Review: Stay With Me (Wait For You #3) by J. Lynn

Title: Stay With Me
Author: J. Lynn
My rating: ❤❤❤❤
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release date: September 23, 2014
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Summary: 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. (summary from Goodreads)

My thoughts: I don’t usually read NA, because it feels a little too mature for me, but I’ve loved every book so far by J. Lynn, which is rare, so I decided to give the series a try. I didn’t regret it for a second! I had to skip some parts (some very sexy parts, may I add), but apart from that, I’ve loved every second of it, and I can’t wait to read Fall With Me.

   So, let’s start with Calla, the main protagonist. She lived in the small town when she was young, but then she moved and went to college. Her mother’s never really been a mother to her, and she drinks and takes drugs, and that kind of things, so Calla hasn’t exactly had an easy life.

   I loved Calla. She’s strong, independent, and, unlike some very annoying protagonists, she doesn’t try to justify her anger. She realizes she has a right to be angry, and she’s not afraid of speaking up about it. She’s the epitome of a good protagonist. If you look up ‘good protagonist’, you’ll see Calla as an example, right along with protagonists like Katniss Everdeen and Tris Prior.

   Then we have Jackson James, aka Jax. He’s a former military, and he’s very protective and safe, which is probably why I loved him so much. I swear, I must’ve fallen for him in record time. He’s always flirting with Calla, a good kisser, and an unofficial member of the Hot Guy Brigade. He hates mornings.

   But my favorite character must’ve been …

   Roxy!

   I love her shirts, and the fact that she, like Calla, also thinks it’s okay for a girl to be angry and doesn’t try to justify it. An example is this situation:

‘"And he's way nice to us females. He was simply raised right."  

"He was," I whispered.

"But you also have a right to be pissed with everything.”  

"I do? Right?"  

She nodded.  

Thank God, I wasn't completely crazy and a giant screwup.’

 

  I’ll save all the details about Roxy and why I love her for my review on Fall With Me.

   As standard with J. Lynn books, this book is very well-written, which makes it very easy to read, and although the book is 400 pages long, it’s a pretty quick read (or maybe it’s just me, because I couldn’t put it away). I feel like J. Lynn is spoiling me with good books!

   The plot is good, and it moves forward pretty quickly, something’s always happening, which makes it impossible to put it away! This, too, is standard in J. Lynn’s books.

And we get to see Avery, Cam, Tessa and Jase!

   But what I loved most about Stay With Me was that even though Calla and Jax has been through a lot of terrible things, they’re not broken. Sure, they were definitely affected by it, and sure, it did change them, but it didn’t break them. They’re not broken. None of the characters from Wait For You series are, and that’s what I love the most about this series.

   Stay With Me might be my favorite so far in the Wait For You series, and fans of J. Lynn will love it!