Falling Hard

A Falling Fast Novel

by Tina Wainscott

In bestselling author Tina Wainscott’s gritty, emotional small-town romance—perfect for fans of Jasinda Wilder and Colleen Hoover—passions run high as a reformed bad boy reconnects with an old enemy . . . and gets her engine revving.

There’s no one Pax Sullivan wants to run into less than Gemma Thornton. Back in high school, she revved his heart more than street racing. But she picked his clean-cut brother over him—only to accuse Blake of an unforgivable crime. Eventually the charges were dropped and Gemma left town, but the hard feelings lingered . . . along with Pax’s gnawing “what-ifs.” Seven years later, just as he quits the police force to open a racetrack, Gemma’s back—and their chemistry is more combustible than ever.

If it were up to her, Gemma would never lay eyes on another Sullivan. She hates them, and they hate her—even Pax, who just so happens to be fixing up her father’s B&B. But the more time she spends with the lean, hard-bodied ex-cop at the inn and on the track, the more Gemma sees that Pax is nothing like his brother. Despite their anguished history, she’s tempted to take their relationship into high gear . . . if she can face the past and risk her heart.

After reading Falling Fast I knew I had to read Pax’s story.  He was such a fantastic supporting character – full of strength & conviction and was such a supportive friend.  You get a little of his history in the first book, but it isn’t a requirement that you have to have read it to enjoy Falling Hard.  But it helps because you’ll have already started your crush on Pax and get that ahhh feeling when he finally gets his moment 🙂

I wasn’t sure where Wainscott was going to go with Gemma’s story.  We only got a little bit of it before so I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out but I was thrilled with what she did.  The struggle that Gemma goes through, when no one believes her story, is heartbreaking.  It’s a horrible thing to have happen but to have every think that she’s lying is just … unbelievably awful.  And to have to come back and face those people is so intimidating but she handles it with her head held high.  Even though she’s had some therapy, rape is going to have a lot of long reaching impacts so I admire her grit as she works through it.

Pax proves himself to be the wonderful man that returning readers knew he would be.  He uses his head and logics though everything that he sees & knows, so that he starts to acknowledge the truth of what happened all of those years ago.  But it is terrible how much he has to pay for it.  He’s already being treated poorly by his family for some of his other decisions but he’s man enough to follow what he knows is right and not give in to others.  Of course that’s one of the reasons we love him so very much.

Falling Hard isn’t an easy story to read, because of some of the bad things that happen to good people, but I think that makes it that much more worth the effort.  As Pax & Gemma work their way to the truth, not only about their history but about their feelings today, readers are given a very satisfying and enjoyable read.