Sunday, August 14, 2016

Review: Stay with Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Stay with Me
(Wait for You #3)
Publication Date: February 9, 2016
Hardcover, 448 pages, William Morrow
Genres: NA, Romance, Contemporary

At 21, Calla hasn’t done a lot of things. She’s never been kissed, never seen the ocean, never gone to an amusement park. But growing up, she witnessed some things no child ever should. She still carries the physical and emotional scars of living with a strung-out mother, Mona—secrets she keeps from everyone, including her close circle of college friends.

But the safe cocoon Calla has carefully built is shattered when she discovers her mom has stolen her college money and run up a huge credit card debt in her name. Now, Calla has to go back to the small town she thought she'd left behind and clean up her mom’s mess again. Of course, when she arrives at her mother’s bar, Mona is nowhere to be found. Instead, six feet of hotness named Jackson James is pouring drinks and keeping the place humming.

Sexy and intense, Jax is in Calla’s business from the moment they meet, giving her a job and helping her search for Mona. And the way he looks at her makes it clear he wants to get horizontal . . . and maybe something more. Before Calla can let him get close, though, she’s got to deal with the pain of the past—and some very bad guys out to mess her up if she doesn’t give them her mom.

My Review

Jennifer L. Armentrout’s love stories are pure crack cocaine. Once you have a little, you just can’t stop. I finally picked up this third book in the Wait for You series, and, after finishing it, I immediately read the fifth and sixth books. Yep. JLA’s just that good.

Okay, so I have to admit that I wasn’t thrilled about the plot of this book at first. I’ve just read a lot of the-emotionally-and-physically-scarred-young-woman-gets-saved-by-the-male-hero stories. The heroine is always shy and reserved, and the male always claims that she’s beautiful, which is eventually what makes the young woman think that she is beautiful. I just don’t like how the guy has to make the girl feel good about herself.

However much I don’t like those cliché storylines, JLA manages to make the characters so realistic that you simply can’t help but root for the two protagonists to get their happily ever after. Of course, Calla and Jax have their fair share of obstacles to overcome before they can even think about getting there though. Calla is, as I mentioned, a scarred mess with a sucky mother, while Jax is keeping his own fair share of secrets. After all, what kind of romance is it without one character keeping important information from the other? (Note to all book/TV/movie characters out there: Communication is key.)

All in all, this book is a touching story about first true loves and overcoming emotional pasts. And yes, it may have some familiar tropes, but those tropes don’t take away from how invested you’ll get into the characters and their crazy lives. Definitely read this if you want a solid new adult romance, because I know those are often hard to come by sometimes…


*Note: I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

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