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Stay with Me: A Novel
Stay with Me: A Novel
Stay with Me: A Novel
Audiobook14 hours

Stay with Me: A Novel

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

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.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateSep 23, 2014
ISBN9780062333568
Stay with Me: A Novel
Author

J. Lynn

#1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J. Lynn lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell terrier, Loki.

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Reviews for Stay with Me

Rating: 4.271739130434782 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

92 ratings34 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Love this book!! Such a great story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sandra Rodriguez Barron deftly weaves a tale of five abandoned children in "Stay With Me". The author's gifted story telling and colorful characters keeps this story from feeling contrived. The result is a beautiful, original chronicle of individuals searching for permanence in a transient world.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Have you ever closed a book and just smiled because you were really happy that you read it? That is what this book was like for me. I thought it was a great coming of age story with a character that was very likeable. I though Lelia was great, she was a very caring young women who wanted to please others, but also looked out for herself. She worked hard at everything she did and was one of those YA characters that I could see myself being friend with.I loved her relationship with Eamon. Yes, he was significantly older, but he waited until she was 17, insisted that he met her guardians, and made sure that he took things slowly so she knew he was not just after one thing. While her ex-boyfriend thought Lelia was stupid, she really was very mature for her age. I saw a lot of reviews saying the relationship was “icky” or “pedophile”. For one, she is 17. That is the age of consent and pedophilia is being attracted to undeveloped bodies, not 17 year olds. And it was not portrayed as being “icky” at all. He really cared about her and the author portrayed it that way.It was by no means a perfect book, after the 15th mention of her dyslexia I wanted to yell out that I got it already and while the writing was mostly very good, there were awkwardly worded passages that could have been better.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Stay With Me is the story of five children found in boat tied to a dock in Puerto Rico after a 1979 hurricane. We meet the children as now grown-ups in present day. The picture of their current lives and the story of how they came to be in that boat unfolds slowly and carefully telling a touching tale of how understanding our roots affects the course of our lives. When the five siblings gather all together for the first time they are brought together because one of the brothers, David, is diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. This gathering starts them down the path to finding out their true roots and changes each of them.I highly recommend this book. It is a loving story that you just can't put down.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If the blurb for this book had been different, I might have enjoyed it more. Instead, it made me expect something the book was not particularly interested in delivering. "Thirty years ago, five toddlers were found alone in a luxury boat...after a devastating hurricane. No one knew who they were or where they came from." One of them gets cancer which triggers flashbacks of before they were found and he wants to figure out where they came from, so he gets them all together at his ex-girlfriend's house to figure it out. Now, from that information, I expected for the book to be a description of their investigation, with clues revealed along the way that prompt some kind of emotional catharsis. Instead, the narrative mainly focuses on David's diagnosis with cancer, his lame attempts to get his ex-girlfriend back, and everyone's messed-up intimacy issues. No real revelations come until the last 80 pages of the 369-page book; however, and it is only then that the book starts to get interesting. It isn't nearly compelling enough to make up for the time I spent slogging through the first three quarters, but I did read that last part in one sitting, and way, way past my bedtime as well. If you are a fan of emotional drama and family interactions, you might enjoy the whole thing, but if you are more interested in the mystery of the abandoned children, read the prologue and then skip to Part III.One other note: The book is written in the first person when told from David's perspective, but third person omniscient when focusing on anyone else. From a few of the errors in this ARC, I think the author had originally written the entire thing first person, but alternated narrators. The switching back and forth was probably too jarring, and it was a good call to switch to third, but I could also have done without David's inner musings as well. It doesn't make him any more of a sympathetic character and it's still pretty jarring.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I have never seen an advance copy of a book so rife with typos. I understand that it's an "uncorrected proof" but this book looked like it had never even been in the same room as an editor. I tried not to let that get in the way of the story however, as I assume that the typos, at the very least, will be corrected before the book is actually published. If not, perhaps Harper would like to hire me as a proofreader.Even trying to overlook the glaring mistakes in the text, I had a hard time with this book. I did find myself pulled into the story at some points, but overall I found this book to be trite (especially some of the dialogue) and poorly thought-out. The characters are flat and behave inconsistently and unrealistically. Add to that an ending that was far too neat, and this book was very disappointing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this book would definitely recommend it. I loved the whole mystery behind 5 toddlers being found on an abandoned boat(of course those children will grow up with issues, who wouldn't). They all stick together and form a family. In the end they all got what they always wanted. I loved that you got to see what their life was like before being found on the boat and the reasons behind it.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    What starts from an interesting premise, five Dominican toddlers abandoned in the 1970's on a luxury boat in Puerto Rico after a hurricane get together 30 years later when one of them is terminally ill, gets bogged down in repetitious and obvious examples of the children (now adults) problems maintaining intimate relationships. Throw in a little guilt (over unrelated events) by the nun and other woman who facilitated the children's exit from the Dominican Republic and a few ancestral spirits. Basically this is a story of love and duty and family, but it feels like it will never end.Thanks to LTER program for an opportunity to read and review this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    David, Adrain, Raymond, Taina and Holly. Five adults who have maintained a very close, familial relationship since 1979. It was then that in the aftermath of a hurricane, five children were found alone on a small boat. Each of the children, all of them under fiver years old, had a starfish drawn on their small hand. They were found after a telephone tip, and local bureaucracy took over. All five of the children found adoptive families and a variety f ways of life. They did, however keep in touch, and considered themselves siblings. When David was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, they came together to support him. They learned that it was a wish of David's that they find out where they came from and if they were related in fact, not just in their hearts. He requested that they all take DNA tests to determine blood relationship, and to try to track down first the woman who called the tip of their arrival in to the police, and then who their birth parents really were. They were not all in agreement with this course of action. Most wanted to leave things as they were. But, knowing that David was unlikely to survive long, made their decision a complicated one. The journey of these five loving and devoted people is as compelling a story as any I have encountered. Fiction, yes.. but the characters are so rich and their lives so interesting and realistic, it is easy to believe that they are real. That their story a true one. Not only do I recommend this book, but I urge you to give yourself the gift of this story. I cannot imagine that anyone will regret the time spent with this wonderful group of individuals.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    After a devastating hurricne, five toddlers, three boys and two girls, are found in an abandoned boat in Puerto Rico. The children have no identifying information, and they can't talk yet. There is quite a bit of media attention, but no one comes forward to claim the young children, and they are eventually adopted by families in the United States. Their adoptive families do keep in touch, and the majority of the book deals with the orphaned toddlers' lives as adults. There are many good stories in this book. Too many. The book lacked focus. Also, I never warmed up to any of the characters; no real depth or development of them. I did enjoy the ending, finding out what led up to them being abandoned in that boat, and the death of one of the characters was beautifully written.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Thirty years ago, five toddlers were found alone in a luxury boat tied up to a dock in Puerto Rico after a devastating hurricane. o one knew who they were or where they came from. Now adults, raised by different families but connected by a special bond, David, Taina, Holly, Adrian, and Raymond have always considered themselves siblings, even if their blood relations were unknown.I liked this story - I thought it was interesting and unique. I liked that it was told from different perspectives and in different periods of time. In a couple places, I felt like the style changed a little too abruptly - like there were two different authors writing the book. But I liked the characters - for the most part - and I liked getting to know them.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    10/2012 I wanted to revisit this one after my uncle's suicide, and I'm glad I did. There's more depth for me here now, though I didn't get any more answers than Leila did.

    5/2006 Clear, quiet and entrancing coming-of-age story. Leila is as real a character as you could wish for, and she inhabits her odd, semi-detached family with a certain prickly ease. We learn here about the ripples cast by Leila's older half-sister's suicide, and what a family can do after a tragedy like this. Just lovely. Beautiful writing, fully realized characters, and instantly recognizable situations.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Love these two!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In "Stay With Me" Barron created a story that had everything. It has wonderfully written characters. Throughout the book, I felt myself growing closer to the "siblings" just because they were so well developed. The book made me laugh out loud a few times, as well as making me cry a few times as well. I has a little bit of trouble getting through the very beginning, but after those first few pages, I found it very difficult to put the book down. I highly recommend it to anyone.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I am utterly, madly and completely in love with Jacks.
    A man that you can trust, rely on for anything and everything. (That's my imagination)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    After a hurricane in 1979, five young children were found abandoned on a luxury boat tied up to a dock in Puerto Rico. They were adopted by separate families, but stayed connected and considered each other siblings, All were affected by their abandonment in their own ways. One of the five, David, was diagnosed with brain cancer and brought the five together for a stay in a summer home on a island off the coast of Connecticut. David wanted to start exploring what had happened to them thirty years before, even though he had strong opposition from some of the others. I enjoyed seeing the strong bond and love the five siblings had.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoy this type of novel--getting to know an entire 'family' and the dynamics of their relationships. The background story is fairly unique--5 orphans abandoned, their parentage remaining unknown, but maintaining their close-knit 'family' regardless of shared genes. Each of the 5 children have their own issues to deal with, on top of the realization that 1 of them is dying. They battle with the dilemma of whether they should investigate their past or be happy with their naturally-formed family bond. They have lived 30+ years not knowing if there was any blood relation between them, will a DNA test change any of that? I truly enjoyed the read and getting to know the characters, leaving me wanting to continue following the family and see how they do in the future.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    The authors male characters give me the ick. But especially in this book. Didn’t finish it because he was so manipulative and did not respect her boundaries. Like why are you writing them to push the envelope when the girl is obviously uncomfortable? So toxic and borderline rapey.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Overall, this story of 5 children found abandoned and their life-long connection to each other, was very interesting and captivating. Their unanswered questions of their beginnings affected each to different degrees. As the reader, I think there were still some parts of their past that were not covered fully or in depth. But I guess that's what a good book should do...leave you wanting more.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The story is very simple -- a sixteen-year-old girl lives through the year after her older sister commits suicide -- but the narrative is strikingly complex and richly ornamented. I recommend this book highly.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book. It stuck with me even after I put it down and I could not wait to pick it up again. The story of the five abandoned toddlers really resonated with me because I myself have a 2 year old and I could not imagine abandoning her. So while reading the book I kept coming back to what had happened to them when they were toddlers.The book follows the 5 toddlers, now adults, after one of them, David, finds out he has terminal brain cancer. The diagnosis drives him to want to find out exactly what happened years ago and why his siblings and himself were abandoned on a boat in Puerto Rico.This book was a hypnotizing read. I was so caught up in wandering what was going to happen next. It was fast paced but not so much that I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. There was just enough mystery to keep me intrigued while still allowing other parts of the story to be told. Everything flowed together perfectly and I was never left confused or needing to reread a few pages to understand something. This book seems like the perfect beach read and I recommend it anyone who needs a book that balances intrigue and mystery perfectly with romance and drama.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The book Stay With Me is a wonderful story about love and loss and how one can lead straight to the other. Leila Abranel feels that she has been left behind when her much older sister, Rebecca, decides to take her own life. Rebecca was 20 years older than Leila and they had just truly begun to get to know one another. Leila was beginning to feel like she could talk to Rebecca about things that she couldn't talk to her parents about and then she overdosed on pills and ended any chance of a relationship Leila thought they might be able to have.In the midst of the mourning and grief, Leila's parents decide that it might be best if they went ahead as planned and moved to Poland for a year, only with a slight change. Since Leila is only 16 she was going to be staying with Rebecca while they were gone but now they must ask her other sister, Clare, if she could take care of her while they are gone. Leila never really felt like she fit in with her other sisters but she felt like she fit more with Rebecca because Clare was more the smart, workaholic type. Leila is dyslexic and so has always had trouble fitting in and feeling like she belongs but once she moves in with Clare, they start to learn new things about the other and form a close, sisterly bond.Raphael also helps take care of Leila while her parents are in Poland. His mother was married to their uncle before she met his father and so he is their semi-cousin. Raphael and Clare once had a relationship but it didn't work for reasons that weren't really mentioned. Shortly after Leila moves in with Clare, Clare breaks up with her boyfriend and then once again starts a relationship with Raphael, forming a type of family for Leila to rely on.While, Leila has tried to move on from her sister's death, she still feels like she is missing something and decides that she should try and find the reason Rebecca killed herself. In her quest for answers she gets a job at Cafe Acca, the last place she saw Rebecca. In a way Rebecca led Leila right to Eamon. Eamon is a 31 year old writer for TV shows and he immediately takes an interest in Leila, not knowing that she is only 16. Throughout the book Leila and Eamon go through many different phases and finally settle on dating even if other people think it is wrong of them. In the end, Leila realizes that maybe Rebecca didn't really have a reason for killing herself, maybe she just gave up. She knows that what Rebecca did was selfish and inexcusable. Rebecca was only thinking of herself, not the people she would be leaving behind. Leila finally learns that she doesn't really need to know everything about her sister but that in her own way Rebecca led Leila right to her love, if not her great love then her great love for now. Stay With Me is a story about coping with the sudden death of someone you love and how maybe you don't get over that, maybe you just find new ways to shape your life around it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Five children, under the age of four, are seemingly abandoned in a boat in Puerto Rico after a hurricane. After being found, though unidentified, each child is placed in a foster home and eventually adopted into separate homes. Thirty years later they reunite on a special vacation and explore issues of love, family, memories and personal histories.Are they related or not? Should they find out? Does it matter? The five already have a bond of family among themselves despite their having lived separate and very different lives growing up. They suspect they have different parentage, but have no real documented way of finding out. Will the knowledge they may not be related be an excuse for them to drift apart as they try to sort out their adult lives? Or will their unique past be stronger than the ties of blood?This is a beautifully written book with well developed characters. I found Barron’s style engaging – always pulling me forward. There is a variety of unlikely personalities interwoven in meaningful ways to form a complex story from beginning to end. The ending is complete, and despite some sadness, entirely satisfactory. “Memory, after all, is a place both the living and the dead can inhabit. Days overlap, laughter commingles, a bottle of scotch is passed around for a century. Memory is a trick whereby a sip of tea can be tasted by seven generations of women sitting in the same chair and drinking from the same cup at the same moment. And when each person’s light is released, it is witnessed, registered, learned from, honored.” Recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the aftermath of a hurricane, a luxury boat docks at an unused, unfinished marina in Puerto Rico. A blond woman and three Latino men slip off the boat unnoticed. When the boat is discovered by authorities, there are five babies and toddlers on board. The abandoned children are wearing beautiful clothing and look well cared for. An investigation is launched into the children's origins but no one ever comes forward to claim them. Each of them is eventually adopted into their own family but they retain a sense of family with each other, the Starfish Children, so named because of the faint green drawing of a starfish on each tiny hand. Despite the fact that they have no knowledge of their biological family and that they grew up in different families far apart, David, Taina, Holly, Adrian, and Raymond consider themselves siblings. So when David, now in his early thirties, is diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive type of brain cancer, the group cannot say no to his desire that they all reunite at his ex-girlfriend Julia's family cottage on one of the Thimble Islands off the coast of Connecticut.What none of the others know is that David's tumor has started causing him to have flashbacks to the time before the hurricane and he wants them to dig into their past and finally know the truth about their origins. David wants to give each of them a solid history like the one that Julia, his ex-girlfriend and the woman he is determined to marry, has. Each of the Starfish Children has emotional baggage as a result of their unknown past and as David faces his own mortality, he needs to help everyone confront the demons. Taina is married to a stockbroker turned detective but her fear of intimacy is driving them towards a divorce regardless of how much her husband wants to save their marriage. Holly is married with three young boys but she can't stop the ache she feels at her lack of a daughter, especially one who looks like her rather than like her husband and red-headed sons. Adrian is a rising singing star who bounces from woman to woman, making certain that no one gets too close or too needy. Raymond is a cook who battles alcoholism and a rather lonely existence. David is a naturalist who loves the out of doors but who lost Julia after a six-year live-in relationship because he was unable to take the next step into marriage.As David fights against his cancer, he pulls his struggling siblings to his heart, counting on the fact that despite their issues with others, they have such a deep connection to each other that they will reunite for a week of enforced family togetherness in the magic that is Julia's family home. And he is partially right. As the distant and historical past swirls around them in the Griswold home, more than just a curiousity about their shared past comes to the fore and there are manifestations of the dysfunctions that populate all families.The narration is shared between characters and an omniscient narrator who focuses in turn on the different siblings in the course not only of the week in Connecticut but also through David's battle with cancer and on their home lives. This truly fills the novel with an ensemble cast. David and Julia, as the two characters most fully invested in David's care, are the most completely developed and central to the plot but each of the characters is individual, well-rounded, and real. The mystery of the origins of the siblings is interesting but not the only thing that drives the plot and keeps the reader turning the pages. Wanting to know if the siblings can maintain their family relationship in the face of the truth's potential and the devastation of David's prognosis is even more engaging. The last couple of chapters are simply beautifully written. Relationships, the family we make, the importance of history, and the power of love are all important themes here. This was a lovely read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Leila is an only child of a second marriage. Her capable mother and distant father love her, but struggle to include her in their lives. She was close to her father's first wife Julia, and to her oldest half sister, Rebecca. But Julia's death from cancer, the 9/11 attacks on NYC, and most notably, Rebecca's sudden suicide, throw Leila's father into a tailspin. He throws himself into his work, leaving Lelia with her sister Claire while he and Leia's mother set up a teaching hospital in Warsaw. While living with Claire, Leila meets Eamon, a 31 year old screenwriter. Despite being attracted to Lelia, he refrains from pursuing a relationship with her, because he "doesn't date teenagers." However, as the book progresses, he and Leila grow closer, eventually begining a romantic and sexual relationship.I honestly don't know how I feel about this book. Freymann-Weyr writes beautifully, her books have a lyric quality that I find beautiful and moving. However, I don't know anyone who acts like this. Her characters seem to move in a world of effortless money and privilege that is completely foreign. This isn't bad, necessarily, but it is distracting, and creates distance between the reader and the characters. The whole book seems skewed towards painting Eamon's and Leila's relationship as normal; but as a parent, I can't help but be skeeved out at the idea of a 17 year old, especially one as sheltered and naive as Lelia, embarking on a relationship with a 31 year old. Beautiful, but not recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    4.5 StarsThis was not my favorite so far, but I still loved it. I just never really bought into the relationship between Calla and Jax like I did with previous characters. Jax was still a great guy though. If you love a romance with good guys, this series is so far for you. I did like the positive male roles in this story including the Uncle. It is rare to see males in a postive light sometimes in book series, so this was a nice add in.The previous characters were also thrown in, but I almost wish they were not. Hear me out! I love them, but I feel they were just there to be there. So many serious things were happening, and they were just chilling at the bar or a hotel room. There is no way they would have been that calm around these events unfolding. I did like seeing and hearing about them, but I wish it was done in a different way.The whole story you are set up to really be mad at Calla's Mom. However; the part at the end with her Mom was heartbreaking. This does have triggers for drugs, drug abuse, and violence.It may sound like I did not like this based on the review, but I really did. I just wanted to show why it was a little less than a 5 star for me. Overall, still loving the series!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I waited for the release of this book for a long time and it pains me to say that it wasn't

    worth the wait.... I have loved every other book in the series, but this one fell short.


    Calla has lived a hard life. Her appearance is flawed and her mental state is as well. She hides her past from everyone at school, but when things become tough she is forced to return home to a whirlwind of danger, confusion, and love.



    When she goes to her mom's bar and runs face to face with Jax her heart is all kinds of conflicted. She instantly puts her guard up and tries to piece together how this hot, young guy has taken over. As the days pass Jax forces his way into Calla's business. He protects her and eventually she falls for him. Together they face scary situations and work towards building an intimate relationship.



    Overall the storyline was intriguing, but I couldn't connect to the characters... Every time I started to feel for Calla she did something to make me think again. She made poor decisions and some of the scenes were just not believable.



    I wish I could have enjoyed this one, but it just wasn't for me. I highly recommend the others though....

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jax...wow. He's Jase and Cam combined. It was really good. A little predictable but I liked it a lot.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did. I enjoyed Wait For You, the first book in this series, but didn't love it, and for some reason decided to skip Be With Me, the second book in this series. But something about the Stay With Me synopsis appealed to me and I wanted to give it a chance. And I'm so glad I did. I loved it. So Stay With Me can definitely be read as a standalone. While the other two couples make some appearances, having read their stories prior is not a necessity, though you may want to check out their stories later. But if you have read them before, you'll love their appearances.As for Stay With Me, we are introduced into Calla's world, the life and the upbringing she hasn't shared even with her closest friends. But circumstances beyond her control (aka, her mom stealing from her) force her home to deal with not only her mom's situation, but also the life she left behind years ago. And once she's home she meets the sexy bartender at her mom's bar, Jax. When the severity of her situation comes to light, Jax thrusts himself into Calla's life, whether she likes it or not. And the suspense and craziness of Calla's new situation weaves an exciting path that had me glued until the end.I found the combination and blending between Calla's situation with her mom and the budding relationship between Jax and Calla really well done. Honestly, when I saw the page count of this book, I was concerned that it would drag and be filled with unneeded moments, but it wasn't. And trust me, I looked. But it was all great and all necessary and I have no complaints. Taking this ride with Calla and Jax felt non-stop. I was never bored and felt the action and suspense was completely engaging all the way until the very end.Then there's the relationship between Calla and Jax. I liked the way their story progressed. I didn't love something Jax told Calla initially, but that was my only complaint. Because Jax is a great guy. Like really, really great! The thoughtfulness, the gentleness, the protectiveness, and the tenderness he shows Calla are beautiful and endearing. Even when he screws up, I love how he learns from that situation and becomes a better man. And I loved Calla. While I may not be able to relate to her very difficult background, I could still relate with her insecurities and lack of experience at her age. But I loved her personality and her drive and the way she also learned from her mistakes. Then put Calla and Jax together, and they make not only a great problem-solving team, but also a beautiful, tender, sweet and sexy couple. The way their story comes together is fantastic and I loved it to the very end.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Nursing student Calla Fritz has kept her tragic past a secret, but new circumstances force her to return to her home town to recover stolen money. There, she reluctantly comes under the spell of Jax, the former soldier who is running the bar owned by Calla's mother. If Calla ever hopes to recover her stolen money, she must confront the seedy underside of her upbringing. Meanwhile she has the chance to find love if only she is willing to face the scars that have defined her life.Having enjoyed one of Armentrout's paranormal romances, I was looking forward to this New Adult story, which is the fourth installment in her "Wait For Me" series. Though I hadn't read the prior books in the series, this didn't pose a problem. This particular book seems to be loosely enough tied to the others that it stand alone. I was very disappointed at this effort in almost every way. Though the premise is promising, the writing is terrible: annoyingly repetitive and distracting. It was a real slog to get through this book, especially knowing I had so many other quality romance novels waiting on my nightstand. Calla is an irritating protagonist, at age 21 unrealistically juvenile and sniveling. Jax's attraction to her - especially given how "perfect" he is - is kind of ridiculous. He could do much better with a whole lot less baggage. I didn't feel anything for either Calla or Jax. And even Armentrout's romantic scenes - the only halfway decent things about this book - got boring and repetitive.Maybe this a case of an author cashing in on her popularity. If so, I'll pass. Sadly, though I know Armentrout is capable of far better than this fare, this book was so bad I will likely avoid buying any more of her books.