Come Back to Us by Finley Daniels
ER nurse Annie Brooks isn’t looking for her soulmate, but there’s a good chance she’s found him anyway in sexy, dirty-talking, firefighter-with-a-hero-complex Jack Donley. Too bad she has one hard and fast rule—never mix romance with work.
Annie’s answer to life kicking her in the teeth is working perfectly fine for her: pack up, move on, and start over. Elladine, Ohio puts Annie right where she wants to be—several hours away from her meddling mother, her painful past, and her shattered hopes.
She’s smart, strong, and won’t make the same mistake twice. She’s not even remotely tempted to break her rule and risk upheaval in her life…until Jack.
Jack Donley doesn’t date seriously…not anymore. He’s too busy taking care of those around him to risk the distraction—until he meets Annie Brooks. The chemistry is undeniable, and he can’t stop himself from pursuing her.
Steamy passion. Once in a lifetime kind of love. Can they find their happily ever after?
- File Name:come-back-to-us-by-finley-daniels.epub
- Original Title:Come Back to Us: Elladine Fire Steamy Romance Series
- Creator:Finley Daniels
- Language:en
- Identifier:MOBI-ASIN:B0CRBKM3VV
- Date:2024-01-10T00:00:00+00:00
- File Size:1.776 MB
Table of Content
- 1. Title Page
- 2. A Note from the author
- 3. Do you love steamy romance?
- 4. Contents
- 5. Trigger Warnings
- 6. Trigger Warnings -Specifics/May contain spoilers
- 7. Prologue
- 8. Chapter 1
- 9. Chapter 2
- 10. Chapter 3
- 11. Chapter 4
- 12. Chapter 5
- 13. Chapter 6
- 14. Chapter 7
- 15. Chapter 8
- 16. Chapter 9
- 17. Chapter 10
- 18. Chapter 11
- 19. Chapter 12
- 20. Chapter 13
- 21. Chapter 14
- 22. Chapter 15
- 23. Chapter 16
- 24. Chapter 17
- 25. Chapter 18
- 26. Chapter 19
- 27. Chapter 20
- 28. Chapter 21
- 29. Chapter 22
- 30. Chapter 23
- 31. Chapter 24
- 32. Chapter 25
- 33. Chapter 26
- 34. Chapter 27
- 35. Chapter 28
- 36. Chapter 29
- 37. Chapter 30
- 38. Chapter 31
- 39. Chapter 32
- 40. Chapter 33
- 41. Chapter 34
- 42. Chapter 35
- 43. Chapter 36
- 44. Chapter 37
- 45. Epilogue
- 46. Bonus Material
- 47. Coming February 2024! “Come Dance With Me”
- 48. Dedication
- 49. Social Media
- 50. Copyright
Come Back to Us (the author retitled it to Come Back to Us), Book 1 of the Elladine Fire series, was about 30-year-old Jack Donley, a lieutenant soon to be promoted to captain at the local fire department, and 27-year-old Annie Brooks, an ER nurse. After catching her (now ex) fiancé doing the nasty with another woman, Annie called off the wedding and moved two hours away from home, much to her mother's dismay. (Mom believed she was making a mistake, not only in the move but also for not giving her ex another chance.)
This story was a very slow burn. Annie had been working at the new hospital for over two months before she first saw Jack at a local bar. It was another two weeks before they were formally introduced in the ER after he brought a patient into the hospital. Then more weeks passed before they spoke again. A doctor who worked in the ER with Annie (and took an interest in her that wasn't returned) made it his business to "warn" her away from Jack by telling her it wasn't a good person to get involved with. Annie soon became friends with many of Jack's mutual friends and family members, including Teddy and Emily, who were married not long after Annie moved to town.
After several weeks had passed, Jack and Annie went from friends to friends with benefits to being in a relationship. Although Annie was hesitant to trust anyone with her heart again, she told Jack that she was willing to give him a chance. He just had to promise to never hurt her like her ex had done. Not long later, some things came to light that ended in tragedy. This led to Jack pulling away from Annie. He believed what happened was his fault and that it was because he had been spending so much time being too preoccupied with Annie and their relationship. The guilt he felt had him turning to drink to deal with the issues plaguing him. When Annie got a call one night from Jack's brother Ben, it was to inform her that the local bartender at the "watering hole" they frequented had informed him that Jack required her assistance to get home. When she arrived, he was very drunk indeed, but she managed to get him home. This soon became a regular ritual between them that put a strain on their relationship. Jack slowly began ghosting her and pushing her away. He refused to spend any more nights at her place or invite her to do the same at his. He even stopped making visits to the hospital, and he no longer sent her text messages.
When Annie received a text from Joel, one of the doctors she worked with, saying that Jack was at the bar, drunk again, she went to see if she could help. However, this time, he ended up doing the one thing he promised her he wouldn't do...he hurt her. Crushed by what appeared to be his betrayal, Annie walked away, after asking Joel to "get me out of here". Unfortunately, Jack saw her and tried to explain to her that nothing had happened, but he saw Joel waiting for her in his car. He begged her not to go with him, but she told him they were done.
There was a lot of angst and drama in this book, along with the usual emotional rollercoaster filled with twists and turns. The plot twists were interesting and, at times, tear-jerking, so have a box of tissues handy. The push/pull was more of a push than anything, as the MMC struggled with the loss of his friend and then the other things that happened.
Both of the main characters were fully developed and, for the most part, mature. Both had issues that needed dealt with (some were unresolved), but they both had plenty of time to do the necessary growing.
I gave this a three-star rating only because it had more than enough grammatical errors, unresolved issues, and the length was longer than it had to be to cause it to lose two stars. It was interesting enough to cultivate a healthy curiosity, in this reader at least, to find out how the other books in the series each turn out.