Wednesday 2 March 2016

Blog Tour, Excerpt & Review ~ Slip of the Tongue by Jessica Hawkins


Book Description:



Sadie Hunt isn’t perfect—but her husband is. Nathan Hunt has her coffee waiting every morning. He holds her hand until the last second. He worships the Manhattan sidewalk she walks on. Until one day, he just…stops. And Sadie finds herself in the last place she ever expected to be. Lonely in her marriage.

When rugged and sexy Finn Cohen moves into the apartment across the hall, he and Sadie share an immediate spark. Finn reveals dreams for a different life. Sadie wants to save her marriage. Their secrets should keep them apart, not ignite a blistering affair. But while Sadie’s marriage runs colder by the day, she and Finn burn hotter.

Her husband doesn’t want her anymore. The man next door would give up everything to have her.



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Excerpt:

In his dimly-lit kitchen, Finn lays a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I have to tell you something.” 

My hairline prickles. I can sense whatever he says will be heavy, and I’m not sure I want to hear it. I force a crooked smile that probably looks as awkward as I feel. Since I just fed Ginger, I joke, “What? I smell like dog food?” 

“I want to kiss you,” he says without missing a beat. “I won’t, but I just thought you should know.” 

My stomach drops as if I’m in free fall. I bite my lip involuntarily, then release it, afraid it’ll look like an invitation. Can he really come out and say that? Without prompting, without wavering? You can want to kiss someone and not say it. Should I be angry he confessed that? I’m not. I’m curious. Stirred, even. And because we’re being honest, I ask what I want to ask. “Why?” 

“Why do I want to kiss you? Or why did I tell you?” 

My heart rate picks up. I lose my nerve. “The second one. That’s not the kind of thing you just come out and say to a stranger. A married stranger.” 

“I like you.” He absentmindedly caresses the nape of my neck with his fingertip. “So I want to be honest.” 

I put my hand over his wrist, and he stops. Now, and for the last hour, it’s as if we’re the only two people on the planet. The Bad Wife and the Stranger. If I let him kiss me, nobody would ever know. After all, Nathan might be kissing someone else too. Why else would he have lipstick on his tie? Finn doesn’t wear lipstick. Neither do I. It would be our secret. 

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” he asks. 

Am I? I have to. I don’t trust myself to stay, and I don’t trust myself to speak, so I nod. I don’t have to pull his hand away. He takes it back willingly. And he walks me to his door.


Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 4 stars
***ARC received for an honest review***



“I’m beginning to see that perfection is overrated.” 


This was one of those frustrating reads for me, frustrating yet totally understandable…a bit of a contradiction you might say but what Jessica Hawkins delivered was an honest, relatable account of a typical married couple. A marriage is nothing without communication and for some reason it was this that became lacking for a couple that always had communication at the forefront of their relationship. It was this lack of communication that led to misunderstandings and a lot of mistakes. It was a tough read, my heart was in my mouth and at times I wanted to cringe but I could just see it happening to so many others…albeit not as quickly. 

Sadie and Nathan were Mr & Mrs Perfect, they were the envy of all their friends having the perfect marriage, the perfect life, each had put the other on their perfect pedestal to cement their undying love and their perfect relationship…until it wasn’t. 


“I will love you the same in the dark as I do in the light.” 


One day Nathan stopped talking to his wife Sadie, they hardly communicated, hardly touched, hardly saw each other. This was going from living in the Sahara to living in the North Pole, from one extreme to another. Having promised to never shut the other out Sadie has no idea what has happened or what has changed. The signs all point to one thing but is that the case? 

Feeling lost and lonely and incredibly heartbroken Sadie is at a low ebb, until the man across the hall moves in and they start up a friendship, but will it lead to more?


“How do I tell the person I love most in the world that he’s failing me? And that another man is making it better?” 


Sadie and Nathan were incredibly frustrating, at times I wanted to scream and throw my kindle, it was exhausting!!! This was an emotional read but not just in a tear jerking sense but in that I’m married and I can totally relate to everything that is happening emotional state. I was reading and thinking at the same time…I must communicate more…I must communicate more…. I must communicate more. I would never want to put my husband in a position whereby he felt I didn’t love him or want him, while reading I vowed to tell him…often. 


“The man puts you on a fucking pedestal. And you do the same to him. It’s about time you knocked each other off, because now you’re on the ground where you should be. And that’s the foundation you need to build on, not some lofty idea that you can’t be happy if you aren’t perfect.” 


If you feel unloved and unwanted after having it all by the bucket load it would make you think the worst, I know I would and that is exactly the situation that Sadie finds herself in. But rather than attack the situation head on she just lets it get worse steadily over a few months, she sits and stews and wallows in self-pity. While I could relate to her feelings I did find her extremely selfish at times and it was this that made her hard to warm up to. For someone that had such a strong marriage I just felt that she gave up too easily and put herself in an even worse position even if it gave her the affection that she was desperately seeking. 

Nathan is just as much to blame in this clusterfuck of epic proportions, he has his reasons but the way they manifested in his actions were to the detriment of his marriage even more. As an outsider looking in it is easy to see the mistakes but surely even he could see that he was not helping the situation at all?? 


“You can close off your heart, but don’t forget – I know how to tear you open. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again and again until you realize I will never, ever let you abandon me. And I will never, ever abandon you.” 


I have to say that the ending for me was a bit too convenient, I just couldn’t believe Nathan’s actions. I wanted more at this juncture…more fight, it was all too quick and clean. However, this was a book that I couldn’t put down, it was entertaining, it was thought provoking and it was incredibly addictive. 


About the Author:

Jessica Hawkins grew up between the purple mountains and under the endless sun of Palm Springs, California. She studied international business at Arizona State University and has also lived in Costa Rica and New York City. To her, the most intriguing fiction is forbidden, and that's what you'll find in her stories. Currently, she resides wherever her head lands, which is often the unexpected (but warm) keyboard of her trusty MacBook.

Connect with the Author:

Follow my Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1aFhenW

For more info, join the Jessica Hawkins mailing list: http://www.jessicahawkins.net/mailing-list.html

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