Review: Be With Me

Wait for You, Book 2
By J. Lynn (Jennifer L. Armentrout)
Available now from William Morrow (HarperCollins)
Review copy

Jennifer L. Armentrout has had major success and I've been meaning to read her forever.  (I've even bought the first couple of Lux novels.)  I just . . . haven't done it.  So when I got the chance to review her New Adult novel BE WITH ME, I jumped on it.

BE WITH ME is the story of Teresa Hamilton and Jase Winstead.  Tess had her life planned - she was going to be a professional dancer.  In fact, she was accepted to the Joffrey School of Ballet on a scholarship.  An injury has left her unable to dance until she recovers, so she's now at college as a backup.  She's frustrated and worried that this might end up being her life, if she injures herself again.  Jase is her brother's best friend, good looking and good with the ladies.  He also never called Tess back after they kissed at a party, and it's awkward now that they're back in each other's orbit.

I thought BE WITH ME was a cute romance, albeit one that went on a bit too long.  The last second relationship hurdle made me roll my eyes; I would've preferred more of Tess and Jase being together and working out the details of their relationship instead of pointless drama to finish out the book.  I didn't like that BE WITH ME wasn't all about them.  Tess escaped an abusive relationship when she was a teenager and thinks that her roommate is in a bad situation.  However, she doesn't know how to approach her and help.  But, clearly she can't just let it happen.

I know New Adult has a reputation for being steamy.  There are sex scenes in BE WITH ME, but they aren't over the top and they don't take over the book.  I felt like there was less sex than a Harlequin Presents, for example.  Mostly, it was just a contemporary romance that happened to be set at a college.  I enjoyed that.  (And I definitely enjoyed that it was clearly a college, not a vaguely disguised high school.)

I'm sure that J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout's fans will enjoy BE WITH ME.  It certainly didn't scare me off of reading more of her books.  It was a pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning.