Wait for You

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Harper Fiction and Netgalley.) 19-year-old Avery is finally moving miles away from her old life, and the bad things that happened to her, and starting over at college miles away, much to her family’s disapproval. Things are looking up for Avery though when she meets Cam, her sexy neighbour and classmate. Avery has issues though, and she’s not really looking for a fling. Can Avery work through her problems? Can she see a future for her and Cam? And will Cam wait for her to figure it out? This was a fairly average contemporary romance. Cam and Avery were both okay characters, but nothing amazing, and their romance was okay too. The sexy bits towards the end of the book were a little more entertaining, but again, nothing exceptional. For me, this book had 2 saving graces that made it just about read-worthy. One was the mystery over what had happened to Avery in her past that I kinda wanted to find out about, and the other was Avery’s friend Jacob, who was gay and proud, and so blunt it was funny! Have to say that I loved how he just came out with things, and his assurance that if Cam batted for his team he would have been ‘screwing him since august’ was just great. Otherwise the storyline was okay, but it just didn’t grab me or make me want to keep reading. I found it really hard to keep motivated to keep reading, as I really just wasn’t that interested in what was going on to care what happened next. Overall; pretty average contemporary romance. 6.5 out of 10.show more

I immediately connected with Avery, and was immensely curious as to what happened 5 years ago at Halloween. I know that it effects her still and caused her to go across the country in order to be unknown at a new college, a fresh start. She starts her first day by literally running into campus legend, the hot Cam. Her embarrassment and running I can definitely understand, but I admired her bravery by going to her next class at least. As I found out what happened to her, and what she was still facing, my heart broke for her. Cam is so amazing. I loved his backstory, his patience, his "arrogance," his soft side, and his connection with his family. He had such funny, touching and also seriously swoon worthy moments with Avery. I loved also that he could cook, and that he was good at it. He wanted to share his goodies with everyone... and I don't know what it is about JLA and cookies, but there is another great and sexy cookie moment in this one too. Wait for You is an intense and gritty contemporary, but it still has the JLA addictiveness, awesome heroine, setting, theme and I can't put this down if I tried appeal. This is def for mature teens and adults because of mature and dark themes, sexual content (nothing too graphic, but more than your average ya), self harm, sexual assault, and drinking underage. I enjoyed the setting, it is refreshing to be at a college campus instead of high school like I am used to with YA. It felt authentic, and made me remember my college days walking around campus and trying to make new friends. The pacing is great as well, I never wanted to put it down, and not a second was I bored. The bullying and the power of rumors in this one really struck home with me. I have never had anything this traumatic, and when I dealt with cutting and eating disorders, I was lucky to have friend and parental support. But what she went through with her parents, and what they forced her to do, all for the image of their family in the community shocked and appalled me! I loved Avery's journey to healing and trusting Cam, and her friends. I also liked that while there was attraction at first sight, it was a slow and awesome build into love and a relationship. I also really enjoyed Britt and Jacob--they were Avery's friends, and it was a true friendship. I loved how they ragged on one another, but at the end of the day supported each other. They are the kind of friends I love to read about and that everyone should have. The threads of this story tied up well, and I was so proud of Avery's journey to loving herself again and allowing herself to trust and be loved by others. But I can't wait to see what Be With Me has in store for us. Bottom Line: Amazingly awesome, sweet and swoonworthy but dark and emotional all at the same time.show more