost lose the people he loves most. He’ll never make that kind of mistake again. Working at the fire station and taking care of his daughters are the only things he needs.

All it takes is a single moment to make him realize how wrong he is. A split second of coming close to losing the woman he has always loved.

But as long-buried embers light anew, there are those who lurk in the shadows. And they’ll do whatever it takes to extinguish that flame for good…

Fall in love today!
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Start the series today with Tattered Stars!
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Excerpt

Heat flared to life in Hadley’s eyes, a mix of anger and frustration. She whipped her shirt over her head, leaving her in nothing but a pale pink lacy bra. I wasn’t blind. I knew that Hadley had curves, that she was beautiful, but the sight in front of me had my mouth going dry. I fought the urge to lean in closer.
“Cat got your tongue?”
I scowled at Hadley through the mirror. “Took me by surprise is all.”
“Sure.”
I returned my focus to her back, cleaning each scrape meticulously. “Hold your shirt to your chest?”
“Too much boobage on display for you?”
I chuckled, the sound a little rougher than normal. “I need to unhook your bra. That might be too much boobage for you.”
Hadley rolled her eyes but held her t-shirt to her chest, keeping her bra in place. I unhooked the little tines, letting it fall open. I cleaned the rest of the gashes and moved for the antibiotic ointment. As gently as possible I spread it over the worst of her scrapes.
Hadley trembled slightly.
“Did that hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.”
But her breathing was more shallow than usual. Her gaze focused on the counter in front of her. Apparently I wasn’t the only one affected.

MY REVIEW

Hadley's been in love with her brother's friend, her own friend too, Calder, since she was a child and he showed her how to find a release for when she's feeling crowded and pressured. Ever since, she's been chasing that thrill she gets when riding or climbing or whatever, daring things that keep her mind clear of the ever present pressure her mother puts on her. Calder showed her how to get that release, then he walked away from her and their friendship. She's not totally out of his life, though, as she's the closest thing his daughters have to a mother. But the closeness, the easy familiarity they used to have is gone, and they'll never have it again considering she avoids him and he acts like nothing's wrong. Will they ever get back to the way they once were? Or is there something else going on that needs to come out? Feelings that need to come out?

Calder has made so many mistakes in his life. From hooking up with a woman he didn't have feelings for, (a woman who later almost took his daughters from him), to walking away from his friendship with Hadley. And now he's starting to realize that he wants far more than just friendship with Hadley. But he's pushed her so far away that he fears he'll never get her back, even just as a friend. Will Hadley ever forgive him for his boneheaded behavior? Can he accept her for who she is and the way she prefers to live her life?

There was so much pain in this story, so much heartbreak. Hadley in particular, had such a rough go of it with her mother pressuring her so much, trying to keep her in a box she didn't want to be in, didn't fit into. I felt so for her, and then Calder just added to that pressure and that pain, unknowingly, but still adding tremendously to that pain. Thank God he took his head out of the fog and got with the program. I loved the way they slowly figured their way out of the rut they had gotten into, and the way they finally admitted the feelings they'd long held for each other. The secondary cast is as superb as the leads, and now I'm anxiously awaiting Addie and Beckett's story, Hidden Waters. I could tell from reading her here in Falling Embers that her backstory is going to be a doozy.

About Catherine Cowles
Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she's not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.

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