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4.5 Stars!

Jettie always manages to keep me on my toes with her books. I never know what to expect with her. Jaq with a Q is no exception. This is an interesting type of novel. It’s not a dark or light novel; to me, it’s a serious novel. It touches on some very heavy topics… mental illness, child rape, and sex slavery, but at the heart of the novel, it’s a love story.  It’s a story about the healing power of unconditional love. And what a beautiful story it is!

 “You’re uniquely one of a kind, Jaq with a Q, and I love you.”

Jaq has had a troubled life. She’s scared of everything and tired of living.  She’s ready to end it all except she’s too scared to do it herself. With a weird twist of fate, she ends up calling Oliver (Ollie) Benson, thinking he’s a hit man.  Ollie’s bored in life and when Jaq enters his life with her crazy request, he sees a challenge; he wants to fix her, to save her.  A wrong number turns both their world upside down. Can Ollie save Jaq or will they save each other?

I was hooked right away! How could I not be? I had to know her story.  Who is Jaq and what is her story? In a way, I was like Ollie…curious as hell and intrigued by this scared girl.  Jaq is a difficult character. She is damaged and mentally ill.  I’ve got to give Ollie some major credit for his patience with her.  Jaq is very persistent in her way of thinking and her habits; it was extremely frustrating to see her create her own nightmares and suffer so much. As Ollie helps Jaq, I really started to enjoy her character. It was nice to see her banter and laugh with Ollie. It was beautiful to watch her open up. Slowly, Jaq reveals her story and it BROKE my heart!! The things she and her mom endured were terrible.

 “Jaq wasn’t complex at all. She was simple like the universe.”

Next there is Ollie.  Now, he’s also an interesting character. He’s not crazy, but he does some drastic things to help Jaq.

 “We’re not stealing her. She’s mine.”

I really liked Ollie. His heart is good and all he wants to do is help Jaq. Even before he fell in love, his heart was in the right place. He wanted to help this scared girl live a happier life . Ollie doesn’t understand the connection he feels with Jaq, but he embraces it. He falls hard and it’s quite sweet. I love how he buys her off with animals. It’s freaking adorable. Ollie realizes fancy drug can’t fix Jaq; all she needs is someone to love her.

 “She doesn’t need drugs. She just needs someone to love her and I do.”

It’s beautiful to watch them fall in love, to watch Ollie break Jaq’s barriers, and to watch Jaq open up. And oh does it have some STEAMY scenes!  I also love the emphasis on the saying “in the eye of the beholder.”

I love that quote because it really is in the eye of the beholder. A flaw to someone else is something beautiful to another. Jaq was flawed, but Ollie was drawn to her flaws. Sometimes, we can’t explain the connection we have with another. It just is.

My only complaint is that early on the story slowed down and I was getting impatient waiting for them to meet, but once they did the chemistry was good and the story flowed nicely.

So the ending…I’m note sure what to think.  The story leaves Ollie and Jaq in a good place but it feels incomplete. It sounds like the next story is Silas’ and I’m super ecstatic for it. I really liked Silas. He was a great brother. Extremely supportive of Ollie’s crazy impetuous  ways.  I hope in his story, I get a more complete ending for Ollie and Jaq. In the mean time, I’ll be patiently waiting for the next book. Happy Reading!!