Release Blitz: Cole by Karla Sorensen

Title: Cole
Series: Bachelors of the Ridge #3
Author: Karla Sorensen
Release Date: March 22, 2017

 

Cole Mallinson has never been able to move on.

It’s been two thousand, three hundred and sixty-two days since he’s seen his ex-wife, Julia. He’s never stopped loving her, never stopped wishing she’d come back. Everyone thinks he’s lost his mind for never moving on, but they couldn’t understand. It was never a choice.

Seven years ago, Julia Mallinson left Denver, and even though it’s the last place she wants to be, she’s back. The years of infertility that she and Cole endured during their marriage wore her down past the point of breaking. And when she left, she didn’t look back, couldn’t look back, for the sake of her sanity, her heart.

Between an accidental run-in at the grocery store and a meddling pregnant sister, Julia is forced to face the man she walked away from. The man who still, after all these years, has never moved on. Though neither has she.

And in the end, she’s left wondering if the past is ever left in the past.

  

My small basket was packed full and I paused before going down the next row, trying to decide if I needed a cart. I could add more wine that way.

In the second I paused to think about it, my eyes lifted up to the end of the aisle, blinking at the tall, broad-shouldered man that stood at the opposite side.

And my heart exploded in my chest, a messy, visceral explosion, when I saw his profile.

Cole.

I yanked back behind the end cap and peeked over a row of pasta sauce jars to make sure I hadn't lost my damn mind. That I wasn't imagining him standing there because of how my day had played out.

Nope. No. Oh holy shit, no, he was not a specter sent to haunt me.

His dark hair was shorter than the last time I'd seen him, his frame larger. My stomach turned in on itself at the insane moment. The tears I'd pushed down in Brooke's bathroom spilled over my cheeks while I stared at him. His arm reached out to pluck a box of pasta from the shelf, and the way his forehead furrowed while he read the label made me back up a step so I couldn't see him for a beat. Like I was capable of not looking again. Ha.

The universe hated me.

A hysterical giggle lodged in my throat when I considered that the entire freaking cosmos was playing a joke on me, that I might have been living so close to Cole that we shared a grocery store for the last month. And no matter how much I wanted that wine, my feet had already angled toward the exit. When he started to turn in my direction, I didn't think, didn't question.

I shoved my basket onto an empty bottom shelf and turned to leave, plowing into the chest of a store employee carrying an armful of canned vegetables, which hit the ground with awkward, loud bounces.

Go! I screamed in my head. But my head lifted instead.

His eyes locked on mine, widening in the next heartbeat.

"Julia," he called out, the hoarse crack in his deep voice opening a chasm in between my ribs.

And I was gone, fleeing the store without a backwards glance.

REVIEW

One of my favorite things about books by Karla Sorensen is they just get better and better. Going in, I always know the sort of writing to expect  and there is always a perfect execution of the plot and everything woven together perfectly for the characters in the story.  Cole is no different, Karla took a not often used plot device and delivered a powerfully emotional second chance romance. 

Nobody knows what was really in Julia's head when she left Cole, after suffering silently through their problems, she just walked away - turning back would have meant an inability to leave and Julia had to go at that point.  But even with her running, even with her unwillingness to look back or try to explain, Julia never moved on from Cole, she never lost the love in her heart.  So when she finds her way, unexpectedly, back in the same town with Cole, and even more unexpectedly crossing paths with him, she's not sure how to handle it.  

Cole's emotions are all over the place when he hears his ex-wife is back in town. The chaos in his mind causes more than just his emotions to be overwrought and he's finally able to talk to his friends with some of the details of his past.  Nothing prepares him for seeing Julia again though, or the strength of his feelings for her, because Cole has never moved on, never let go, never forgotten what they had.  

This book was a beautiful story of second chances and forgiveness.  With glimpses into the past between Cole and Julia giving a deeper understanding of their hidden pain and struggles that eventually tore them apart, it was easy to feel the tugs on my heart strings making me root for their love.  

I loved the addition of Julia's sister to the store, and the role she played, I loved that she was such a supporter of Cole while still trying her best to support her sister.  Seeing more of my favorite characters from previous books in the series also made this story so much better.  I have enjoyed the closeness between this group of guys and the women in their lives - the close bonds between them add an extra layer of relatability to the story, making me feel like a part of the group.  

Cole is a fabulous addition the the men of Bacholors of the Ridge series and brought to life an amazing story of two people who have been through so much finding their way back to each other with a love that never quite ended.  

Well, let’s see ... I’m a wife and a mother. If the things that I write bring a smile to someone's face, then I've done my job. I am obsessed with Outlander (both the books and the show). I’m almost exclusively a romance reader, which means some people will never consider me a literary snob. If I could meet one historical figure, it would be Jane Austen. I received my Bachelors in Public Relations and worked in health care marketing before I had my babies. I hate Twitter. I do it, but I hate it. Also, if you want to get on my good side, bring me wine and I'll love you forever.