Be With Me (Wait for You #2)

Teresa Hamilton is a dancer. She wants to make it big. Then she has an accident and she has to wait and see if she will be able dance again. she goes off to college taking classes to be a teacher. The same college as her older brother and his best friend, Jase. The same best friend who kissed her a year ago and whom she has strong feelings for. Things are bumpy from the start.

Jase Winstead has secrets. A dark past that keeps him very truly living his life. He has feelings for Teresa but refuses to allow himself to truly be with her (thus the name of the book).

The book is pretty predictable, I saw the two big twists coming from a mile away. It was still an enjoyable read though. I've not read the first in this series yet but I've seen a lot of reviews and most said this wasn't as good as the first and I could see that. I mean this book is good but the way the couple yo-yo can get boring or even upsetting. But Jase had so many reasons to push her away. He loved her but he didn't want to lose her like he lost Kari (it's always awesome when book characters share my name).

Teresa is ready to give him everything, even after being abused by her ex. She trusts Jase and loves him. He keeps pushing her away and she doesn't find out the full reason until close to the end of the book. What I liked was she was even willing to accept Jack and for a girl that young it's usually something that wouldn't happen.

They make a cute couple and this book is very cute. It deals with abuse in a tasteful way and I really enjoyed how Teresa wasn't a scared victim anymore. She was a strong young woman. She would make a good role model.

I received an ARC of this book from the publishers for participation in a blog tour and in exchange for an honest review.

I read Wait For You, the first installment in this series, and fell in love with the characters. I am not ashamed to admit that most of the reason I wanted to read this book was to see what happened to Cam and Avery from the first book. I hadn't really known much about Jase and Teresa from the first book, so I was just so-so about reading about them. I was hoping I would come to like them as much as I did the first set of characters.

Teresa has suffered an injury to her knee that has forced her into a break from professional dancing. Struggling to find something to do with her time and keep her mind active, she decides to return to college. But not just any college. The college her brother and his sinfully sexy best friend, Jase, attends. She has had a crush on Jase for years and after a surprising kiss a year ago she is hoping for a chance to explore that avenue. But Jase seems put off by the fact that she is Cam's sister, so she must continue to nurse her crush in silence. That all changes when the more time they spend together, the more apparent their attraction for each other shows through. Teresa knows that Jase has some sort of baggage but isn't sure what it is or how she can possibly get beyond his built-up walls to possibly find love with him.

Teresa is still dealing with the aftermath of surviving an abusive relationship. She has come through it relatively unscathed. She doesn't blame herself for her ex's vicious behavior, but she does feel a monumental amount of guilt for her situation dragging her brother into the middle and almost ruining his life. As she starts to notice telling signs of her roommate suffering the same type of relationship she had with her ex, Teresa struggles with her decision to speak up or stay silent. With the sociopathic air that surrounds her roommate's boyfriend, speaking up may just get Teresa into an even tougher situation that ever before.

I have a major book author crush on J. Lynn (aka Jennifer L. Armentrout). I love everything she writes. I read Wait For You and absolutely adored it. I was anxious to see what happened next. This book, while not as astonishingly breathtaking as the first one was just as well written and engaging. I loved Teresa's character. She was so incredibly strong and went through so much that I couldn't even imagine having to deal with. She was the type of woman I would admire in reality and found myself almost worshipping with every page turn.

Jase on the other hand, was a bit too hot and cold for me. I know that if he was just gung-ho for their relationship from start to finish it wouldn't make the book heartbreaking (as all New Adult books seem to be), but his constant "you deserve better" and "you don't want to be involved with me and all my baggage" stuff was a bit annoying. I just wanted to shake him and tell him to stop wussing out. It was a vast difference from Cam and Avery where Cam was the one determined to see the relationship through and Avery was the one running away at every turn.

All in all, I did enjoy Be With Me. I think it was a fundamental next step in the cast for the sequel. I have to wonder who the next book will feature. Ollie, maybe?

Review posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com