Rose's Food & Book Blog: Blog Tour: I Stand Before You by S.R. Grey

Title: I Stand Before You (Judge Me Not #1)

Author: S.R. Grey

Release date: September 2, 2013

Age Group: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tour organized by: AToMR Tours; http://atomrbookblogtours.com

When it comes to tattooed bad boys, Chase Gartner is the real deal. Partying, engaging in meaningless sex, getting into fights---Chase indulges in it all during his late teen years, thus firmly solidifying his status as a heartbreakingly gorgeous but way-too-dangerous-to-trust guy in his hometown of Harmony Creek, Ohio. Then, following one fateful night of reckless decisions, Chase's actions finally catch up to him and land him in prison.

Now, four years have passed and Chase finds himself a free man. He returns to Harmony Creek, ready to pick up the pieces and start rebuilding his shattered life.

Things are off to a promising start when he meets Kay Stanton, a young woman with a tragic past of her own. Despite a powerful attraction, Chase and Kay are naturally hesitant to become involved. That's why friendship feels like the safest option. But when passions ignite and love blossoms, a relationship that is destined and meant to be can only be resisted for so long. When Chase and Kay finally succumb to their feelings they realize being together feels more right and true than anything they have ever experienced.

But their love is soon tested. Chase's wild past still haunts and tempts him, and Kay is keeping a secret that could tear them apart.

I Stand Before You is a journey of hope and forgiveness, coming to terms with the past and moving forward. But mostly it's a story of two damaged people who take a chance, open their hearts, and find true love.

New Adult/Contemporary Romance genres. First in a series.

***Warning: contains graphic sexual situations, drug use, some violence, and profanity***

Recommended for ages 17+

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When it comes to tattooed bad boys, Chase Gartner fits that description to a tee. He has plenty of ink, all has a deep meaning to him that express a painful portion of his life. Four years ago, Chase fell off the deep end landing him in prison for dealing X, ironic thing is he never actually sold any. Chase's life has been in a downward spiral since he was a teenager and his dad passed away. Unsure if his dad's death was an accident or if he couldn't handle where life had taken him committed suicide. Leaving behind a son who needed his dad after his family has lost nearly everything, a younger brother who needs his parents, and a mother who has taken to gambling all hours of the day trying to save what the family lost shortly after they moved to Vegas. Out of control and using drugs, Chase's mother sends him back to Harmony Creek at the age of eighteen to live with his grandmother. Problem is, it doesn't help Chase it only sends him further out of control.

Now four years later, Chase finds himself in a better place than he was, under the wing of Father Maridale and the church. He now lives back in the farmhouse he once grew up in that his grandmother left him after she passed away and while he still fights those demons of his past, he's trying to move on. With a new job in hand fixing up the school church, Chase is ready to redeem himself and the second chance he's been giving in life. It's here that he meets Kay Stanton.

Kay Stanton is just as broken, if not more broken than Chase is. Four years ago tragedy struck and Kay's six year old sister Sarah died in a tragic accident. No one but Kay and her mother really know what happened that night, and the truth had Kay's mother disown her. Now living alone with no family and only the memory of her sister Sarah, Kay lives in the worst part of town and is lonely beyond belief, unable to let go of what happened that night. It's when she meets Chase and sees the same look in his eyes does she know she's found another soul as lost as hers.

Chase and Kay fight their growing attraction toward one another, instead becoming close friends. Friends that share everything with one another except for the one thing that could tear them apart, their deepest darkest secret. Their relationship is full of passion, love, and longing, but each knows that their secrets could be what finally tears their friendship and love for one another apart. Can Kay trust Chase enough with the truth and that he won't run away? What happens when Kay discovers just how dark Chase can be and the secret he's hiding about Missy? Is love really enough?

I loved this story. These two characters were so broken, so alone for so long, and yet when they meet one another they see their pain and sorrow echoed in the other. Their relationship shouldn't work, their friendship shouldn't last, but it's their understanding of one another that keep their friendship alive and ultimately leads them into the arms of one another. It was a beautiful sorrowful story and I loved watching these two characters grow so much during this story and am looking forward to the next book in this series and watching Chase and Kay continue to grow and learn from one another. This isn't one story you don't want to miss ladies, their sorrow and passion leap off the pages and you can actually feel how they felt in their lowest points in life. I am surprised that I've never read any of her work before now, but I look forward to more of her work in the coming future. S.R. Grey weaves a beautiful, passionate story full of emotion that will hold you captive right up until the end, 5 stars!

***ARC provided by author in exchange for a honest review***

S.R. Grey is the author of Harbour Falls and Willow Point, first and second novels in A Harbour Falls Mystery series. She is also the author of I Stand Before You, first novel in the Judge Me Not series (New Adult/Contemporary Romance).

Ms. Grey resides in western Pennsylvania. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Robert Morris College, as well as an MBA from Duquesne University.

She is currently working on Wickingham Way, the third installment in A Harbour Falls Mystery series, to be released in January 2014, as well as Never Doubt Me, second novel in the Judge Me Not series.

Other interests include reading, traveling, running, and cheering for her hometown sports teams.