RELEASE BLITZ REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY: HOOK by Gina L. Maxwell

Journey back to Neverland, NC with NYT & USA Today Bestselling Author Gina L. Maxwell as she turns your favorite villain into the hero you never knew you needed.

THEY CALL ME HOOK

I’m Captain of the Pirates; a villain by design and a loner by nature.

I don’t need anyone. More than that, I don’t want anyone. Especially Officer John Darling who insists on seeing the good in everything, including me. If there was ever any good inside of me, it was snuffed out long ago.

I’ve avoided him for years, but now I need his help to save my brother’s life and take down Fred Croc, the monster from my childhood and my current employer.

Now Darling is undercover in my crew, living in my loft and forever working out shirtless. Taking Croc’s operation down from the inside is dangerous as hell, but Darling’s probing gaze and the natural way he defers to my dominant side might just be the end of me.

But I’ve lived in the dark for too long, and no amount of light can save me. Not even one as bright as Johnathan Darling.

HE CALLS ME DARLING

I’m a Task Force Officer with the FBI; a protector of the innocent and a man in love with a villain.

Before I was even old enough to understand it, I had a crush on the broody teen called Captain Hook, following him around like a puppy and hoping he’d show me the slightest bit of attention.

He never did, though, not for years. Not until I became his only viable option for getting his crew member back and throwing Croc behind bars. Now he can’t ignore me, and he can’t hide the desire burning in his eyes when I sink to my knees, eager to serve my Captain however he needs.

But secrets are hard to keep in close quarters, and when I discover the darkness lurking in his past, eradicating the evil in Neverland is no longer my only mission. Come hell or high water, I’ll make Hook see that he’s never been the villain of this story…he’s the hero.

*Trigger Warning for readers sensitive to characters with sexual assault in their pasts. Please read the Author’s Note in the beginning of the book for more details.

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My Review

Like most of you, Hook by Gina L. Maxwell has been on my mind since finishing Pan and reading the bonus epilogue to get just a bit of insight into the tortured Hook and the man who wants to be the one to help save him. Unlike you, I’ve been privy to Hook and John’s journey from the start; I’ve been just a message away as Gina L. Maxwell painstakingly worked to be true to Hook and John’s character, to truly illustrate just how much Hook loathes himself, even though he tries to hide his pain, his darkness, his self-recriminations, so that he remains the silent and broody Captain who most fear and/or idolize.

Hook’s process of self-discovery, of allowing his sins and his nightmares to be unleashed, not for public consumption, but for one person who promises to bring light to his world is not a straightforward situation or a quick process. The physical and mental abuse that Hook suffered and the ways he’s tried to cope with his demons wasn’t a productive method, but it’s the only way he’s known, and that’s going to be a difficult habit to break, but if there was anyone who could do it, it was John Darling, the boy who worshipped Captain Hook and now the man who sees Hook as his Captain and no one else’s.

As much as John is the hero of this story, and believe me, he is one amazing guy who constantly battles for those who can’t do it themselves because he wants to give a voice and some light to the lost and lonely of London. The way that he methodically works his way into, not only Hook’s space, but his heart, illustrates that he is a man of conviction and he won’t stop when it’s something he truly believes in or someone he truly feels deserves the world – like he does when it comes to James.

Hook may not see himself as a hero, and let’s be honest, he definitely does commit quite a few unheroic acts, but he’s not the villain either; he’s not a monster who is irredeemable – that hellacious honor goes to the devil himself – Croc. But Hook, to me, is a scarred and tortured man who was once a boy whose life was never truly his own…who sacrificed his body and his soul so that no one else would have to suffer what he himself did and if that doesn’t speak to just how heroic he is – scars and all – I don’t know what does.

Even at the end of the story – an emotional and character-driven tale – Hook is still a work-in-progress and rightly so because the damage done to him is not something that will ever go away…but it is something he can learn to cope with…to deal with in a way that is not counterproductive and, thankfully, John will be there to bring Hook back into the light when the darkness gets a little bit too close for comfort.
Gina L. Maxwell wrote Hook and John’s story as Hook wanted and needed it to be – the pushy bastard – but it’s his book, so it makes sense that he would be the one to demand more from Gina than she thought possible, but with John’s guidance and light and Hook’s resolve to lay everything out for the readers to see, Gina has served as Hook’s mouthpiece and did amazing justice to his and John’s journey!!!

Get Your Sneak Peek of HOOK Here!

Don’t miss PAN, Neverland Novel #1

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From NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Gina L. Maxwell, comes a brand-new series with a fresh twist on an old classic.

Once upon a time, in Neverland, North Carolina–I fell in love.

I was twelve when Peter first climbed up to my balcony. Thirteen when I sneaked out to see him at the School for Lost Boys. Seventeen when his touch made me fly, And eighteen when his words made me cry.

We were magnetic, drawn to each other from that very first night, and what I thought would be forever. But when it came time for me to leave, he wouldn’t come with, soI left town with a map for my future and a shattered heart.

Ten years later, I’ve returned to Neverland, hoping to find a man in place of the boy.

Peter was partially right, growing up is no fun. After quitting my fancy career that sucked the magic out of life, I’m now organizing the fundraiser of the year. In a move that could make or break the event and my new company, I’ve hired Peter, master mechanic and owner of LB Automotive, to help me pull this off–trusting him to rebuild a classic car for the auction that could help hundreds of foster kids in need.

I thought I was prepared, but the boy who refused to leave is now a man hell-bent on getting me to stay, and as sparks fly between us, that undeniable fire flares back to life, deeper and hotter than ever.

But that ripped body doesn’t mean Peter’s matured enough to make us or this event work, and not everyone in Neverland is happy about my return.

Not every wound heals. Not every heart can be fixed. Not every boy grows up.

And after all this time, the love we found might be lost to us again…this time, forever.

Pan is an adult contemporary romance retelling of Peter Pan, complete with Wendy, Hook, Tink, and all the Lost Boys. There are no fantasy elements in this world, other than the “magic” that happens between the sheets. 😉

Gina L. Maxwell is a full-time writer, wife, and mother living in the upper Midwest, despite her scathing hatred of snow and cold weather. An avid romance novel addict, she began writing as an alternate way of enjoying the romance stories she loves to read. Her debut novel, Seducing Cinderella, hit both the USA Today and the New York Times bestseller lists in less than four weeks, and she’s been living her newfound dream ever since.

When she’s not reading or writing steamy romance novels, she spends her time losing at games to her high school sweetheart, hanging out with their adult teenagers as they learn to fly on their own, and dreaming of her move to someplace warm once they finally do.

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