REVIEW: BE WITH ME by J. LYNN

Series: Wait For You #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 2/4/14
Format: Paperback
Pages: 387
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5 stars


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Teresa Hamilton is having a rough year—she’s in love with her big brother’s best friend, but he hasn’t spoken to her since they shared a truly amazing, mind-blowing, change-your-life kiss. She got out of a terrible relationship. And now an injury is threatening to end her dance career for good. It’s time for Plan B – college. And maybe a chance to convince Jase that what they have together is real.

Jase Winstead has a huge secret that he’s not telling anyone. Especially not his best friend’s incredibly beautiful sister. Even though he and Teresa shared the hottest kiss of his life, he knows that his responsibilities must take priority. He certainly doesn’t have time for a relationship. But it doesn’t help that all he can think about kissing the one girl who could ruin everything for him.

As they’re thrown together more and more, Jase and Tess can’t keep denying their feelings for each other. But a familiar danger looms and tragedy strikes. As the campus recovers, the star-crossed couple must decide what they’re willing to risk to be together, and what they’re willing to lose if they’re not…

So many readers have reviewed Be With Me, and have done it well. At a certain point, similar thoughts on a book start to feel redundant. So instead of my usual review, I'm listing the reasons I adored Be With Me. Here we go!

Jase is a hottie! No surprise there, but I was honestly amused at Teresa's constant ogling.

Parched as I was, I took a sip of the sweet tea as I stared through the windshield, absolutely enthralled by all the baby-making potential on display before me. Not that I was in the way of making babies,but I could totally get behind some practice runs. Cam made a face. "Dude, that's his drink."


Teresa was abused by her former, long-time boyfriend. With a lot of introspection and time, she has worked to overcome her guilt and shame. She doesn't dwell or even consider herself a victim, but there will always be lingering effects.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the feelings of helplessness returned like an old, needy friend you couldn't get rid of. I wasn't that girl anymore. I wasn't a victim.

Cupcakes! We all remember Cam and his cookies, right? Well, Jase loves gourmet cupcakes, and shares the love with Teresa. 

 

  Smiling, I popped open the box and took a bite. I looked forward to the whole cupcake thing.   
  There was something simply exciting about not knowing what I was about to taste.
  One bite and I moaned. "Oh my God, is that Reese's Pieces in this thing?"
  He nodded. "Yep. That's good shit right there, huh?"

  "I want to marry it."

Be With Me has several important themes. One of my favorites was that of taking a chance and embracing what life brings you.
            

  "Things come along you don't expect all the time, Tess. Trust me. Things that change everything about your life--about what you thought you wanted, who you thought you were. Things that make you reevaluate everything and even if it doesn't sound like a good thing in the beginning?" He shrugged as he settle his gaze on Thunder. "Sometimes they turn out better than you could've ever imagined."

 

BIG SECRET. Be With Me has one! I had a teeny, tiny suspicion about that. I WAS RIGHT. I was also very pleasantly blown away.

 

 

Teresa's potty mouth. As a rather proficient swearer, I'm always impressed when a heroine can out-swear me. Seriously. Teresa's got it goin' on in that department.

 

 

J. Lynn doesn't drag our hearts along for the entire book! I assumed the entire story would be Jase playing hot-and-cold, pulling Teresa closer, then pushing her away while professing she's too good for him for nearly four hundred pages. That didn't happen! *fist pump*

 

   Jase rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. His warm breath danced over my lips. "I want to take you out on a date. I want to take you horseback riding. I want to tell your brother. I want to take you home to my parents and introduce you as my girlfriend. I want to prove this means more to me. I want to do this the right way."

After an injury sidelines Teresa's dreams of dancing, Jase shows her a new way to feel the freedom she misses. He's not only gorgeous and armed with cupcakes, Jase is sensitive, too!

           
   Tipping my head back against his chest, I closed my eyes and smiled as the wind glided over my cheeks.
   My grip loosened once more, and under my legs, Lightning's powerful muscles bunched as he picked up speed. A trickle of fear inked down my spine as we went faster, but another emotion rose, overshadowing the tendrils of panic. Muscles in my core tensed. Not of anxiety but in anticipation, like those precious moments I'd lost, the ones that came seconds after I stepped onstage.
  "I can feel it," I whispered.

Cam's reaction to his best friend and his little sister is PRICELESS, y'all.

  Jase's arm flexed around my waist, tugging me closer. He turned his head, nuzzling my neck.
  He yawned, a deep rousing sound that echoed through the room. "What's wrong, baby?"
  I was speechless.
  Every line in my brother's body tensed in a way that spelled big, mothertrucker kind of trouble.
  "Baby?"
  Jase stilled, but he didn't remove his arm as he pulled his face out of my neck. He looked toward the foot of the bed and exhaled slowly.
  There was a beat of silence and then Cam said, "What the fuck?"

Raphael and Michelangelo! The two most awesome turtles in NA are back. Well, not really back, but they are mentioned and it was so cute.
           
  "You have to babysit Michelangelo and Raphael this weekend."
  "The turtles?"
  She grinned as she nodded. "We're getting this one large habitat, so, you know, they can...I don't know, head bob at each other and Cam wanted to go to this movie, but I'm afraid they're going to kill each other."
  "So you want me to be like a turtle bouncer? Break them up if one of them gets out of hand?"
  Avery giggled. "Exactly."
 

 

The way Jase makes Teresa feel about herself is endearing and what every woman deserves.

 

Jase took a step back, his hands following to his sides. He opened and closed his fists. "Do you know how beautiful you are? How it affects me?" A pleasant haze invaded my system as my body and heart responded to his words. He slowly shook his head. "I don't think you really understand, because if you did, I don't think you could just stand there. God, Tess, there isn't a part of you that's not perfect in my eyes."

 

 

So many readers, myself included, crave New Adult books with substance. Be With Me, and the entire Wait For You series delivers on that substance. You get the prerequisite hot guy, the angst and the sexiness, but you also get remarkably strong heroines who may want the guy, but you know they will be okay without him too. There are strong themes that are relevant to the readers the books target and beyond. I love this series and recommend it with absolutely no reservations.

The Wait for You Series

    

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About the author

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. 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, Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

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