Lovin' los libros

Welcome to my stop on the Stay With Me review tour hosted by InkSlingerPR!

I am SO excited to share my review with you all, as I just love this series so much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am beyond excited I got chosen to review Stay With Me! I love all things J.Lynn and Jennifer Armentrout, so I knew I would enjoy the third book in the Wait For You series. We had already been briefly introduced to the main character Calla in the previous novel, and I thought we had met the love interest as well, but alas it was not meant to be. Who we get instead works so much better for Calla and I was completely satisfied. It was also really awesome to see Cam, Avery, Teresa, and Jase make such a large appearance in the book.

 

Pacing: I did struggle to get into this one a bit. Usually J.Lynn's books are unputdownable, but I found this one was easy to step away from when I needed to. I can't quite pinpoint exactly what it was that made it seem this way, as I really liked the development of Calla and Jax's relationship. I did love the added intrigue and danger this book had to it though.

 

Storyline: Calla believes strongly in her Three F's: Finish college. Find a nursing job. Finally follow through on something. Having grown up the way she did with her less than stellar mother, it makes sense that Calla would have these goals. However, when her mother takes everything from her and the world drops out from below her feet, Calla must return home to the one place she swore she wouldn't go again to find the woman she told her friends was dead. To make her life even more complicated, she meets Jackson James, 'Jax', and he tempts her in ways she knows he shouldn't, especially with the secrets and insecurities she holds close. The heat is on though and not just with Calla and Jax. Now that Calla's mom has disappeared, it seems Calla is the next best thing for the lowlifes her mother has previously associated with to put the pressure on. Now, Calla's life is on the line as well as her heart....

 

Characters: Calla bears both physical and mental scars from her childhood and they really have a huge impact on her life and self-esteem. I can completely relate to Calla, as I bear my own facial scar that used to really make me self-conscious. Her scrambling to cover up her own scar with Dermablend and make up just made my heart hurt as I remember doing the same and trying everything to make it invisible to others. She has never had a boyfriend or even been kissed, but I think a lot of that has to do with Calla's low self-esteem and her need to hide from people. She has come home a desperate woman, as her mother has single-handedly crushed her plans in one swift blow. Coming home to face the woman was hard enough as it is.... but to come home and realize her mother's screw ups are affecting her own safety and well-being? Not cool. It's a good thing she has her Uncle Clyde and Jax to watch out for her. They both warn her it's not safe to stay in town, but Calla is stubborn. Not to mention, she has no money and no where else to go. Jax ends up giving her a job bartending at her mom's bar and takes it upon himself to protect her.

 

Oh, Jax. I wasn't sure about him in the beginning, because I was having trouble getting a good read on him, but he proves himself to be such a good match for Calla. He doesn't even know the girl, but takes her under his wing and makes sure she is safe and protected from the thugs looking for her mom. He has scars of his own from his time of being in the Marines, so he knows compassion. He does NOT like Calla constantly tearing herself down and he is always working to build her back up and show her that beauty is more than skin deep. He's an overall good guy. Sometimes TOO good of a guy, as he doesn't handle a certain blonde soul sucking leech in the way he should have.

 

I really liked these two together. Jax is the perfect first everything for Calla. He makes her feel cherished and special and that is not something she has felt for a long time. Their relationship isn't perfect and has its ups and downs, but I feel this made the book even more realistic.

 

Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed the storyline of this one, even though it wasn't set on campus like the previous novels were. The whole crime/drug underworld definitely made the book even more intense, as Calla's life is being threatened and she is taking the fall for something she has had no control over. Amidst all of that, Calla and Jax's burgeoning relationship is magnified and that much hotter because of the danger they find themselves in...