Review for Be With Me (Wait For You #2) by J Lynn

TITLE: Be With Me
SERIES: Wait For You #2
AUTHOR: J Lynn (AKA Jennifer L Armentrout
PUBLICATION DATE: February 4, 2014
PUBLISHER: William Morrow Paperbacks
PAGES: 299 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: Edelweiss
RATING: 4 bows

Teresa Hamilton has had a crush on Jase Winstead from the moment he stepped through her front door to check on her brother. There is just something about him that draws her and she can’t shake the attraction, especially after a mind-blowing kiss. But after said kiss, Jase avoids her like the plague and an injury to her knee could be the end of her dance career if she isn’t careful. A semester off from dancing at the college her brother (and Jase, his BFF) attends may just the thing to get Jase to give them a chance. Jase is trying his damnedest to ignore his feelings for Tess. Besides the fact that she is his best friend’s baby sister, he has other responsibilities that take precedence and doesn’t really need to be involved in any kind of serious relationship. But he can’t seem to avoid her now that she’s on campus and the attraction is getting harder to fight. Can the two work it out or is their quasi-relationship doomed to fail?

Tess is just as I remember her from Wait For You, beautiful and determined and smart. She’s a bit down on herself because of the knee injury and the possibility of never dancing again, but you can still see the fiery personality underneath. I can’t say I would be any different if my lifelong passion had nearly been ripped from my grasp. Her love of dancing is something I thought would bring her closer to Avery, but the two don’t become as close as I was expecting. Maybe they are saving that for later. I hope so.

Jase is a even more guarded here than the glimpses of him we catch in Trust In Me. He obviously plays things close to the chest and has a difficult time letting anyone get close to him. Watching him try to be all noble and stay away from Tess when it’s obvious the two are meant for each other was both comical and heartbreaking. It causes so much heartache for Tess that it is hard to get behind the idea of these two being together. Will Jase ever get over the need to push her away to “protect” her as well as himself? I hate that, so much.

I was pretty excited when I got approved for this because it gave me a legitimate excuse to read Wait For You & Trust In Me which I had been dying to read. After all, I have to read them to understand this, right? So I dived in and LOVED them both. Seriously, Cam Hamilton is awesome and I love him to bits. I was then excited to see him placed in the brotherly role instead of the love interest. Anything offering me even the tinsiest new slice of Cam was exactly what I was looking for. While I truly enjoyed this, it doesn’t quite live up to it’s predecessors. Jase doesn’t even come close to comparing to Cam’s level of awesome, so while I liked the idea of him and Tess, I wasn’t swooning over him. And every damn time he pushed Tess away, I was torn between wanting to punch him and wanting her to move on so we could truly see him suffer. She doesn’t, though, because this wouldn’t be much of a romance novel if she had, but I was almost wishing she would.

Another issue was it was predictable. I know we don’t read romance for jaw-dropping originality, but I saw every single twist come. Every. Single. One. ****SPOILER****The minute you see Jace with Jack, it’s obvious it’s his kid not his brother. The minute you see Debbie with Erik, you know he’s abusing her. As soon as Tess hits the floor, you know she’s fucked up her knee for good. When Tess finds Debbie dead, it’s so fucking obvious that Erik killed her, and it wasn’t a suicide. ****END SPOILER****All of it was just so glaringly obvious.

From the review, you’d think I didn’t really enjoy this novel, but I did. Despite the hangups, this is written in addictive way we’ve come to expect from JLA. She’s a master at making you desperate to keep going and then utterly depressed when you realize you’ve finished the novel. What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Move on to the next novel? I’m too emotional involved with the characters to do anything else but crave more! It has everything necessary to make a great New Adult romance, with steamy love scenes, witty dialogue, and characters you can’t help but care about, in spite of their idiotic actions. If you liked the previous novels, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. If you haven’t read the previous novels…what the hell are you waiting for?

****Thank you to William Morrow Paperbacks for providing me with an eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review****

Review for Trust In Me (Wait For You #1.5) by J Lynn

TITLE: Trust In Me
SERIES: Wait For You #2
AUTHOR: J Lynn (AKA Jennifer L Armentrout
PUBLICATION DATE: October 22, 2013
PUBLISHER: William Morrow Impulse
PAGES: 352 pages
FORMAT: Paperback
SOURCE: Purchased
RATING: 5 bows

Cameron Hamilton is that hot guy that can get any girl he wants, so when Avery Morgensten turns him down flat, he’s intrigued. She’s gorgeous and more than a little awkward and he’s entirely fascinated with watching her emotions play across her face. It’s obvious she’s hiding something, but she won’t let him close enough to figure it out. He refuses to give up, though, continually asking her on dates and pushing past her barriers. Will she finally relent and give him a chance or will she remain stubborn and continue to refuse?

Dayum. Did I mention in my review for Wait For You that Cam is awesome? Because, seriously, he is. If you loved him in book one, he’ll steal your heart even more here. He’s the same nice guy hiding under that cocky exterior, which shines even more here. He’s so fucking confident about his awesomeness that it’s impossible to argue the point with, though I don’t know why you’d want to. He’s just so terribly sweet to Avery and so fucking charming. The fact that he constantly refers to her as Shortcake in his head had in an endless giggle-fest.

Avery, via his perspective, is even more skittish than she seems in hers. There isn’t much to say beyond that, besides it’s really obvious she is hiding something. And it’s even more frustrating watching her refuse to open up to him when you are reading his thoughts. All he wants to do is comfort and protect her and she won’t allow him that opportunity.

I think I have said at one point that I’m not a huge fan of the type of books like this, where it’s the exact same storyline as the previous one via a new perspective, but Jen may have changed my take on that. I would gladly have read any new scene or rehashed scene she wanted to give me though Cam’s eyes. For a lot of authors, it becomes incredibly boring to read the same damn scenes in a voice that sounds too similar to the original one, but here, they both felt so distinct that it was impossible to confuse the two. I also really love getting more of Ollie and Jace, plus the preview for Be With Me because you can feel the attraction rolling off Jace and Teresa, whether Cam wants to admit it or not.

Bottom line? This is everything you’d expect out of a JLA sequel. It makes me want to say to hell with my carefully laid out reading list and binge on her novels. Cam is just….there aren’t words, okay. He’s almost better than Daemon, which should be recommendation in and of itself. If you liked Wait For You, you’ll love this. If you haven’t read Wait For You, then remedy that and then you’ll love this. Don’t read this first because it obviously gives away major spoilers….unless you don’t care about spoilers, in which case the sequence is up to you. 🙂

Review for Wait For You (Wait For You #1) by J Lynn

TITLE: Wait For You
SERIES: Wait For You #1
AUTHOR: J Lynn (AKA Jennifer L Armentrout
PUBLICATION DATE: September 3, 2013
PUBLISHER: William Morrow Paperbacks
PAGES: 384 pages
FORMAT: Audiobook / ARC
SOURCE: Borrowed / Won from Krita’s Dust Jacket
RATING: 5 bows

Avery’s life changed at a Halloween party five years ago and she has ran clear across the country for college to get away from the aftermath. She’s determined to succeed in college and, hopefully, make a few friends along the way. But when she literally falls into Cam’s arms, her plans change. She knows avoiding him is the best thing she can do, but Cam makes her want things she never thought she’d want. Cam’s gorgeous face is everywhere and she quickly learns avoiding him isn’t possible. The two become so close that when Avery begins receiving threatening and insulting emails and texts, Cam demands to know what’s going on. Avery knows she can’t hide from her past forever, but she’s damn well going to try, even if it destroys her relationship with Cam. Can Cam get the truth from her?

Holy fucknuggets Batman! I am beginning to believe that Jennifer L Armentrout can’t write a bad book. Actually, I’m starting to believe that she can’t write anything that isn’t fucking epic and overly addictive. I started this on an audiobook, just planning on listening it to it some around the house….yeah, about that. I ended up spending an entire afternoon listening while I did other things (::coughs:: played Pokemon X) and then switching to a the ARC I won forever ago and staying up until 2 in the morning because I couldn’t stop. This book is just as good, if not better, than the Obsidian series. Cam and Daemon are equally hot and I can’t pick between the two. That alone is a massive compliment. Okay, enough fangirling.

Avery, oh Avery. I love her and I understand her situation, but she really should have told Cam about her past long before she did. Cam’s devotion to her is obvious and she should know that it won’t lower his opinion of her. She’s so damaged and fragile, but strong at the same time. She survived that horrible event and waited for the opportune moment to get the hell away from those assholes she has to call a family. Her family, by the way, left me speechless. I don’t understand how people can react that way.****SPOILER****You daughter was raped and instead of hiring a lawyer with the epic amount of money you have and suing the pants off the man responsible, you accept a bribe from his family and force said daughter to sign a nondisclosure agreement? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? When his parents showed up, you should have told them to fuck off and informed the police that they were attempting to bribe you. This is your only daughter and he hurt her in a way that is beyond unacceptable, but you don’t seem to fucking care. I don’t have kids, but I sure as hell know my reaction would have been completely different. I’d probably be in jail for murdering the fucker, no lawyer or justice system necessary.****END SPOILER****

Then there is our swoon-worthy Cam. Tall with piercing blue eyes and a body that would make a saint sin, he’s the man of every girls dreams, except our dear Avery. Watching him befriend her and ask her on a date, repeatedly, was thoroughly entertaining. Hell, watching Cam do anything would be thoroughly entertaining. Can I have him? Please? New book-boyfriend material here!

Seriously, this guy goes out of his way to help Avery in anyway he can. He’s so fucking sweet to her, even though she’s a damn idiot and still pushes him away for the better part of this book. Come on people, he has a pet tortoise name Raphael! He’s hot! He’s smart! He’s not a flaming jackass like the majority of guys! What the fuck more could she want? I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating, Jennifer L Armentrout really knows how to write a swoon-worthy male lead. They all seem to have that “I’m hot and I know it” attitude that comes off as cute instead of annoying.

The writing is amazing, but that was expected, right? It has everything I need, with the mystery of trying to discover exactly what happened to Avery (and if she’ll ever say yes to Cam), humor with lots of witty banter between the main two, and romance with so many smexy scenes, I probably couldn’t read it in public without blushing. It’s the first NA I’ve read with an unabashedly detailed masturbation scene, which was an interesting change. Being a NA, we get a good douse of swear words, which always puts a smile on my face, as well as the avoidance of the dreaded insta-love, love triangle, and cliffhanger. There is only one interest for Avery and Cam, each other, and their story wraps up relatively well.

I’m officially adding everything J Lynn to my TBR list and to my list of “good” NA authors. I never really questioned that it was going to be good, but I wasn’t quite it expecting the epicness that I got. If only all NA could be this good, then I’d constantly be in heaven…and also I’d never be able to make myself go to work. Who can work when so many amazing words wait ahead? There is no question here, if you like NA or are just a Jennifer L Armentrout fan, read this. Like now. It’s worth whatever you are not give up doing instead, trust me!