Stay With Me by J. Lynn

Stay With Me by J. Lynn
Series: Wait for You #3
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: September 25th 2014
Source: Bought

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.

When I heard that Stay With Me was going to be about Calla I was super excited! I was also really excited that we were going to be introduced to a new guy that we hadn't met before! 

Calla is 21 and she's hasn't done much. Her childhood was tough and left her physically and emotionally scarred. She lies to all of her friends about her family because she can't bare having anyone know the truth. But when Calla realises that her mother has stolen her college money and ran a massive debt up in her name, Calla finally decides that it's time to return home and confront her mother. But when Calla arrives at her mothers bar, she's no where to be found. In her place is Jackson James - the hottest guy Calla has ever seen (and that's saying something). Calla and Jax's chemistry is instantaneous and he practically undresses Calla with his eyes. But Calla can't focus on Jax when there are some dangerous guys after her mother. And they've made it pretty clear that Calla will be their target if she doesn't find her mother.

Stay With Me is probably the most intense book of the series so far. The storyline surrounding Calla, her mother and her past was extremely intense and incredibly heartbreaking. I adored Calla when I met her in Be With Me, and I loved her even more in Stay With Me. Even though she could be pretty naive and stupid sometimes, she was also really awesome, strong, determined and bad ass. I loved getting to know more about Calla throughout the book and finding out why she threw up walls between her and her friends.

Jax was incredibly hot. He's definitely my second favourite guy of the series (Cam will always be my favourite). He's intense, sexy, protective, caring, sweet and so freaking hilarious. Jax had my heart as soon as I first met him. I did have my doubts about Jax and there were times I wanted to slap him (and I'm surprised Calla didn't) because he was being stupid and insensitive, but mostly he was adorable. 

Something awful happened to Calla and her family when she was young and it left her physically scarred. Calla's mother turned to drink and drugs and Calla witnessed things no child should ever see. Calla had to build up a defense to stop herself getting upset everytime someone commented on her scars because she feels like she isn't beautiful anymore due to her mother. And now that her mother has screwed her over, Calla is left to deal with her mess again and her life is in danger. An extremely dangerous drug dealer is after Calla's mother and his associates make is very clear that they'll come after Calla if she doesn't find her mother. Jax agrees to help Calla find her mother and they both end up in some very dangerous situations that nearly cost them their lives.

The ending was a tear-jerker and Jennifer L Armentrout always feels the need to kick me in the feels extremely hard. But this was the hardest kick. But the ending was my favourite part of the whole book.

While Stay With Me wasn't my favourite of the series - because honestly nothing will live up to Wait For You because Cam and Avery are on a completely different level - it was another fantastic addition to the Wait For You series. I'm super excited for Fall With Me and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll either be Britt & Ollie or Roxy (because she's awesome and there's definitely something to explore with her).