Stay With Me (Wait for You #3)
by J. Lynn
Publisher – Harper
Release Date – September 25th 2014
Buy – Amazon | Book Depository
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You and Be with Me comes a daring tale that pushes boundaries . . .
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 shed 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 they 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.
Stay With Me proved to be my least favourite book in the series. I felt quite flat with this book, and JLA hasn’t until now disappointed me, which makes me feel a little deflated that I have to admit it.
Calla Fritz had three F’s to follow to get her through college and to get her through life; “Finish College, Find a career in the nursing field and Finally reap the benefits of following through on something.” But when her life suddenly turns upside down as all her funds for her tuition’s is wiped including maximum amount on credit cards all in her name, it means she has to go back to a place she has never called home. Life is on hold for her at moment. Calla isn’t particularly confident in who she is or her own future for that matter. But that isn’t her fault either. Being brought up by a mom who was regularly high or absent from her life, it left her scarred both mentally and physically. A scar like an any other is a part of you, a constant reminder of what she has been through. Without giving away too much of the plotline, Calla has suffered greatly, her family remind her of the pain she has gone through, and now it’s time to go back, only to be thrown into the deep end of drugs, love and family.
Calla had potential in her character, but sadly her constant attitude of life and of people around her somewhat deterred from her personality and really annoyed me at times too. I also thought that when she lied and withheld the truth of her life from her friends, that was actually rather shocking and actually made me dislike her slightly. However, when I was in about a half way through the book, I felt that she really started to connect with me a little and I felt that sometimes I could relate to her at times too. I know she wanted to bury that life behind. But sometimes you have to let it out or let someone in to fully appreciate some of the good times as well as acknowledging the bad… that particular person happens to be Jax!
Jax or Jackson James, was introduced to us as flirtatious bartender, who had the uncanny ability to make people spill there feeling. He was also the man running Mona’s bar, originally named and owned by her mom. Jax has his own issues too, fighting in the causes of war in Afghanistan, it has certainly left his own scar, mentally. Jax was sort of an complex character to really get to know. But I also tended to compare him to Rome (the Marked Men series) as they have similar past and also present life, with the restoration of the bar. He also tended to overuse the words ‘baby’, ‘honey’, ‘babe’ and sweetheart to the extreme. I love a bit of endearment, but sometimes I just felt it seemed false to his character and to the plotline. Whilst he does have redeeming qualities that’s for sure. So it’s not all bad.
Whilst, I loved J.Lynn’s previous two books in the series, I felt that this one was a carbon copy of other NA books I’ve read previously, especially the likes of Jay Crownover’s the Marked Men series. What I found difficult was the written style and also the dialect of most characters, phrases that was used to the extreme and spoiled the flow of the novel. This book alone will not stop me from continuing to read her books as she has already proved that in other genres of her writing. Stay With Me, has it’s great moments, but also balanced itself with some equally annoying moments.
Rating – 3
EXCITING NEWS – If you haven’t seen or heard (I’ve been raving about it on Twitter!) about the new bookclub I’m starting then head over to the previous post for more information. Sign-Ups are still open.
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I'm sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy this book more. I actually gave up on this series after the first book – for some reason JLA books just don't work out for me.
Great review, Emma!
Oh that's a shame. Have you tried any of her other genres, paranormal or thriller. Those I really enjoyed it! Thanks Glass!
It sucks you didn't enjoy it, especially since you're a big fan of the author. I hate unnecessary withholding of secrets, too. Drives me nuts!
Me too! I just thought that really irritating. Why would you hide such a thing… I didn't get it at all!
I'm sorry to hear you didn't like this one as much! Hopefully the next book in the series will be better for you!
Me too. Hopefully I will enjoy the next installment! Thanks Pili!
Oh it's sad when a series you love disappoint you… mainly after so many books. I don't think I know about the series but the cover is amazing! I'm sorry it wasn't as good. I hope the next one will be better.
I know, I hate it myself. I think it's the lowest rating I've given for a JLA book!
I'm sad you didn't enjoy this as much as you wanted to but honestly I can see why. I gave it four stars but just because I liked Calla's character and I understood her choice of not telling her friends the truth, though I found her lies a bit too huge. To me Jax was the real problem, as you mentioned he overused honey, babe etc. and I don't understand why he didn't tell Calla that thing about Mona's. Plus I think the scene close to the end when he told everything to Calla but would refuse to do it privately was way too dramatic. And I don't think Jax talking about his 'undying love' was the others' business at all. I found the crime scenes a bit too harsh to this story, to me they just didn't fit with romance.
After this I really don't know why I gave it 4 stars.
Great review! 🙂
I agree with all of that, I found that it was too dramatic and some scenes or reasons for secrets was totally unnecessary! I can understand when you regret the your rating of the book. I've done the same multiple times. Thanks Veronika!
I'm sorry that you weren't able to enjoy this book as much as you'd hoped Emma, it did sound like the book had a lot of potential from reading the blurb. I tend to get annoyed with the overuse of terms of endearment too, but I'm glad Jax made up for this in other ways. I still really want to read a book by J Lynn, but I don't think this will be the first one I go for. Thanks for the honest review! 🙂
These terms of endearment drove me up the wall! It just made it seem so false even within the relationship. It just didn't work at all! No definitely go for her paranormal or Wait For You, the first in this series. Thanks Jasprit!
I've been meaning to read something by her and Crownover, but haven't got around to it. Good thing is I won't be starting with this book when I finally do, so I'll have a better experience.
No, out of either JLA or Crownover I would totally recommend a Crownover book, the Marked Men series are my favourites and are AMAZING!
It's too bad this one didn't really shake things up a bit and was pretty much the same type of story as the rest of the series. I love a good NA read, but I typically have to take lengthy breaks in between books just because the stories are often so similar, and it helps to have a bit of time in between I've found:) Glad it was a solid enough read for you though Emma!
I've had the same problem with NA until Ann Aguirre! She is AMAZING and so is Mila Gray as well. They really kept a refreshing take to NA, I think! I'd say it was my least favourite of the series, but not the worst I've read either though!
Sorry this installment was a bit of a disappointment for you, Emma. I can understand why you'd feel that way when the main character, Calla, was an annoyance. Withholding info or outright lying frustrates me, too. Hopefully the next installment will be better! Wonderful review! 🙂
Thanks Rachel! Calla was a bit annoying, I have to say and so was Jax too even though he did have some redeeming qualities. It got a little tedious at times I think! Me too! Thank you! 🙂
Aw it's such a shame that this one disappointed you–especially a shame because JLA is such a promising author! Hopefully the next instalment gives you something better, and this one was just a one off.
Lovely review, girl <33
She is and I've loved all of her other books, especially Don't Look Back and Obsidian! Me too! Thank you, Melanie! <3
It's a shame you didn't like this one as much, Emma! I know how it feels to be disappointed by something you've looked forward to the most from an author that has never let you down >.< In any case, I don't think this one is for me, anyway. Contemporary is just isn't my thing, but I do have to wonder… when you meant Jax's complexities, did you mean he has PTSD because of the war? That's something I may be interested in reading if that's the case ^_^
Faye at The Social Potato
I guess, you could say he has a form of PTSD as well as scars representing his time in the war. If you are interested in that sort of thing then I recommend Come Back to Me by Mila Gray, that I find would suit to the PTSD element!
I haven't heard really good things about this book tbh and it makes me sad that you're yet another person who didn't love it :/ Ugh! I hate characters that withhold information and lie to their friends all the time so I'm so scared that I'll end up hating it. I'm glad you somewhat connected to her at the end though. LOL! I'm definitely not fond of too much endearments. Tsk tsk Jax. I'm sorry you didn't love this one, Emma!
I have to say me neither. But still I had to give it a go! Me too, I just think why? would she even do that! It's ridiculous, I sort of lost interest at some point in the book. :/ I'm glad I could connect a little so it wasn't totally a disappoint, but one all the same to such an author like JLA! Thanks Sirri! 🙂